I like when Clarance Page calls me a “rascal”! He writes in the Chicago Tribune: When Peter Moskos’ new book landed on my desk, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a treatise on crime and punishment or some sort of kinky sex manual. Its title: “In Defense of Flogging.” You rascal, I…
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Mansfield Frazier write in The Daily Beast: At first glace, the title of Peter Moskos’ new book, In Defense of Flogging, strikes you as a barbaric hoax being perpetrated by some sort of right-wing ideologue or kook. In fact, it initially appears to be an idea so outrageous, so provocative, as to not even rate…
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Explain something to me. Campaign donations aren’t supposed to buy politicians, right? Because that would be bribery. But corporations give money for “access” or some other BS like that, right? And you can’t limit the money they give to politicians, because, say the courts, corporations are people too. And corporations are usually legally bound to…
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…But something always bothers me when police break down your door and kill you. Doesn’t seem necessary. update: The tactics here are terrible. Why are they standing in front of the door? I wouldn’t answer a call for a lost lolcat without standing off to the side. In fact, even today, 10 years later, I…
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When I was a cop, I rather enjoyed swearing to uphold the constitutions of the United States and Maryland. It seemed like quite an honor. (Even if the actually oath was done very matter-of-factly in some cubical by a woman who didn’t seem to care. And honestly, I’ve never read the Maryland Constitution.) Oath Keepers…
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Anybody who hears hears crap like “200,000 to 300,000 US youth are victims of sex trafficking” and believes it needs a tune-up in the department of B.S. detection. I don’t know why people love to believe made up stats and then discount real ones that matter (eg: poverty, prison, homicide). One headline read, “HUMAN TRAFFICKING…
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A friend sent me this link which shows a bunch of unarmed cops confronting (and running away from) an armed suspect. Had this happened when I was a cop, I would have shot him. No doubt. And slept well. But these cops couldn’t shoot because they don’t have guns. And in the end everybody got…
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An NYPD officer were acquitted of rape today. Did I think he’s guilty? Yeah, I do. But I’m not surprised he was acquitted. (He and his partner were found guilty of lesser charges and promptly fired.) In fact, last week I predicted this exactoutcome (but just to my class… you’ll have to take my word).…
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In Defense of Flogging reviewed (favorably!) in Bloombergand today’s S.F. Chronicle. They “get it”: And at just over 150 pages of clear, smart and highly readable prose, Moskos’s sharp little volume has a potential audience far beyond the experts who dutifully slog through most tomes like this. It’s the kind of item that could be…
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California spends more than $50,000 per prisoner. A few years ago, back when it only costs $49,000 to lock a person up for a year, Mother Jones did a breakdown of where that money goes: Security: $20,429 Medical services: $7,669 Parole operations: $4,436 Facility operations: $3,938 Administration: $2,871 Psychiatric services: $1,403 Food: $1,377 Education: $687…
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