CO - Jessica Ridgeway, 10, Westminster, 5 Oct. 2012 - #23

[otto]

Heck, even R Cummings, Haleigh's father had groupies.

If it's in the news, there's someone for every criminal. Attention?

Van der Sloot and what I read about him in the Peruvian prison just burns me up though.

The important point with van der Sloot seems to be to keep him away from society. Society can go to him, but not the other way around. That's what needs to be done with people like Joran and Austin. I don't think anyone should want to hurt Austin, but he should be isolated and kept away from society for obvious reasons. There's no guarantee that he will not do this again ... therefore, as such a dangerous criminal ... lock him up ... but don't put him in an environment were he will be the victim of violence ... same with Joran.

Some people will go to these maniacs. They must have a huge, gaping wedge in their life to make those choices, but they can be found everywhere, not just in Peru.

 

[nikb]

That's a lovely idea.

I think Jessica would like something like that in a park where people can bring their puppies too.

Her puppy must be missing her almost as much as her family.

:rose:
Jessica

Oh my gosh I missed this post earlier. I agree, I think it's a great idea. I hadn't even thought about people being able to bring their puppies too.

 

[Dr. Know?]

Yes, and they need to feel that need somehow...gar

The jails there are pretty much ruled on power & money of the offenders. JVS has both possibly. The guards are on the outside mostly. Shoot them if they try to escape type method, gah. I don't think he's getting picked on or else it would be in the news. Sorry for the O/T btw. ty mods.

Hey Otto!

 

[GrainneDhu]

Prisoners do not retain any of their constitutional rights. After they have served their sentence they cannot even vote.

Depends on which state they live in. Some states deny released felons voting rights, some states have a petition process by which a convicted felon can ask to be reinstated and some states automatically restore voting rights.

Furthermore, all US citizens, regardless of whether they are felons have constitutional rights. For example, they have the right to remain silent, they are protected from cruel and unusual punishment, they have the right to due process, etc.

 

[GrainneDhu]

In what prisons do prisoners have access to the internet? Not in Texas. Anyone can correspond with the inmate, but the inmates cannot solicit pen pals on the internet.

However, a prisoner can have a friend who is not in prison and agrees to solicit for penpals via the internet. In fact, that's what I assumed the prisoner in question was doing.

Heck, there are even prisoners who have blogs; they write out their blog entries by hand or via typewriter (depends on the state and prison), send it to a friend who is not in prison and that person puts it on the prisoner's blogsite.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I think I've talked about this here before, but we had a friend (mostly my husband's ) who was in prison on prescription drug charges for a little over a year. In that time I was shocked how much I learned.

- You can Google it - there are dozens if not hundreds of websites devoted to supporting the prisoners, families, friends. etc. MANY of these include places for prisoners to ask for pen pals, or friends/family to ask people to be their pen pals. This includes death row and other prisoners. The only rule I've seen consistently is you have to be over 18.

- There's a whole industry devoted to knowing the complicated rules and regulations on what prisoners can and can't receive at the different facilities, how often, etc. For example they can get maybe a quarterly package worth up to $100 as long as it's within certain weight and size requirements, and there are companies devoted to putting together these packages that are ordered by family, friends, probably pen pals.

- Maybe some jails/prisons do it differently, but there is NO WAY in heck he was writing to us without it being obvious it was coming from a prisoner, and that's from 3 different facilities he was in. It was stamped in huge red letters all over the envelope, and was actually pretty embarassing! The first time he sent us "jail mail," the mail carrier checked to make sure it was ok to deliver it. And my gosh if you accidentally break one of the rules it's even more embarassing. We once got a letter returned stamped something like "nudity not allowed, with a further handwritten note below it saying 'no nudity!'" I was mortified when I got THAT out of the mailbox. It had a picture of him with his girlfriend, who was apparently wearing too skimpy of a tank top. NOT nude, not even suggestive. Anyway, sorry, OT.

