Folks, we're not arguing opinions or philosophy here, but simple facts. Just curious: who among you have visited the following:
In New York: the maximum security prisons at Attica, Sullivan, Sing Sing, and (for women) Bedford Hills. In Pennsylvania: the old max in downtown Pittsburgh, and the minimum security Mercer Regional Correctional Facility. In Arizona: the state prison complex near Phoenix.
I have--as I said, for professional reasons. I saw all the stuff I mentioned, have taped interviews with the administrators and staff, plus a boxload of research and supporting materials detailing it all. Mr. "Amateur Scientist" didn't specify the locations or details of his (alleged) visits; but I'm talking about state and federal "correctional facilities" (can't call 'em "prisons"), not crappy local jails. And, FYI, I had prison superintendents (can't call 'em "wardens"), "corrections officers" (can't call 'em "guards"), and in one case, the former Arizona state corrections commissioner as my private tour guides. They were eager to show off all this stuff, precisely in order to help disabuse the public of the movie image that they were brutes running hellholes.
For any among you with the honesty and ambition, check out Big Mean Attica, and note those three little white buildings that the "corrections officers" refer to contemptuously as "the hotel"--because they're devoted to the conjugal visits. Or visit the yard at the modern max prison of Sullivan, in Fallsburg, NY, where they even erected TVs up on raised platforms outdoors, just so that the inmates wouldn't miss the daily Soaps while they play basketball and bench press barbells. Or wander inside, over to the inmate music room, crammed with electric guitars, keyboards, amps, and drums.
I could go on and on, but why bother? Amazing how you can call me a liar, when we all know damned well that you haven't been to any of these joints, and are clearly talking through your hats. But then, it appears that your priority is to remain smug and secure in your ideologically-driven prejudices, which might become shaken by confrontation with a few inconvenient facts. Continuation of a civil discussion presupposes factors I've not yet found in evidence here.
Given the lifelong devotion of this site's founder to reason and pursuit of unvarnished truth, I recently came here naively expecting the same from participants. Time to look elsewhere.
