Why Do Inmates Have This Freedom?
Nov 22, 2011 Political
The AP has a report out about people who are being intimidated by inmates through social media, most notably, Facebook. It appears that inmates are using Facebook to harass and intimidate the victims of their crimes as well as the witnesses to those crimes.
Some victims and witnesses are very upset and scared that those who are in jail could use Facebook to get information that would help them or their surrogates to attack them. The information on Facebook, the pictures, the location information and the large amount of data that FB seems unable to keep secure (and often deliberately releases) is great intel for people who will soon leave prison or who have friends on the outside who can attack the innocent.
Why do criminals have access to computers that are connected to the Internet? Why, for that matter, do they even have access to computers? It is bad enough that we allow them to have cable TV with a zillion channels but now they have access to computers and the Internet. Unbelievable.
Some of the problem, it seems, is that inmates use cell phones that have been smuggled in to access the Internet. How do people sneak phones into the jail? Certainly the guards could sneak them in so they should be searched when they enter. If they get caught sneaking a cell phone in then they should get six months in jail and lose their job.
People who smuggle a phone in and get caught should be sent to jail for six months and be denied permission to visit inmates. Inmates caught with cell phones should have six months added to their sentences, be put in solitary for a month and have their privilege to get visitors suspended for six months.
Make it tough for all concerned. I am all for the prisons installing the cell phone jammers and other technologies to keep cell phones from sending or receiving.
Any inmate caught harassing people through social media (or in any other fashion) should receive even more stringent punishment.
Keep in mind that the jails are secured facilities and that they are supposed to keep things from coming in or going out without close scrutiny. How are tens of thousands of phones entering these facilities?
Because they are full of the same incompetence that permeates all levels of government.
These are the same kinds of people who will be running your health care…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: cell phones, facebook, inmates, intimidation, smuggling
News From The World Of Politics
Feb 12, 2010 Political
Obama Won’t Play Nice At Recess
When Barack Obama was a Senator he was part of the minority party and that party, rather than give an up or down vote on Bush nominees, filibustered them. When John Bolton was nominated to the UN, Obama and the Democrats worked to defame the man and then filibustered his nomination. George Bush appointed him during the Congressional recess.
Barack Obama said that Bolton was damaged goods which was a Democrat theme. The idea being that any appointee not confirmed by the Senate was damaged (the DU agreed with this). Now that Republicans have played the same game with Obama nominees (some Democrats joined the Republicans) Obama is talking about making recess appointments to key positions. Verum Serum
So will these appointments be “damaged goods?”
Roland Martin of CNN has suggested that Barack Obama go gangsta on the Republicans with regard to the recess appointments. The funny thing about this is that Martin completely ignores Obama’s history of doing the very thing Martin wants him to go gangsta on. Obama seems oblivious as well:
If the Senate does not act — and I made this very clear — if the Senate does not act to confirm these nominees, I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess, because we can’t afford to allow politics to stand in the way of a well-functioning government.”
It was perfectly OK for Obama to allow politics to stand in the way of a well functioning government when he and his fellow Democrats were the ones doing it.
I Wonder How They Would Feel If Someone Tracked Obama By Cell Phone
The Obama administration is arguing that people have no reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to their location if they use cell phones (which can locate the proximity of the user, even if it is not actively being used for a call).
In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no “reasonable expectation of privacy” in their–or at least their cell phones’–whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that “a customer’s Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records” that show where a mobile device placed and received calls. CNET
It seems to me that Obama was concerned about phone records being obtained by the Bush administration. When Obama took the Bush administration position and voted not to hold the companies responsible for honoring the request, Keith Olberman talked about how courageous it was. He talked about Bush as if he were Hitler over the very same issue.
But I digress. Should the police be able to obtain this information without a warrant that demonstrates probable cause? Evidently the Obama administration thinks so.
Budget Freeze In New Jersey Sends Chills Up Democrat’s Spines
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has ruffled the feathers of Democrats by freezing the state budget and cutting the budget in areas where money has been abused and where excesses exist. Christie promised to make New Jersey more fiscally responsible and the Democrats are not happy about that.
They are upset that he is doing this by executive order rather than the legislative process (he declared an emergency, not wanting to let one go to waste). The legislative process under the Democrats there is what caused the problem.
Let’s see how New Jersey does and then decide if Christie is doing the right thing. At least he is trying to get his arms around the out of control spending, something that has not happened in the past.
I bet New Jersey will see better days in the future.
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Tags: cell phones, chris christie, new jersey, Obama, Privacy, recess