- Yes IMO the prisoners are pretty desparate for outside contact. One time when our friend got transferred and we didn't know yet, his former cell-mate got one of our letters by mistake. He sent it back, with a big long letter of his own telling me what he'd done (his crime), was sorry he accidentally opened the letter, but it was such a nice letter, how he had found God, and was reformed, and he was hoping I'd write to him too. I almost sent a quick note thanking him for returning the stuff but my husband made the good point that I really, really didn't need any additional "pen pals" especially people I don't know at all, and people who (in this case) would be getting out in a year or two.

Sorry, that got kind of long but wanted to share some of my own personal experience on this topic.

Nikb, thank you for supporting your friend. He's still a human being, even if he did something that landed him in prison.

And yes, depending on the prison, some of the rules are almost ridiculous. I talked to one woman who is in her seventies and wanted to visit her greatgrandson in prison. She lives in a hot climate and she went wearing culottes that covered her knees. She was turned away because women visitors are not allowed to wear anything but skirts that cover the knee or full length slacks. The rationale was that anything else may be too suggestive.

She was both upset and amused. She said that she gave up on being suggestive when she realised that everything fell down almost to her waist when she unhooked her bra! LOL!

 

[missalicemay]

Rights schmights. IMO they gave up their "rights" when they took someone else's. This bleeding heart liberal "they have their rights" hooey frosts my cookies. Just my cookie frosted opinion.

 

[human]

Rights schmights. IMO they gave up their "rights" when they took someone else's. This bleeding heart liberal "they have their rights" hooey frosts my cookies. Just my cookie frosted opinion.

It's so hard to remember that they are human beings. Once they were little infants with big eyes not having a clue what was in store for them I mean the killers.

I always marveled at the Amish who were so forgiving over their tragic shooting.

I really don't want to become the next Soviet Gulag or Iran, but it's hard .

I think Ted Bundy had a child with a woman while he was on Death Row. Does anyway remember this.

It's all so sad to me.

Whenever I see an infant, I pray his/her life turns out OK

 

[KaaBoom]

Prisoners do not retain any of their constitutional rights. After they have served their sentence they cannot even vote.

This is simply not correct. Prisoners do have limited constitutional rights. In some states they can vote from prison. In most states they can vote after they complete their prison sentence + parole + probation.

http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=286

 

[missalicemay]

It's so hard to remember that they are human beings. Once they were little infants with big eyes not having a clue what was in store for them I mean the killers.

I always marveled at the Amish who were so forgiving over their tragic shooting.

I really don't want to become the next Soviet Gulag or Iran, but it's hard .

I think Ted Bundy had a child with a woman while he was on Death Row. Does anyway remember this.

It's all so sad to me.

Whenever I see an infant, I pray his/her life turns out OK

I hear what you're saying. Would that we could look into the eyes of a child and see his future....but we can't. And what would we do if we could? Who would decide what to do about a future monster?

I envy anyone who has the ability to forgive unconditionally, hate is an awful thing to carry in your heart. Maybe that's the secret. I don't know. I'm not feeling like forgiveness would heal these things.

 

[D'sWifey]

:great: Yes! My Aspie son is the same.

They are special indeed, and we as parents are so blessed to have them.

 

[D'sWifey]

Thank You D'sWifey!! I couldn't have said it any better than this!! My 3 yo grandson has Autisim, and he is the most loving child I have ever known. He has never spoken a word, but his eyes say it all. In every smile, hug, and kiss, the love shines through.

Thank you for that and for sharing about your Grandson. They are truly blessings in disguise. God makes no mistakes

 

[mck16]

This is simply not correct. Prisoners do have limited constitutional rights. In some states they can vote from prison. In most states they can vote after they complete their prison sentence + parole + probation.

http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=286

thank you for correcting that. I really appreciate it. jmo

 

[GrainneDhu]

It's so hard to remember that they are human beings. Once they were little infants with big eyes not having a clue what was in store for them I mean the killers.

I always marveled at the Amish who were so forgiving over their tragic shooting.

