Since 1996 ours has been an outspoken journal for prisoners, especially the 42,000+ Pennsylvania state captives, the men and women too often thought of as the Striped (and stripped) Menace. Regardless of your preconceptions, the reality is that prisoners are helpless and often without hope. They are pointlessly oppressed. They have no voice. In a more humane age, prisoners could rely on independent courts as unbiased forums in which to have their grievances heard. No more! Right-wing political manipulation has made the courts the puppets of the rich and powerful, the oppressor class. The courts are now as utterly unreliable as the rest of the government. Prisoners have no way to effect improvement in their existence. The Department of Imprisonment (or "Corrections" as they like to call themselves, "DOC" like any tyrant, is terrified of public exposure. The DOC doesn't want you to know the truth, what's really going on inside the prisons. They dread that you may discover that prisoners are people just like anybody else. DOC fanatically crushes free speech and free expression. It fears the truth. We're trying to offer a "wee-small voice" for the wretched, a sort of online newsletter or ongoing book. Our goal is to breach the prison walls so that you can appreciate what's going on inside. You won't like what you see. Hate-Objects Certain kinds of Americans need "hate-objects" a "them," an underclass that they can hate and look down upon. Such neuroticly frightened persons need victims to oppress. Blacks were the usual hate-objects. Of course homosexuals were/are ideal. Women weren't bad, either...oh, and the Russians, Arabs, Moslems and the dread liberals. Conservative and Republican hate-mongers have carefully indoctrinated you, the public, to hate and fear, to have an "enemy." Prisoners have become the accepted hate-object, the enemy, the "Striped Menace." We give them a voice. The future society will recall the oppressions of prisoners and wonder how a civilized people could treat them so badly as a matter of public policy. We're trying to be the conscience reminding you that, regardless of the current social norm, it's simply wrong to treat any person in a way you would not want to be treated yourself. "The Puritan hated bear-bating not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators" (1849) Thomas Babington You are welcome to use or republish any of our material. Please give www.prisoners.com credit as the source. Return to the Main Menu Go to our site's Search Engine Send us Your Comments or Input.