Ravenwood - 10/11/05 06:30 AM
Murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals in Boston are being treated to circus acts. A Christian outreach group is providing the entertainment, aimed at helping violent convicts deal with their time in prison, reports the Boston Herald.
The traveling circus has infuriated correction officers who complain that in addition to the violent maniacs they are dealing with every day, they now have to trip over Bozo in the prison yard."Picture a big clown car pulling up to MCI-Walpole with strongmen, clowns getting out and entertaining the murderers and rapists out in the yard," said Ken Ferullo, vice president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union.
"Morale is at an all-time low, and we have to watch inmates who are throwing feces and urine at us be entertained by a circus, having a great time," Ferullo said. "I have been in this department for 13 years and I have never seen anything like this. It's shocking."
I absolutely do not see the problem. I am hard nosed about crime and punishment. I want to see more prisons built, less parole for violent offenders, etc. But what is the problem with reducing tensions by making a prisoner's life reasonably bearable as long as it does not otherwise affect security?
One of these days a prisoner is going to successfully sue the prisons for exposing him or her to rape and violence. I think that will be a good day for the national conscience. We spend entirely too little money on our jails and prisons.
The clowns a$$hole before "entertaining" the prisoners - .
The clowns a$$hole after "entertaining" the prisoners - O
Posted by: John at October 11, 2005 9:02 AM
mike: How hard is it to maintain security while accommadating circus acts? I can see the guards having a right to be disgruntled if there's a lot of extra work for them in it, but not just because the prisoners have a good day for once.
But why a circus? Is this based on an assessment of the inmates mental age?
Posted by: markm at October 11, 2005 9:44 AMThe Romans used to have criminals at the circus also, but they were usually in the center ring and swinging swords at one another...
Posted by: Robert Garrard at October 11, 2005 10:50 AMWell, I said unless there were security issues involved. Of course, they would have to be real and not just an excuse. The guards quoted did not seem to raise the security issue as much as the issue of prisoners having a good time.
Look, I think prison guards have tough, underpaid, underappreciated (They're all dumb hicks, blah, blah, blah) jobs. I myself do not have the courage it would take to walk unarmed around hundreds of violent offenders who hate my guts, and I served in the Marines, FWIW.
But I think we do a disgraceful job of manning (the numbers, not quality) and running our prisons. It makes me angry to see that we rightfully imprison criminals, only to allow more violent criminals to run the show. And that is what it means when prisoners feel they must join a gang or must kill to stay alive. It's disgraceful.
Do they think that if these crinimals see a circus they will stop being crinimals what a waste
Posted by: screaming eagle at October 11, 2005 2:57 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
