Wednesday, February 5, 2014

"Kids for Cash"

Kindly referenced below as a comment in "a militarized America" is a documentary that opened today in Philadelphia.

"Kids for Cash" documents thousands of Pennsylvania kids sent to jail by two judges who took $2.6 million in kickbacks from the builders and owners of privately operated prisons.

If the horror of six or seven assault-rifle-armed cops entering an apartment when executing a warrant for someone alleged to have committed credit-card fraud is spooky/terrifying ("a militarized America"), how much the worse is it to envision a system in which the judiciary sends away our children for minor infractions ... for years? And yes, Mr. and Mrs. Not-My-Kid, these kids were frequently white.

This is not turn-the-other-cheek territory, this land in which both the fear and the purported defense against that fear are commingled and manipulated by the same hands.This is a territory in which, I am ashamed to say, I suspect gun-ownership may turn out to be the only refuge.

This is a realm of rabid behavior.

And when confronted by a rabid animal, there is seldom a non-violent choice.

2 comments:

  1. The corruption case must have caused pain far beyond the judges's wallets and reputations.

    There's even a significant attempt of push-back from WNEP, the Tribune owned ABC affiliate out of Scranton / Wilkes-Barre.

    [It should] makes one why this media outlet wants to portray the lawsuit and subsequent reforms a causal factor in a subsequent crims. It is very FOX NEWS like.

    http://wnep.com/2014/02/04/victims-of-the-victims-in-the-kids-for-cash-scandal/

    http://wnep.com/tag/kids-for-cash-scandal/

    Check out the video about the film at its wolrd premier in NYC
    http://wnep.com/2013/11/18/kids-for-cash-premieres-in-nyc/

    BTW -- I have friends with a son who was arrested along with a bunch of other kids in NJ for a minor crime. My friends and another set of parents were smart enough to get lawyers whereas the other parents relied on the police's advise. The kids whose parents secured lawyers received light sentences like community service while those without lawyers were incarcerated. WTF?

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  2. Sorry for the typos. Editing is also a must.

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