Through Foreign Eyes
by Dr. Pierre Duterte of France
How Can California Afford the
Most Expensive Pizza Slice in the world?
My foreign eyes were quite sur-prised to read about a strange "Three
Strikes" law in 22 out of the 50 states in the U.S. Slowly I am getting
used to the particularities of this fascinating country of yours, such as
treating a death row prisoner who tried to commit suicide on the day of
his execution, just to make him ready to be executed, or to have tobacco-free
prisons to officially improve the health of prisoners, I guess, so as to
have healthy people to execute. I thought that Prohibition had clearly shown
that these restrictive laws against "addiction" are useless, maybe
even worse.
When I learned about these "Three-Strikes-and You-Are-Out," my
first question was why "three"? Why not "one" or "five"?
Which one is the right number? Okay let's have it three, but why "out"?
Just because you are in?-simple as that-locked inside prison for all your
life? Have you U.S. people lost all confidence in mankind? Or are you selecting
perfect U.S. citizens? The ones out of prison will be perfect, maybe blond
with blue eyes, while the ones in prison (who are the ones "out"
because of the "Three Strikes") will be living in the special
ghetto for non-perfect human beings! This sounds like a caricature to me,
too manichean, too non-human!
Okay let's imagine this can be accepted. Is it useful? One strike is not
a problem; you know you still have another one; but when you have used them
both, are you always thinking that next time you will be out-inside the
walls? To me it sounds like a non-deterrent, useless law like the death
penalty. By the way do you notice that USA is the only western "democracy"
to have crime and incarceration rates ten times higher than in the other
so-called civilized countries!
Is there any sense in having people locked in, and sometimes locked down
for a 25-to-life sentence just for "three strikes"? Is it too
difficult to realize that Jerry Dewayne Williams wasn't thinking about his
third strike when he stole a pizza slice! Can we imagine that someone-even
if he has done two other previous felonies-could go to prison for 25 years-to-life
just because he feels like eating a pizza slice and can't afford it?
What a price for a pizza! For Jerry Dewayne Williams, a life destroyed for
a dry crust, a few slices of tomatoes, some anchovies and maybe, if he chose
a very expensive one, with an olive on top! And what a price for you Californian
citizens to pay! Do you realize how much this pizza slice will cost each
taxpayer? Are you really ready to pay up to $750,000 a slice? If it was
a quarter of the whole pizza, that would make it up to $3,000,000 for the
pizza! Plus the fact that this guy and all the others could have been working
and making money!
I think we have to be realistic. Some prisoners have nothing to do in society
and will probably never be able to go back into what we used to call the
free world. Some have to be kept in a psychiatric hospital, but I think
they are a minority. I don't say anyone has to be released, but this frenzy
of incarceration, spinning faster and faster to harsher sentences, longer
incarceration, and systematic judging is inhuman.
Why not have the defendant sit in front of a computer, push a three-strike
button, and have the incarceration warrant automatically printed? This will
unload the judges' docket.
How do the judges and people who write the law think they are all that perfect
to install such repressive laws? Where is the humanity in all that?
You need to come back to reality. A man has a fundamental right, in my opinion,
to improve, to have the possibility to be better, and that's what prisons
are supposed to do! The prison is supposed to be a place to make you ready
for re-insertion into society, not a safe where people are kept locked up
just to let everyone else feel free.
Fortunately, some judges don't feel bound by these restrictive new laws.
With new discretion from the state Supreme Court, a judge reduced Jerry
Dewayne Williams' previous felonies to misdemeanors. So Jerry will be out
in two years. You have saved 21 years, you lucky California citizens. That
makes the pizza slice much cheaper, only $120,000-a real bargain!
If you have time off, come to see me. I will be pleased to offer you a nice
French meal for $40, and trust me, you will enjoy it much more than a pizza!
Dr. Pierre Duterte works in a French association taking care of refugees,
victims of torture or repression in their homeland. He writes to death-row
prisoners and prisoners in general population in a number of states in the
U.S. He has been to the Texas death row twice.
Dec Jan 97-98---
N.C.Xpress -- Archives
-- Electrons to the Editor