I really don't want to become the next Soviet Gulag or Iran, but it's hard .

I think Ted Bundy had a child with a woman while he was on Death Row. Does anyway remember this.

It's all so sad to me.

Whenever I see an infant, I pray his/her life turns out OK

Yes, Ted Bundy had a child with the woman he married during the Kimberly Leach trial.

At that time, guards in that prison would accept bribes from prisoners to look the other way if unauthorised contact between a prisoner and visitor was taking place. According to Ann Rule, prisoners would pool their money for a bribe, then draw lots after it was accepted to see who got to be the, er, lucky one.

Again, according to Ann Rule, Bundy's wife moved away from Florida before he was executed. She changed her name and her child's name. That child is now a young adult, has apparently done well in college and is pursuing a post-bachelor's degree.

 

[GrainneDhu]

I hear what you're saying. Would that we could look into the eyes of a child and see his future....but we can't. And what would we do if we could? Who would decide what to do about a future monster?

I envy anyone who has the ability to forgive unconditionally, hate is an awful thing to carry in your heart. Maybe that's the secret. I don't know. I'm not feeling like forgiveness would heal these things.

Forgiveness has one great benefit: it cuts the tie between the transgressor and the person transgressed against. I realised many years ago that I did not want to continue to be tied to the man who raped me, so I found a way to forgive him.

Buddhists have a story about this (Buddhists have a story about everything): two monks in Japan who were travelling from one monastery to another met a courtesan at the side of a brook. The brook waters were slightly raised and the stepping stones were covered, so that the courtesan feared for her fine clothing and shoes. The older monk offered to carry her across the stream on his back and did so.

For the rest of the day, the younger monk was obviously troubled. After they made a camp for the night, he finally asked the older monk "how can you have contact with a woman like that without being sullied?"

The older monk replied "my brother, I put her down this morning but you have carried her all day."

 

[nikb]

Nikb, thank you for supporting your friend. He's still a human being, even if he did something that landed him in prison.

And yes, depending on the prison, some of the rules are almost ridiculous. I talked to one woman who is in her seventies and wanted to visit her greatgrandson in prison. She lives in a hot climate and she went wearing culottes that covered her knees. She was turned away because women visitors are not allowed to wear anything but skirts that cover the knee or full length slacks. The rationale was that anything else may be too suggestive.

She was both upset and amused. She said that she gave up on being suggestive when she realised that everything fell down almost to her waist when she unhooked her bra! LOL!

Thanks GrainneDhu. I definitely think if it was a violent crime I couldn't/wouldn't have - even though he's still human, I just couldn't do it. In fact when I first heard about how much stuff he was being charged with and how long his sentence might be my jaw dropped, but once I learned more I thought the whole thing was kind of ridiculous. They've been trying to crack down on the prescription painkiller thing, and I understand why, but I think they mostly wanted to make him into an example. Sooo much time and money was spent in court, jails, housing, etc. for basically what amounted to having a bottle of painkillers he bought on the street that weren't prescribed to him, and missing a drug class he was supposed to go to in lieu of jail. I read the charges, so it's not just his version of events I'm going by.

Oh my gosh that story about the great-grandmother is sad but also pretty funny. Some of the rules make sense but some are so strange IMO.

As it relates to ARS, I can't even imagine being able to support him, nevermind throwing myself at him, but IMO I'm guessing he'll have family who will support him - which he'll need. Likely "groupies" too. As I think Otto said at least if he's locked up and it's people choosing to go to him, not him choosing to go to them, I guess to each their own. MOO.

 

[borndem]

<respectfully snipped by borndem>

Dear God..Please Let Jessica Ridgeway and Caylee Anthony Run and Play Together!

Along with Zahra Baker and Shaniya Davis -- little flowers, all!

 

[borndem]

I've seen prisoners being able to communicate via email. I'd have to dig back but some prisons do allow it. One guy I saw was accused of chopping a poor young teen up here in AZ. He had a profile and all. I went looking for it the other day and can't find it now.

