It is a terrible dare, to stand up against the System when in Maine state prison. Unlike other states in New england and Elsewhere, Maine prison officials cling to an archaic labyrinthine hodgepodge of human rights-violating prison punishment practices and policies. Taking issue with inhumane conditions or treatment opens inmates to sure retribution, exacted in excruciating detail But for MPBN and other media. that's not a story
Already, with the hunger strike of a collective group of inmates being held in sensory deprivation cells of officially ended, Deputy Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord gloats that 'no changes will be made' in our state's sick policy of putting inmates into punishment cells for months of prolonged sensory deprivation. Inmates at Maine state prison carried out a similar hunger strike in 2006
So does Maine media look into why these eight Mainers dared to put their necks on the line?
Of course not! (with a few tiny exceptions). Take Herald Gazette/Village Soup reporter Shlomit Auciello. Please!
Primed to the gills with info about the raisons d'etre for the Maine state prison's present and past hunger strikes, about Maine's history of retribution against those inmates daring to lawfully rock the boat about the devastating effect that prolonged sensory deprivation has on the minds and hearts of those being held in such circumstances, primed with all this info what does Shlomit Auciello do?
Why, she builds her story around the exhalations of the Great Bloviator: Associate Corrections Commissioner for Public Relations Denise Lord. Right from the start:
"According to DOC Associate Commissioner Denise Lord...."
Lord is good at her job. Like one of Saddam's officials, or a guantanamo public affairs officer he can extoll the positive side of torture: it is "an incentive to inmates " Auciello dutifully reports this party line.
"They have access to reading materials and magazines," Lord observed, leaving out the well known observation that anyone held in sensory deprivation units quickly becomes disoriented and unable to read as the days and weeks pass.
Most disgraceful perhaps. Auciello tries to sugarcoat the disgusting fact that at any given moment, the state of Maine continually puts men and women in and out of sensory deprivation tanks for widely varying lengths of time. Letting Lord get away with spinning it polyannaishly as "fewer than 2.5 percent of the prison's 2,200 inmates!" as though sensory deprivation was not a practice that can only be described as intentional infliction of torture, carried out in the name of the People of Maine.
But that wasnt the story Lord wanted, and Auciello like the rest of the callow media went right along with the associate commish.
So, policies that so conflict with international human rights treaties that global sanctions against te Baldacci Administration ought to be imposed? Not an issue.
So does Maine media look into why these eight Mainers dared to put their necks on the line?
Of course not! (with a few tiny exceptions). Take Herald Gazette/Village Soup reporter Shlomit Auciello. Please!
Primed to the gills with info about the raisons d'etre for the Maine state prison's present and past hunger strikes, about Maine's history of retribution against those inmates daring to lawfully rock the boat about the devastating effect that prolonged sensory deprivation has on the minds and hearts of those being held in such circumstances, primed with all this info what does Shlomit Auciello do?
Why, she builds her story around the exhalations of the Great Bloviator: Associate Corrections Commissioner for Public Relations Denise Lord. Right from the start:
"According to DOC Associate Commissioner Denise Lord...."
Lord is good at her job. Like one of Saddam's officials, or a guantanamo public affairs officer he can extoll the positive side of torture: it is "an incentive to inmates " Auciello dutifully reports this party line.
"They have access to reading materials and magazines," Lord observed, leaving out the well known observation that anyone held in sensory deprivation units quickly becomes disoriented and unable to read as the days and weeks pass.
Most disgraceful perhaps. Auciello tries to sugarcoat the disgusting fact that at any given moment, the state of Maine continually puts men and women in and out of sensory deprivation tanks for widely varying lengths of time. Letting Lord get away with spinning it polyannaishly as "fewer than 2.5 percent of the prison's 2,200 inmates!" as though sensory deprivation was not a practice that can only be described as intentional infliction of torture, carried out in the name of the People of Maine.
But that wasnt the story Lord wanted, and Auciello like the rest of the callow media went right along with the associate commish.
So, policies that so conflict with international human rights treaties that global sanctions against te Baldacci Administration ought to be imposed? Not an issue.
Inmate-rights organizations are pumping up the volume, taking Baldacci to task
beyond the beachhead that the hunger strikers have established in their brief campaign. They are doubtless learning the punitive consequences of their courage, which we should not allow to have happened in vain.
beyond the beachhead that the hunger strikers have established in their brief campaign. They are doubtless learning the punitive consequences of their courage, which we should not allow to have happened in vain.
Let's convince the Governor that Maine needs to join other New England states (and the rest of the civilized world) and remove the stain to our honor of our adhering to an archaic labyrinth of human rights-violating prison punishment practices and policies.
From sensory deprivation in long term punishment isolation cells, to forced exile to distant states, deputy commissioners and wardens pick and choose from a palette of cruelty to suit their moods.
Let's put an end to this
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