
Mothers Are the Unsung Heroes of Prison - wyndham
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/05/09/why-mothers-are-the-unsung-heroes-of-prison
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chronogram
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 _“(...) making it harder for our moms and other family members to visit us,
or forcing them to visit us via video chat. Instead of making it more
expensive for them to accept our phone calls or send us emails. (...)”_

This seems soulless. I wonder how that works elsewhere.

~~~
k__
US prisons always sound like hell.

In Germany, prison time is like being in the hospital without being sick.
Mostly boring.

~~~
anovikov
Aren't prisons _supposed_ to be like that? In my perception, the goal of
prison is exactly that: be like hell so other people are afraid of getting
there enough so they don't commit crime? Someone who's already into prison for
a long term is lost anyway, he or she will be criminalized for life. And this
is why prison terms should be mostly binary: we should try to either punish
someone with something short of that, or if not, lock him up for long enough
he either never makes it out of there, or does it old enough so he's not tuu
much of a threat anymore.

~~~
razakel
>Aren't prisons supposed to be like that? In my perception, the goal of prison
is exactly that: be like hell so other people are afraid of getting there
enough so they don't commit crime?

What about the wrongly convicted? I understand the desire for revenge, but
prisons should be safe, secure and inmates should come out of there as people
you'd be happy to have as a neighbor.

When you treat prisoners like animals, they'll act like animals.

~~~
sokoloff
> I understand the desire for revenge, but prisons should be safe, secure and
> inmates should come out of there as people you'd be happy to have as a
> neighbor.

All else being equal, I’d always prefer a non-ex-con over an ex-con as a
neighbor. I doubt I’m alone in this.

~~~
Fjolsvith
At least you know where you stand with someone who's been caught before. Every
ex-con starts out as a non-ex-con.

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tty2300
The last part was pretty hard hitting. Posts get linked on HN often about
prisons making it impossible for people to contact their family and friends. I
can't imagine how fucked up someone would end up after being totally cut off
from their friends and family.

------
erwan
It is a moving piece about quiet heroism, I enjoyed it a lot.

And it reminds me of another article about Lyn Ulbricht
([https://breakermag.com/lyn-ulbricht-pushed-herself-to-the-
br...](https://breakermag.com/lyn-ulbricht-pushed-herself-to-the-brink-of-
death-for-freeross-her-last-best-hope-president-trump/)). Lyn is the mother of
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road. The article goes at length about the
war she is fighting to get her son out of jail. I have so much respect and
admiration for this woman. It is quite something and they make a very
compelling case in my opinion. You can read more about it here:
[https://freeross.org/](https://freeross.org/)

~~~
PunchTornado
life in prison with no parole? that is so harsh. give him 10 years max. drugs
are soon to be legalised...

~~~
larrymcp
I thought so too at first, but a few months ago I read the judges' decision in
his appeal. He had actually ordered some murders as well, and that was
factored into his sentence.

The murders didn't actually take place, but he did order them and he was under
the impression that they were carried out.

~~~
miracle2k
And yet, there are actual murderers who do receive parole - and that's the way
it should be. Many countries do not even have life in prison without parole,
as they rightfully recognize it as inhumane.

~~~
sokoloff
Why _should_ it be that way? Did the murderer's victim(s) receive some kind of
leniency or reprieve after a period of time? Did they re-animate?

I don't have a strong opinion here either way, but separating convicted
murderers (especially first-degree or conspiracy-to) from free society doesn't
_inherently_ sound like a crazy bad idea.

~~~
Digit-Al
That depends on whether you view prison as a way of getting revenge on
criminals or as a way of trying to reform them.

If you view prison as an agency of revenge on wrongdoers then, of course, life
without parole for murderers makes perfect sense.

If, on the other hand, you view prison as a way of trying to reform wrongdoers
and turn them into productive members of society then life without parole
makes no sense at all.

~~~
chongli
_view prison as a way of getting revenge on criminals or as a way of trying to
reform them_

This is the crux of the whole issue. The US is split between the two notions
of justice: retribution and rehabilitation. The split seems to largely fall
along political lines, which means the argument isn't likely to be settled any
time soon.

I tend to fall in the rehabilitation camp but I can see some of the logic
behind the other side. At the very least, I recognize that it's better for the
state to apply measured retribution than for families to pronounce blood feuds
upon one another. Beyond that, I'm at a loss for what to do about cold,
psychopathic individuals who seem utterly incapable of reform.

~~~
zeropnc
Deterrence and retribution are different things. Prison systems with harsh
sentences are typically more about sending a message to potential criminals
than punishing existing ones.

------
devoply
Considering the whole prison system is now moving to make it so people can
only "visit" other people through over-priced video link. What is the social
and societal cost of such a tech move?

------
namtir
71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. 90% of runaway and
homeless children come form fatherless homes. 85% of children with behavioral
problems come from fatherless homes. 63% of youth suicide is fatherless homes.
Of the 27 shooters, only 1 was raised by his biological father since birth

Does this go well with:

> Maybe we should consider just how much positive influence these wonderful
> ladies have on the penal system, every day of the year.

and

> A momma’s boy, which almost all convicts are.

~~~
DoreenMichele
Basically, you are vilifying the parent who bothers to stick around because it
is usually a woman.

Sadly, as I write this, it's the top comment because this is an overwhelmingly
male forum, so an awful lot of members are all too happy to upvote anything
that spin doctors problems to make men look good and women look bad without
thinking any deeper about the problem than that.

For the record, it's actually a problem that so many men in the US don't give
a damn about their own children, can't be bothered to show up and also don't
give a damn about how that negatively impacts the woman who had children by
them.

We need more family friendly policies that help parents do right by their
kids. Most developed countries do not take the attitude that "You fools who
had kids are on your own and we aren't going to lift a finger to help you
raise your kids. No, we don't care that this actually comes back to bite us
once they are grown and the problem is being handled by the police and the
penal system. We just aren't that bright and can't see the cause-and-effect
obvious connection there, never mind the existence of studies that show it."

------
mercer
I quite liked this article and had a (very cursory) look at the other stuff he
wrote, and from what I've seen I can recommend it.

It's maybe not fancy writing, but the topics are interesting, and it gets to
the point.

------
known
Maslow’s Pyramid explains what makes a mother heroic
[https://qz.com/1615580/maslows-pyramid-explains-what-
makes-a...](https://qz.com/1615580/maslows-pyramid-explains-what-makes-a-
mother-heroic/)

