That's the headline to a Harare m/c story in the New Zimbabwe newspaper for 24 Dec -

"A SUSPECTED motorcycle thief spent two months in remand prison with his bowels protruding from his belly after detectives shot him as he allegedly tried to disarm them.

The High Court was on Monday shocked when Boas Chiwanza, who was visibly in pain, limped into the courtroom with his bowels hanging out.

As he held them in his palm, Justice Yunus Omerjee ordered prison authorities to immediately take Chiwanza to hospital.

As a self-actor, Chiwanza had come to apply for bail before the judge.

Detectives reportedly shot Chiwanza on his arrest on September 27, 2010 as he tried to disarm them.

Chiwanza, who struggled to speak, told the court that he had not received appropriate treatment since his arrest and most of his doctors' appointments had failed due to

circumstances beyond his control......................."

Full text:http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-3882-Prisoner%E2%80%99s+intestines+hang+out+in+court/news.aspx
l

Crime don't pay I tell ya!

Mary

Some might say the best measure of civilised society is how it treats it's miscreants.

Holy CRAP!!!  But I have to agree with Mary...you might feel different if it was your property that he was helping himself to...although that is a little on the extreme side...should be sent to hospital for "re-packing"... ...even Wal-Mart staples the packages shut again...

Sorry...couldn't help it...my red neck is showing...

Later.

I've heard the same Cal. Although, one would also have to believe that if you do not wish to go to prison and such, you should obey the law. I mean, that might be a stretch, I dunno.

I have no problem with propperly regulated punishment for the guilty. I'm not against bringing back some kind of corporal punishment for some offences. I draw that line at letting the police kick the shaZam! out of a suspect before trial and denying him or her any treatment etc, surely a rudimentry "chuck it back in and sow it up" would not have been unreasonable but then we are talking about Zimbabwe.

The report does refer to the guy as a "suspected" motorcycle thief which could mean he is innocent/guilty/disagrees with Robert Mugabe's thugs, I would rather like to see the trial and then the punishment in the correct order.

I agree with your statment Cal. Whole-heartedly.

Quote from: Cal Price on December 16, 2010, 04:51:56 PM
I have no problem with propperly regulated punishment for the guilty. I'm not against bringing back some kind of corporal punishment for some offences. I draw that line at letting the police kick the shaZam! out of a suspect before trial and denying him or her any treatment etc, surely a rudimentry "chuck it back in and sow it up" would not have been unreasonable but then we are talking about Zimbabwe.

The report does refer to the guy as a "suspected" motorcycle thief which could mean he is innocent/guilty/disagrees with Robert Mugabe's thugs, I would rather like to see the trial and then the punishment in the correct order.

+1

i'm so sick of seeing people tried by -almost- news reporters here in the states. people see a person not even accused of a crime, just a suspect, and immediately condem the suspect. black out the news until a man has his day in court. make them f%$king DIG for news instead of sensationalizing everything !

as far as shooting a suspect... i'm sure there is more to the story. there always is. again, here in the states cops are trained to use incredibly rediculous force for simple situations. calm heads prevail, but a 45 is forever.

now, before a leo gets up in arms and puts his bullet in his sidearm, just stop. think, comment however you like, just think first.

I guess the way we treat them is better...you know...a VERY stern talking to and make the PROMISE to never do it again...and let them out...'cause our jails are too full...

Yes, my tongue is firmly planted in cheek, but we are too soft on the convicted criminals...something in between would be prefered...punishment should be a deterant...not somewhere for a free ride, with meals, education and free exercise equipment that is all better than a lot of North Americans can afford everyday...

Later.

Health care is so lacking in the US that some people go to jail to get health care.

A few years ago there was an argument as to whether a prisoner should get a transplant to save his life. We are legally obligated to provide health care to prisoners (but not the general population  ).

Funny thing is the guy was on death row. Give a transplant to save his life so we can put him to death? 

Yet some kid gets to go without a mom or dad because they couldn't afford the transplant costs...

That is one thing that seems to be more level here in Canada...but it isn't perfect here either...I'm just glad I have a pretty good job and don't have to worry about that sort of thing...plus we just got free health care here in Alberta...it's free in most of the provinces, but we used to have to pay for it...once I joined management, the company covered it anyway (taxable benefit)...now I don't even pay the tax...

There was an e-mail flying around a while ago about a guy running a jail with a tent city...and when the press interviewed him about the unfair treatment, he said "if our troups can live like this, what is the problem with our criminals getting it?"...the interview ended...I think he was in Texas or Arizona...can't remember...but man, I liked that guy...make him the President...   save a bundle in the budget...

Later.

^^^^^ you're talkin bout Sheriff Joe.   In arizona. They get nice fancy pink articles of clothing too.

Yeah, trial by news media can be a problem, often they get it wrong and it can also be used by the defense as not allowing for a fair trial. In UK we do have quite a lot of report restrictions pre-trial, in some cases anonimity rules before and even during a trial.

Our new(ish) coalition govt is about to empty the prisons to save cash which is a bit of a worry, also rather strange as the bigest partner in the govt are the conservatives who were traditionally the "party of law-and-order" A label that Tony Blair rather succesfuly stole from them a few years back.

I'm not even going to get started on U.S. healthcare and govts obligation to prisoners except to scratch my head a bit.

Quote from: jserio on December 16, 2010, 10:56:00 PM
^^^^^ you're talkin bout Sheriff Joe.   In arizona. They get nice fancy pink articles of clothing too.

