63 replies to this topic

[Tricia]

Are we supposed to feel sorry for him?  

Sorry, not feeling his pain here.


Olypic bomber bemoans prison conditions

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Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.

"It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis," he wrote in one letter to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages."

"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.

One of Rudolph's victims had no sympathy for him.

"It gives me a great deal of pride to think he's never coming out of there," said Diane Derzis, who runs a Birmingham, Ala., women's clinic Rudolph bombed in 1998. "He should never see daylight again."

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Rudolph, an anti-government extremist, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to setting the bomb that killed one person and wounded more than 100 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and three other bombings, including a fatal explosion at a Birmingham clinic.

[Lord of the Sword]

LMAO!

I couldn't help but laugh as I read this...What the hell does he think Jail is suppose to be like?

LMAO!

As for him not being happy.......3 words come to mind. Aaaaawwwww Poor Baby!

LMAO!

[SparkyCola]

uh...just what does he EXPECT exactly? I mean, why is he writing this?

Is he complaining of human rights violations or just saying he misses his teddy?

I don't get it.

Sparky

[Balderdash]

"Using solitary confinement, Supermax is designed to inflict as much misery and pain as is constitutionally permissible," he wrote in a letter.

Good and all that I had hoped for and I hope that he lives a good long time so that he can reap all that he has sown.  

[Pixiedust]

When you read this though, another case comes to mind...some criminals who sued the government because they weren't allowed to take their drugs in prison, claimed it was breaching human rights...and they won!

About this guy, well, maybe he should be given the option of death? Yeah, death penalty = bad and all that, but if it's his own choice...

[SparkyCola]

You're suggesting he should look for ways to commit suicide. Ok so THAT i'm against.

Sparky

[Pixiedust]

Why though? I mean, not that I agree with the death penalty, but if he hates it so badly there, why not let him choose?

[Vapor Trails]

LORD of the SWORD, on Dec 11 2006, 03:51 PM, said:

LMAO!

I couldn't help but laugh as I read this...What the hell does he think Jail is suppose to be like?

LMAO!

As for him not being happy.......3 words come to mind. Aaaaawwwww Poor Baby!

LMAO!

Those aren't the three words I'd choose.

[Godeskian]

I'll say this. If i was locked into a place like Supermax i'd probably be considering suicide before too many years had passed.

[DWF]

I really can't feel sorry for him, maybe he should've thought about that when he was making his bombs.

[G1223]

SparkyCola, on Dec 11 2006, 06:45 PM, said:

You're suggesting he should look for ways to commit suicide. Ok so THAT i'm against.

Sparky

As long as no one else is hurt by the act let him die by his own hand. Why should we keep him here on this planet if he does not wish to stay?


Then again I was so in favor of this guy getting the needle. He killed and injured people with bombs. The jury saw it another way and I will have to accept it.

Edited by G1223, 11 December 2006 - 07:49 PM.

[GiGi]

23 hours a day in solitary confinement is cruel punishment.  If it is that extreme, this is way beyond a case of wanting a teddy bear.  Torture isn't right anywhere it is applied.  

It has been shown that depriving people of contact with others for extended periods will drive them insane.  Is this really what we want to be doing with people?

[Rhea]

<snerk>

Like he wasn't already crazy anyway?  

I'm trying hard to feel bad for him, but what maximum security prison might be like is something he should have given serious consideration to before he built and detonated that bomb.

I don't care what we do with someone like him. If that makes me uncivilized, so be it.

Edited by Rhea, 11 December 2006 - 08:18 PM.

[Lord of the Sword]

Beka's Playgirl, on Dec 11 2006, 06:37 PM, said:

When you read this though, another case comes to mind...some criminals who sued the government because they weren't allowed to take their drugs in prison, claimed it was breaching human rights...and they won!

They actually won? What drugs was the Judge on?

[Pallas]

LORD of the SWORD, on Dec 11 2006, 09:21 PM, said:

Beka's Playgirl, on Dec 11 2006, 06:37 PM, said:

When you read this though, another case comes to mind...some criminals who sued the government because they weren't allowed to take their drugs in prison, claimed it was breaching human rights...and they won!

They actually won? What drugs was the Judge on?

What kind of drugs?

That would make a lot of sense if it were diabetic drugs for instance wherein depriving the prisoner the right to access these drugs could result in death or at least cruel and unusual punishment, which does violate their human rights. Or if they were heavy addicts, making them quit cold-turkey could kill them.

