Politics Plus

I ran across the problem of private probation companies on Upworthy, and decided to research it further, because of my prison volunteer work.  The video there led to a second video, but they did not list all the locations where this perverse injustice takes place, and that led to ever more digging.

Every year, US courts sentence several hundred thousand misdemeanor offenders to probation overseen by private companies that charge their fees directly to the probationers. Often, the poorest people wind up paying the most in fees over time, in what amounts to a discriminatory penalty. And when they can’t pay, companies can and do secure their arrest.

The 72-page report, “Profiting from Probation: America’s ‘Offender-Funded’ Probation Industry,” describes how more than 1,000 courts in several US states delegate tremendous coercive power to companies that are often subject to little meaningful oversight or regulation. In many cases, the only reason people are put on probation is because they need time to pay off fines and court costs linked to minor crimes. In some of these cases, probation companies act more like abusive debt collectors than probation officers, charging the debtors for their services.

“Many of the people supervised by these companies wouldn’t be on probation to begin with if they had more money,” said Chris Albin-Lackey, senior researcher on business and human rights at Human Rights Watch. “Often, the poorer people are, the more they ultimately pay in company fees and the more likely it is that they will wind up behind bars.”

Companies refuse to disclose how much money they collect in fees from offenders under their supervision. Remarkably, the courts that hire them generally do not demand this information either. Human Rights Watch estimates that, in Georgia alone, the industry collects a minimum of US$40 million in fees every year from probationers. In other states, disclosure requirements are so minimal that is not possible even to hazard a guess how much probation companies are harvesting from probationers in fees…

Inserted from <Human Rights Watch>

Here is the HRW video.

And here are the two videos from Brave New Films. (petition there)

Most of the states were the ones I expected, but there were a couple surprises. They are Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Missouri, Michigan, Montana and Idaho.  I strongly suspect that in the Blue State and two purple states, it is red counties that use the services.  Perhaps we can get some feedback from residents.  Wherever they are, the companies miszt be outlawed.

Here is the fifty-ninth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Republican nominee for for the US Senate from Iowa Joni "Pig Nuts" Ernst. She is so honored for extreme TEAbuggery.

It’s well past time that Democrats stop playing around and start tearing Joni Ernst apart for all the truly crazy shit she’s been spewing, like the recently revealed fact that she’s been running with the black helicopter crowd:

"The United Nations has imposed this upon us, and as a U.S. senator, I would say, ‘No more. No more Agenda 21.’ Community planning—to the effect that it is implementing eminent domain and taking away property rights away from individuals—I don’t agree with that. And especially in a place such as Iowa, where we rely heavily upon our agricultural community, our rural communities. We don’t want to see things like eminent domain come into play," Ernst said in response to a question about Agenda 21 at the forum.

"We don’t want to see a further push with Agenda 21, where the Agenda 21 and the government telling us that these are the urban centers that you will live in; these are the ways that you will travel to other urban centers," Ernst continued. "Agenda 21 encompasses so many different aspects of our lives that it’s taking away our individual liberties, our freedoms as United States citizens. So I would adamantly oppose Agenda 21. I don’t believe it is responsible, not for United States citizens."

Agenda 21, if you’ve never heard of it, is an innocuous U.N. document that has, over the years, become a lodestone of the wingnut fever swamps. This is Michele Bachman-esque, out-of-your-freaking-gourd territory… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Click through for more.  If that isn’t enough to prove that Pig Nuts deserves her parade, she also had endorsements from both Glen “Gold Digger” Beck and Sarah “Bloody Bullseye Barbie” Palin, BEFORE she won the Republican primary.

Republicans regularly commit crimes while in office, but they do so only on days that begin with the letter T.  That’s Tuesday, Thursdays, Taturday, Tunday, Today and Tomorrow.  However they are rarely called to account for their crimes as David “Diaper Dave” Vitter (R-LA) will attest.  However, a Grand Jury has handed down incitements against Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) that could send him to prison for up to 99 years, even though I doubt that he’ll ever serve a day.

A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts on Friday, charging that he abused his power last year when he tried to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to cut off state financing to her office.

The indictment left Mr. Perry, a Republican, the first Texas governor in nearly 100 years to face criminal charges and presented a major roadblock to his presidential ambitions at the very time that he had been showing signs of making a comeback.

Grand jurors in Travis County charged Mr. Perry with abusing his official capacity and coercing a public servant, according to Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor assigned to the case.

The long-simmering case has centered on Mr. Perry’s veto power as governor. His critics asserted that he used that power as leverage to try to get an elected official — Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney in Travis County — to step down after her arrest on a drunken-driving charge last year. Ms. Lehmberg is Austin’s top prosecutor and oversees a powerful public corruption unit that investigates state, local and federal officials; its work led to the 2005 indictment of a former Republican congressman, Tom DeLay, on charges of violating campaign finance laws… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Now it’s true that Perry does have the right as governor to use a line item veto for items in the Texas budget, but he does not have the right to use that veto as a threat to prevent other elected officials from representing the people that elected them.

Rachel Maddow provided excellent coverage of Perry’s crimes.

In closing, 99 years is not enough hard time, but if he does go to prison, I think justice will be served, if he is the bottom, and his prison lover (below) is the top:

Here is the fifty-eighth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Minister Johnathan Gentry. He is so honored for selling out his own race to parrot Republican racism on the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise.

Hasselbeck and the two stooges find the one minister who disagrees with the entire NAACP and sides with the cops. Why? Because, Samuel 15:23 "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." Black people need to quit being "so uptight" about officer stops.

The crowd on the couch pulled it off once again. They found a Black Minister, Minister Johnathan Gentry, to blame the conduct and attitude of the Black community for the recent tragedy of Mike Brown being gunned down, unarmed by Officer Darren Wilson. Gentry is fed up with the way all these Black folks aren’t more obedient and naturally, this is what they get.

By saying things like, It’s sickening. Black people are so uptight. Let’s change our ways, Gentry manages to blame police brutality upon the conduct of people when they are disproportionately stopped for no reason by police. Gentry speaks fondly of the times he’s been pulled over, because, let’s face facts, he’s a Black man with a very custom, tricked-out car. He also quotes scripture to back up his opinion…

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

The video embedded in the article linked directly to the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise.  I refuse to do that, but I found another source.

Double Equal Opportunity Barf Bag Alert!!

It boggles my mind that a black man would allow himself to be used as a vehicle for the hatred of Republican racism.  If there is such a thing as a Clarence Thomas award, he should get it!