Yup, that's him...I'd vote for him...no luxuries for the criminals, and a "if the troops can do it, so can you" attitude...I love it!!  I think we should adopt a similar system in Canada...just put the prisons in the Arctic...the escapees will only feed the polar bears and other wild life...hot pink parkas and sorel boots...

Later.

There was a guy here in Florida that had diabetes when it would get out of control he would write a few bad checks and turn himself in. When the authorities found out they refused to arrest him!

I'm just amazed that the opportunities these felons get while in prison they can get their GED work on their AA degree. But, me I have to pay $300 a semester hour for my AA!

I can't remember where I read it but it was estimated that here in Florida it is estimated that it takes $35,000 a year to take care of an inmate. I'm disabled in stage three heart failure and I get $12,000 a year that I paid into until I got sick!

Something is not right!

Mary

Quote from: Toogoofy317 on December 17, 2010, 09:12:33 PM
I'm disabled in stage three heart failure and I get $12,000 a year that I paid into until I got sick!

Something is not right!

Mary

Having to deal with that @ 30 is what's not right...

Being on dissability, are you limited to how much you can make a year?  Sorry, kinda personal for a forum...one of our admin girls at work (mom of 14yo @ 32) is dealing with some serious health issues as well...something to do with her spleen and blood issues...I don't even know if they have figured out her problem...but lots of testing and a few surgeries already...WTF??

You guys are way too young for this crap!!

Later.

Something is definatley not right there, most "civilised" countries seem to spend more on their prisoners than on their sick and disabled. The costs quoted for keeping a prisoner seem so huge that it makes you wonder if they are not pumped up by someone in authority who is pushing for reforms, earlier release etc,.
I don't particularly advocate chain gangs but some sort of productive work would seem a good idea. In Norway you get a prison sentence for drunk driving, I think it might be three months, those with jobs can defer it so that they can arrange the time and hopefully stay employed. When inside these prisoners are used for national projects, Oslo airport was built that way. One interesting result is that manual workers, particularly the skilled ones become the bosses whilst the bankers and company directors etc get the lowliest jobs!
Obviously you can only do that sort of thing with low-risk prisoners but it's a start.

Another place to start would be death row. I'm all for an appeals process but once a person is convicted and sentenced to die for their crime it should not take decades to do so. If we feel strongly enough that a person must forfeit their life for their crime, justice should be swift. And get rid of the whole, "putting them to sleep" bit. Bullets are cheaper. One between the eyes would do just fine.

It's all about $.

All prisons are privately owned. All prisons charge the govt for Housing the inmates. Killing a prisoner means loss of, say, $100k a year in income. So if it takes ten years of appeals, the prison makes their million bux for the prisoner then can charge for the Kill Session, while the courts and all people involved in the process also make their coinage. And the cynic in me says... I bet you'll find some politician or politicians either owning or having a good lot of shares in, the prison system.

Time and time again, throughout political history, decisions are made and laws passed and contracts awarded that make loads of moo-la-laa for some politician.

The true history of Hemp (hemp used to be widely grown and hemp oil used, until a pollie with shares in Dupont had it demonized so Dupont's petro oil could be used for making plastics instead of cheap hemp oil.)
The BS anti cervical-cancer vaccine being made "opt out" not "opt in" while the pollie responsible had shares in that pharmaceutical company
Halliburton - need I say more
Airport Full Body Scanners
Owners of AP and Fox News having large shares in the co that makes Swine Flu Vaccine (so it's in their interest to scare veryone into thinking an outbreak will happen so sales will go up and they'll make more money).

These off the top of my head.

Want to know why? Follow the $$$.

Of my cynic box.

Michael

Hey, Mad I agree heartfailure sucks at 30. I've had my heartproblem since 21 so I guess you could say I'm used to it now. If you ever get used to this krap. Like this weekend got a 102.1 fever throwing up all day no one knows why. Hopefully it goes away tonight/tomorrow cause I have knee surgery on Tuesday. Yay, me!

You can work part-time while disabled you just can't work more than 70 hours a month or $700. So, if I could work that much which is all but impossible in my current line of work (security) I could get an amazing $1700 a month. It burns me to no end when I hear people saying that people on disability have got it easy no work, gov't takes care of you, etc.  You know what my full-time job is? Sitting in a doctor's office sometimes 6-7 hours of my day. Not to mention driving all over God's creation to hurry up and wait. Having to deal with all of the red tape krap that comes with everything that has to be done. Take Thursday for example I call the surgical center to see if they will access my port for my out- patient knee surgery this Tuesday.
"I'm sorry but we are not equipped to do that."
" Ok I say what if I bring the needles heprain etc? "
" Oh we can't do that"
" Okay what if I come in with it already accessed and you just use it?"
" Uhm, er why can't we just start an IV on you? "
"Because, my veins are shot last time it took 21 times in the ER to get an IV"
" Well, we will have to call you back on that."
I head to my doctor's office and tell them and they say "alright we will just access it here and  keep it in until Tuesday. Okay, great I get a needle in my chest for almost a week, fun. The nurse tries four times she can't get it. Oh, looks like you will have to go to the surgeon to get him to access it seems as if there is a problem great. Oh, but you need a referral. So, gotta wait a couple of hours to get the referal. I rush into the surgeon's office and beg them to work me in to have him access okay $35 co-pay. He walks in and in less than five minutes he has it accessed. Really? Then, get a call from the surgical center. You can come with it accessed but we will have to try to start an IV. What? I still have to be poked and prodded when all you have to do is hook up the danged line to my port!
"Sorry, but that is our policy."

Ah yes the day in the life of Mary!
What I would give for my health!

Mary