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Chapter 20

The New Normal?


Prisons provide people all sorts of opportunities if you think about it. For
corrupt politicians it gives them a great place to hide their secrets with
witnesses who will never be believed or who can be killed without too much of
a fuss for only 30 cartons of cigarettes or perhaps $5,000 of drugs smuggled in
with a cooperative lawyer or cash-strapped guard. For big campaign donors,
prisons provide a great way to be rewarded for their loyalty with all sorts of
lucrative vendor contracts to sell the state or federal prison all sorts of supplies
at inflated prices. Such things as $5 apples, $50 jumpsuits, and $5 rolls of toilet
paper. If Prisons did their shopping at Costco or BJ Wholesale they could cut
their budgets in half. If they bought their supplies from one central vendor like
GSA, they could consolidate their costs and save 66%. But then again they
have no motive to do so, and there would be one-less way to pay back favors.
For criminals, prisons could provide a place to reflect upon their misdeeds and
be rehabilitated if there was some real attempt to help them. But it is hard to
make money off of psychologists, shrinks, vocational teachers, and counselors,
so very little if any effort is made to actually help a prisoner develop new job
skills or even realize the harm they caused other people with their crime.
Instead they are just warehoused, and like wine allowed to ferment. This
provides criminals with their own opportunities to network, make new criminal
alliances and scheme their next crime. In fact many of the new criminal
enterprises are actually begun and directed from inside prison walls via weekly
visits by lawyers, business associates, and friends. This link here shows just
on of many examples of how some prisoners actually grow rich from
opportunities afforded to them by the working vacation of a prison stint. Even
prison guards are regularly used as runners or as the Federal Express
couriers of organized crime. If and when they get caught operating their
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enterprises, about 10% of them will be shut down and the proprietors relocated
to the hole, but 90% of them will be shaken down for a cut of the profits by the
prison official lucky enough to stumble upon the operation. And for other
prisoners who are falsely jailed for convenience or so some over-zealous
prosecutor or law enforcement officer could reach their conviction or arrest
quotas, incarceration provides plenty of time to think and sort out the realities
of life in America. Such was the case with me.
I must say, I have met some
very intelligent people

in

prison, and admittedly most,


but not all of them belonged
there. Many of them were
people who made headlines
for a day or two, and some
who kept them for more than
a week. But I also met a great many innocent people, (including the political
prisoners I mention elsewhere) and some of them were maybe more patriotic
than intelligent, others too nave, but most just intimidated or coerced into
pleading guilty to crimes they never committed. Fear is a powerful tool of
prosecutors especially when husbands and fathers are told their wives and
children will also be prosecuted if they do not plead guilty. And when one does
not have an extra $150,000 laying around to hire a federal criminal lawyer and
the next ten to thirty years of your life rests in the hands of a young public
defender who just graduated from law school last year, a five year prison
sentence which translates into 38 months of actual prison time, suddenly
becomes a safe solution that far outweighs any hope of real justice. It is this
overwhelming fear and lack of trust in our nations courts that compel people to
plead guilty when they are not.

Suffice it to say that as someone who spent 21 of my 38 months behind bars


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working as a volunteer law clerk for other prisoners, I got to see their case
summaries, indictments, government evidence and with no hesitation
whatsoever, I will categorically say that 20% of all prisoners jailed in America
are innocent people who were jailed for a variety o f reasons, most of which can
be boiled down to convenience.

Granted, less than 7% of Americas

prisoners are political prisoners, but the punishment and prison mentality of
Americas police state puts too many innocent people behind bars like
Mr. Slevin of New Mexico who was jailed more than 20 months in solitary
confinement without a trial (See photos link below)
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/06/17212442-man-left-in-solit
ary-confinement-for-2-years-gets-155-million-settlement

And because we have allowed our leaders to inject us all with fear about their
self-created terrorism, we have all become accustomed to such abuse to the
point where the media does not even bother to report most of it any more. The
new normal of American life is now one that tolerates abhorrent behavior and
the highest yet unjustifiable incarceration rate in the civilized world. No country
in the world jails a higher percentage of its citizens that the United States of
America. Although the numbers fluctuate, approximately 10% of all American
residents will be arrested in their lifetime. This is an outrageous fact that is
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being accepted as normal by too many Americans. In 1960, this figure was
less than 5%. What has happened over the last 60 years? Have Americans
grown more violent, desperate, or criminally insane? No. Our government law
enforcement officers have simply grown more aggressive and abusive in
exercising their authority.

Any American in their 60s will remember a time when as children, police
officers were admired and trusted friends of our communities who could be
counted on to always do the right thing and offer genuine help. We never
hesitated to approach a beat cop and ask for help or even advice with a
problem. We never had to wonder is this an honest or corrupt cop. They
served us well with a smile and always honorable intentions. Today in most all
American communities, the police are mistrusted and avoided. In many cities

