Category: Incarceration

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LETTER: Build, fund alternative methods

This letter originally appeared in The Pantagraph on January 15, 2022.

Police unions quickly labeled the recent police reform bill (HB 3653) a Defund the Police bill. Of course, this is . This was almost entirely a reformist police bill. Defunding the police means taking funds & responsibilities away from the police and investing them in alternative structures. Defunding police rejects the notion that every social ill can be fixed by throwing a police officer at it

Defunding the police means taking funds & responsibilities away from the police and investing them in alternative structures. Defunding police rejects the notion that every social ill can be fixed by throwing a police officer at it.

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Notes On McLean County Jail Part 13

Stats from the McLean County Jail, accurate as of March 21st, 2023:

Jail population: 216

Proportions by gender:
are female: 35 (16%)
are male: 181 (84%)

Proportions by race:
Black: 110 (50%)
Other Minority: 13 (6%)
Persons of a Colonial Complexion: 96 (44%)

Number of people over 50: 25 (12%)
Number of people sentenced: 13 (6%)
Number of people pretrial (felony): 186 (86%)
Number of people pretrial (misdemeanors): 8 (4%)
Number of people pretrial for drug offenses: 67 (31%)
Number of out of county residences: 68 (31%)
Number of people prescribed mental health medication: 65 (30%)

Average Population Data between December 1st, 2022-March 21st, 2023

Average Population
213
Highest PopulationLowest Population
237 (2/12/2023 & 2/17/2023)173 (12/23/2022)
Average charged with drug offenseAverage Age over 50
56 (26%)27 (13%)
Total ArrivalsTotal Releases
12981216

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FROM BLONO WITH LOVE

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The Cash Bail System is Cruel and Bad for Society

Handcuffs around a roll of money and an orange background

Even though its abolition is impending, the cash bail system is still wrecking havoc on our communities thanks to mass incarcerationists like States Attorney Don Knapp.

I have a friend, we’ll call him Lenny. In the past three months, Lenny got two DUIs and was arrested. Both times, Lenny bonded out and is awaiting trial.

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FROM BLONO WITH LOVE

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McLean County Incarcerated Stories

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Stats from the McLean County Jail, accurate as of May 19th, 2022:

Jail population: 203

Proportions by gender:
are female: 24
are male: 179

Proportions by race:
Black: 103
Other Minorities: 10
Persons of a Colonial Complexion: 90

Number of people over 50: 18
Number of inmates sentenced: 20
Number of inmates pretrial (felony): 163
Number of inmates pretrial (misdemeanors): 14
Number of Inmates pretrial (other): 6
Number of inmates pretrial for drug offenses: 59
Number of out of county residences: 66


The total number of inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19: 175
The total number of jail staff who have tested positive for COVID-19: 52
The current number of inmates positive for COVID-19: 0
The current number of jail staff positive for COVID-19: 0

Total number of inmates vaccinated for COVID-19 by the jail: 144 total on either 3/24/21, 6/8/21, 9/20/21, 1/19/22, 1/26/22 or 4/19/22.

The number of inmates with COVID-19 that have required respirators in the jail because of COVID-19 symptoms since August 2020: 0

The number of inmates with COVID-19 that have required hospitalization because of COVID

Mental health care has long been an issue at the McLean County Jail. The County Board famously spent over $40 million to upgrade the jail, ostensibly under the guise of increasing mental health care outcomes. However, based on lawsuits filed against the Sheriff and the testimony of multiple people currently or formerly incarcerated, mental health does not seem to be a priority at the jail.

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FROM BLONO WITH LOVE

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Foucault on the Gulag Question

Michel Foucault's Head over a dark picture of a Gulag

What did Foucault have to say about the Gulag Question?

In the late 1970s, as the revelations of the brutality of the Gulags in the USSR became common knowledge, some Leftists attempted to use French Philosopher Michel Foucault’s writings on the prison system to explain away the reality of the Gulag. They would claim, “Everyone has their own Gulag, the Gulag is here at our door, in our cities, our hospitals, our prisons, it’s here in our heads.” While Foucault agreed that the technologies of the Gulag share a history with other forms of incarceration in the West, the politics which lead to the creation of the Gulags were very different than other forms of incarceration. Foucault believes the the problem of the Gulag is a unique to socialist states, and therefore, it requires a critique of the very principles of socialism.

Drawings from the Gulag by Danzig Baldaev.

Citations:

Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977. Buy here!

Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Buy here!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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