For their October 24, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts talk with Dr. Paul Leighton from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology at Eastern Michigan University as he describes the dynamics of private prisons in America. The for-profit business model of this industry threatens to turn the U.S. into a predator nation, steadily feeding inmates to wealthy corporate interests and everyone looking to these private prison fat cats for income and/or profit.
And who is the prey for the predator known as America’s private prison industrial complex? Answer: the poor; the poorly educated; minorities; any and everyone caught up by America’s criminal justice system without enough money or clout to wiggle free.
Do those most likely to be unfairly snared by America’s prison industrial complex have much of a chance to avoid or loosen its grip? Unless they find the resolve within themselves to help resist the corresponding forces of injustice, their prospects look grim according to Dr. Leighton and your COC co-hosts.
For their October 10, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts considered “Crackdowns on Inmate Organizing -- The Line Between Suppressing Disturbances and Suppressing Constitutional Rights”.
Certified correctional officer, former federal inmate discipline committeeman, and human rights activist Kenneth Kendrick kept us attuned to the volatility of prison environments and the risks of coordinated inmate conduct. But he was dismayed, as we all were, by the tendency of U.S. Courts to condemn outrageous and direct physical abuse of prisoners, but condone other de-humanizing treatment that can subject U.S. inmates to harsh if not tortuous conditions for so-called insubordination.
The idea of locking up prisoners and throwing away the key may be a better response to the monsters that U.S. prisons create than those they receive!
Herman Wallace -- Another Man In The Mirror: In one of their most important broadcasts, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts consider the circumstances of Herman Wallace of the “Angola 3”. Wallace, along with two other men, was convicted in 1972 for the brutal stabbing death of an Angola, Louisiana prison guard.
Wallace’s conviction was recently overturned, but only after he spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. Wallace has reportedly died from liver cancer, just days following his release from prison.
According to Amnesty International, “(n)o physical evidence linked Wallace to the crime” and “a key prosecution witness received favors, including a pardon, in return for his testimony in the case.” Wallace maintained his innocence and attributed his conviction and harsh treatment to his key role in forming the first Black Panthers, Angola prison chapter which advocated against violence and rape.
