Is it fair to compare Nazi Heinrich Himmler and "Corrections" Commissioner Martin Horn? No, not really, Himmler had an excuse.
Just when you think that Horn and his vindictive minions have done every cruel and disgusting thing that you can imagine, they prove you wrong. In the jungle of uncivilized and inhumane minds of "corrections," even the most loathsome conduct is justified because the victims are nothing but sub-human prisoners and the leader is that prince of uncivilized excess, the Governor of Death, Ridge.
What's wrong with a society that can produce such specimens of evil perversity? Of a truth, such a society is seriously tainted!
So we all recognize what kind of a being Martin Horn and his boss, the Governor of Death are. Only a fool would dispute that prison guards are almost equally loathsome.
Recently this foul clot of phlegm devised yet another little torture for prisoners and their families.
The Republican idea of punishing the poor (mostly minority) families of prisoners has become established state policy. Horn's heinous minions and other Republican oppressors already have in place a whole array of punishments for families of prisoners.
To mention just one, they take about $5,000,000.00 from the poorest families in the Commonwealth as a premium on phone calls.
For another thing, the poor families must now pay to provide basic medical care and medication for their imprisoned loved ones. True to form, the Republicans adore this money maker. It's their way to exploit from the poor and helpless!
Get the prisoner sick in the pest hole with the foul "food" and ill treatment and old age. Once sick, make the prisoner pay for treatment. Sure, because he's sick, he can't earn a penny. The prisons have ample graveyards. If the prisoner's poor family wants care for him or wants to save his worthless life, they must pay dearly to subsidize the disgusting system.
There are dozens more of these tortures and taxes on prisoners' families. Now Himmler Horn has devised yet another torment for them.
As of August 1996, the official policy of the "corrections" thugs is to "transport" prisoners. You remember the "transporting" of convicts from former centuries when cruel and backwards European governments shipped convicts to colonial Australia, Devil's Island, Georgia and so forth.
Horn's not able to go to such extremes. He can only have the convicts transported as far from their homes as possible. That's become his official policy. Philadelphians, for example, are transported 350 miles to Greene County.
From Horn's perspective and that of the tender Republicans, it's the next best thing to building ovens and gas spewing showers. The prisoners' poor families will be especially well punished. Visiting will be almost impossible. That will make both the prisoners and the families lonely and unhappy. It will greatly hasten the break up of marriages and families. The disgruntled prisoner is more likely to misbehave and so, to give the guards an excuse to punish or beat them. Some prisoners may get lonely and depressed enough to commit suicide. That's special entertainment for the guards.
If a prisoner's family perseveres and makes the long trip to visit him, there's a good chance some will be punished with accidents or traffic violations. That will teach them not to produce those genetic defect criminals!
If the family makes the lengthy trip, they'll likely spend a good bit of money in rural Republican areas. Even if they can't manage to visit, they'll likely accept phone calls. The farther away the prisoner is, the more it will cost the family and the bigger the prison's cut (about 20% of the toll) will be.
You wonder what kind of mind thinks up this kind of shit. It's easy, Horn's.
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