About 15 to 20 years ago here, a prison or jail had a huge telephone bill due of calls to 900 numbers for sex. They caught it after a month or so but it was in the thousands of dollars. duh..

Not an advocate for prisoner ease for communications at this point yet. jmo

bbm

:floorlaugh: I guess I needed a laff -- this just made me chuckle -- Thanks, Doc!

 

[Victoriouswon]

I think you are right! My biggest concern was coming across a website where a death row inmate was able to post his personal profile in order to solicit pen pals.

I suppose the silver lining is maybe someone who makes contact can make a difference...

a few years ago I started getting letters from a prisoner. I received about 5 letters in 3 days. The addressee had Mrs. and then his name. I admit I was a nosy porker and read them as I could not ascertain what neighbor they belonged to and it was my address on them. Well its a good thing I did read them. They were long ( 10 pages at least-front and back) talking about her letters to him and all the love they shared. He even discussed his crimes. The letters were from a prison in my state. When I read the part that he couldn't wait to come see me and stay with me I completely freaked out! Not only am I a single mom of 3 but at the time I ran a licensed daycare. The LAST thing we needed was a convict showing up at my house.

so I called the police, then the prison. I got his counselor to call me back. I explained the situation. She assured me she would get the message to him that he was writing the wrong person and had the wrong address. I also told her that IF he showed up at my house I would have a nice surprise waiting for him and he would not be going back to prison if you catch my drift.

I was able to look up his crimes online and he lied about what he had done-no surprise.

anyway to make a long story short he never showed up but I was very uneasy for a long time.

 

[Victoriouswon]

Drugs, alcohol, bad crowd, environment, genetics...from what has been posted about him confessing, he knows right from wrong. I don't think it's drugs or alcohol as he had to get help for a *advertiser censored* addiction when he was 15, he'd have to have some tendancies to want to maybe run up mom's credit card on *advertiser censored* sites, kill the neighborhood cats, attack another child?, rape, murder, and dismember & you couldn't be too messed up doing that but it happens a I guess. hmmm

He's got a big problem. Dahlmer & Bundy might have to move over and share the sick fame they have gained as well as many others. Are they born with it? When were AS's problems first noticed will be a clue to me. He could have been a dangerous child that only acted out at odd times due to some type trigger. Scary if the family sat in fear of those times. More scary he wasn't stopped in time, if so. Sad that Jessica's family is having to deal with her death.

jmo

I have a very close friend who has a step son that has lived with her and her husband for the last 10 years. He is 12 now. Since he was around 7 she told me that she is afraid of him. She often thinks of divorcing because of the step son. He has ADHD, has some autistic issues, he has always been on medication. She sleeps with her bedroom door locked and sleeps with a gun under her pillow. The husband does not see anything wrong with his son. He buys him guns every year for Christmas. My friend has said she does not want him to have access to guns but her husband uses the excuse that HE is the biological father and can decide these things. The husband is retired military. After my friend shared everything with me I stopped seeing her. I have a son the same age and I felt limiting the contact was appropriate. I have known her for over 30 years. I have to admit that her kid scared me from the first day I met him. He does what he wants, how he wants, talks back in a menacing way and now that he is physically taller and bigger than my friend she is even more scared. However she does not see a way to help him. He is always kicked out of school for violence and he hurts her dogs. The last time he hurt her doxen (sp) he broke her 2 front legs. Lied about it but since they were the only 2 home she knew it was him. she lied to the vet.

Until he kills someone what IS there to do? She says the step son needs her for stability and does not want to give up on him.She has no biological children of her own. Everyone in her family wants her leave but she just won't. she feels that he would get worse with just his father but at the same time she has no legal recourse due to being a step parent.



From what I gathered he was born this way, was a very difficult baby, his mother abandoned him while his father was overseas,he just exudes evil to me. It's the look in his eyes or rather the humanity that is missing in his eyes.

What would you do if you were my friend?