Murder, Inc., in our prisons …
MSNBC put together a startling and revealing documentary about our state prison system. Of course, our prisons are overflowing with criminals, and we may soon be hearing about the need to build more prisons to house more prisoners.
That wasn’t the startling message, however. What was startling and revealing was what’s taking place in our prison system across the U.S. today and none of it has anything to do with over-crowded conditions.
The prisons portrayed in the television series documentary all had one thing in common: to the letter, each was segregated. In one prison the Black population grouped together. The whites grouped together in another portion of the same prison. The Hispanics made up two distinct groups: one large faction was made up of “Northern Mexicans,” while the other was comprised of “Southern Mexicans.” (This is quite a difference from the U.S. outside world where integration is watched over with an American Civil Liberties Union eye.)
None of the four groups like one another. Let me rephrase that. The four groups hate each other, and to prove their respective hate points, they regularly knife one another, gouge out eyeballs, slash each other’s faces, and when push comes to shove, kill one another.
Another thing these large groups have in common is they are all lifers, meaning they have committed one major crime or another and are in prison for the duration of life with little or no chance of parole.
If there is any correction agenda in place, none of it came out in the documentary. In fact, quite the opposite.
The groups run their gangs from their home towns and states from their prison cells. So, if Johnny-the-Knifer wants someone wiped out some place in America, he has but to order it and the deed will be done. The lifers can do this because they have access to telephones, and to make sure they aren’t caught ordering a murder or beating, they have their own respective, ingenious codes they use when chatting amiably on the telephone.