Of course, the prevailing attitude here seems to be that if they're criminals, we should treat them like they're animals. So much for progress.

[Lord of the Sword]

Kalistria, on Dec 12 2006, 12:16 AM, said:

What kind of drugs?

I was talking about the drugs the Judge was taking, not the criminals.

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That would make a lot of sense if it were diabetic drugs for instance wherein depriving the prisoner the right to access these drugs could result in death or at least cruel and unusual punishment, which does violate their human rights. Or if they were heavy addicts, making them quit cold-turkey could kill them.

For legit medical reasons I could understand, and agree with that. But prisons do have a infirmary, so they should be able to get legit drugs there. As for the illegal kind, and how withdrawl might kill them...That's a decision they made themselves. I could honestly care less if they go through withdrawl.

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Of course, the prevailing attitude here seems to be that if they're criminals, we should treat them like they're animals. So much for progress.

Of course we could always just do away with jails altogether...there's real progress for you. Crime free for all. No matter what crime you do, you won't do the time. Gotta love it.

[Captain Jack]

I hope he goes mad with more and more insanity by the day.  

How does the saying go?  "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."

[Pallas]

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I was talking about the drugs the Judge was taking, not the criminals.

I was talking about criminals. What kind of drugs were they asking for? All Beka Playgirl said was that they sued because they didn't have their drugs. What kind?

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For legit medical reasons I could understand, and agree with that. But prisons do have a infirmary, so they should be able to get legit drugs there. As for the illegal kind, and how withdrawl might kill them...That's a decision they made themselves. I could honestly care less if they go through withdrawl.

How do you know that the prison even carries that particular kind of drug or do they just feed them placebos? I have no idea how the prison infirmary system works but from what I do know about the US penal system, this is more than likely to happen for cost-cutting purposes if nothing else.

And...the prevailing attitude that if they're criminals, they don't deserve treatment.

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Of course we could always just do away with jails altogether...there's real progress for you. Crime free for all. No matter what crime you do, you won't do the time. Gotta love it.

I said nothing of the sort.

Treating people inhumanely speaks more about the society who does it than the people who are in jail. Your own Bill of Rights prohibited cruel and unusual punishment and forcing people to go through withdrawls (if that is indeed the case, which we don't know it actually is) certainly qualifies. As does keeping people in total isolation, which is known to cause psychological damage. People literally do go crazy from being alone too long.

If the point of prison is to punish people for doing the crime, then fine. Punish people who did the crime, keep them in jail until they die but there is no need to be cruel and vicious about doing so. If penalizing criminals was just all about torturing them, then why don't you just go ahead and torture them to death? It's what countries who don't give a wit about due process of law or a fair judiciary do when people inconvenience them. Remove them permanently. Considering how the United States derides countries who arbitrarily do such things, I think this would be a hard position to justify in torturing prisoners either directly or indirectly.

Incidentally, if any of you seriously think that this is a good alternative, then in future arguments regarding the human rights violations and lack of due process of other countries, please consider your own attitudes towards people who are in prison but may or may not necessarily be a criminal (no law system is perfect; there is no way in hell that anyone can automatically determine everyone in jail is guilty. I'm generalizing here; not specific to the guy mentioned in this thread who is guilty)

[Lord of the Sword]

Kalistria, on Dec 12 2006, 01:16 AM, said:

I was talking about criminals. What kind of drugs were they asking for? All Beka Playgirl said was that they sued because they didn't have their drugs. What kind?

I'm also curious about that. Though I do think that the Judge that sided with them was probably high on something...but I'm willing to reserve judgement til I know exactly what kind of drugs.

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Treating people inhumanely speaks more about the society who does it than the people who are in jail. Your own Bill of Rights prohibited cruel and unusual punishment and forcing people to go through withdrawls (if that is indeed the case, which we don't know it actually is) certainly qualifies. As does keeping people in total isolation, which is known to cause psychological damage. People literally do go crazy from being alone too long.

Well as to the bill of rights...Sadly we no longer have those, since Bush threw them out the window when he killed Habeus Corpus...But that's something else entirely.

[ilexx]

Beka's Playgirl, on Dec 12 2006, 12:37 AM, said:

When you read this though, another case comes to mind...some criminals who sued the government because they weren't allowed to take their drugs in prison, claimed it was breaching human rights...and they won!

In the US or in the EU?

Rhea, on Dec 12 2006, 02:15 AM, said:

<snerk>

Like he wasn't already crazy anyway?  

I'm starting to like this 'What Rhea says'-routine...