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like Miami, Chicago, and Newark, they are e ven feared. Americans now look at
police officers as someone who may be honest and helpful, or could just as
easily be corrupt and only one arrest away from a bonus. We call upon them
only in emergencies, and if we dare to stop one on the street with a problem
we may very well get interrogated and detained ourselves just for not having
an identification card on our person. The 911 fiasco fueled this blazing fire or
fear that burns so hot in America. But the people we need to fear most do not
live in other countries it is our fellow Americans in Washington who stoke this
fire daily with fresh coals and occasional throw some gasoline on the fire every
time it even looks like it may burn out. Any American who talks with a police
officer in Canada, Norway, or China will see a glimpse of what American law
enforcement used to be like in the 60s polite, helpful, and friendly. I will never
forget the day I drove an elderly Jewish neighbor of mine to go grocery
shopping in Miami and I was stopped by a local cop for speeding (only 5mph
over the limit, but guilty - I confess). He was quite rude and way too direct, but I
honestly did not expect anything better from my own experience in law
enforcement. But I will never forget the look on Mrs. Steinbergs face. My God,
they are almost like the Gestapo! . Coming from a 72 year old woman
whose father died in Auschwitz. She witnessed many interrogations as a child,
and I could not simply ignore her comments. She was right. Personally I think
every police officer and federal agent in America should be wired with a
recording device that cannot be turned off just as police cruisers in big cities
now have non-stop video accountability. At the end of their day the audio files
would be downloaded and archived and available witho ut question the day any
accused gets their day in court. This would do wonders for the concept of
justice in America in very short order.

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Living in both Canada


and China for over 15
years has given me a
new perspective on my
native America. I can
now see the forest and
not only the trees. As an
outsider,

can

appreciate

now
why

Europeans and others


laugh at our gullibility as
citizens. They learned their lesson the hard way with Hitler. Why cant we
Americans learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them?

When we allow people to be jailed for urinating in a public park at 2:00 am


when no public toilets are available or let a homeless man go to jail in Texas for
18 months for stealing a slice of pizza, or jail an unemployed mother of 3
children for shoplifting baby formula, we have become the criminals to tolerate
such cold indifference to the plight of our neighbors. American justice is
devoid of any human compassion and ethics has become a secondary
consideration over laws that are carefully written to always give an unfair
advantage to law enforcement and prosecutor. A fair law in America is hard to
find these days.

And when we allow people like Bradley Manning to be jailed for only telling the
truth about horrific war crimes, we should be collectively ashamed of ourselves
as a society. Most Americans pretend to be Christians but honestly my friends,

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if Jesus of Nazareth was alive today and living in Kansas City, what would
have to say about how we live today in America? I am no longer a Christian but
I still believe in his teachings as I also believe in the teachings of Confucius
and Ghandi as well. We have so much to learn from the brave and courageous
Bradley Manning, and instead of thanking him for his efforts to enlighten us all
about war crimes paid for with our tax dollars, we let our government punish
him with a 35 year prison sentence, while the people who murdered innocent
civilians in the video Bradley leaked, are not even arrested, much less
punished. This is utter lunacy and the epitome of injustice! Consider for a
moment how Bradley helped all of us

1) He confirmed rumors that American troops were committing too-frequent


war crimes in Iraq with systemic and random shootings that resulted in
collateral damage of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. If not
for the video he released, there would be no smoking gun evidence, and
the rumors would continue forever, along with the ruthless murders.

2) Bradleys leak proved that we could not trust our government to tell us the
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truth nor the media to report it until their nose was stuck right it.

3) The video Bradley leaked to the world served as a wakeup call to what is
happening to America and all of us who are being manipulated by a closed
and controlled mainstream media. We are all being programmed and
dumbed down to simply trust our government leaders blindly without
question.

4) Without Bradleys disclosure Americans might never understand the root


cause of terrorism and why so many people in the world no longer trust nor
like America as they did only fifty years ago.

5) Without Bradleys arrest, many Americans would still believe real justice is
the rule and not the exception in America today.

Yes, Bradleys actions caused great embarrassment to our government, and


the ripple effects may be felt for a few more years. Yes, Bradley did not go
through his chain-of-command. But that is not a criminal act and had he chose
that route, the brutal war crime would have been concealed eternally. Bradley
did what 80% of the people in our world would call the right thing. Those who
prosecuted and persecuted him are far bigger and more despicable criminals
than Bradley will ever be. I publicly thank Bradley for following his own
conscience and call for his immediate release. He is owed both an apology
and a Thank You from our government.

Indeed, prisons give people much time to think about important things that
most Americans are too busy to ever examine. We are kept busy working and
worrying about paying bills. The banksters have the majority of Americans
addicted to credit cards and we now live to work instead of working to live.
Middle class America has shrunk to half its original size and not enough people
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are asking why?

All the most active


protesters in America
those most likely to
challenge the status
quo

and

ask

embarrassing

or

enlightening
questions will likely be arrested and jailed for convenience. Problematic
citizens are easily dealt with by leaders who find it quicker to discredit them
with criminal charges rather than a nswer questions or explain how their
accusers may be wrong. Further, once convicted of a crime in America,
citizens lose their right to ever vote again! Thus 10% of Americans will
lose their chance to fix what is wrong with our country even though they
paid their debt to society with a prison sentence. What is the
governments rationalization for this?

With such an onerous law in place,

it will be easy for any abusive government to remove political threats by jailing
potential adversaries which directly threatens the followers of those
adversaries with a message you too can join your leaders in jail if you make
too much of a stink about our current policies. Only real criminals belong
behind bars and while jailed, some genuine and sincere efforts to teach real
and useful job skills should be mandated before they are released.
Unfortunately more than half of all prisoners released are returned to jail within
three years because of the warehousing mentality. For more than 30 years
judges have complained about revolving door incarceration problems. Why
are they ignored? The simple answer? The more inmates the more money can
be made. Yet another reason, prison factories continue to be used in America
(They operate under the Unicor brand) and employ over 15 ,000 prisoners
paid an average of $5 per day.
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When the IRS was turned loose on the Tea Party we got a quick whiff of the
rotten eggs served daily by our federal law enforcement community. Yet were
any IRS officials arrested and prosecuted?

How many banksters and

mortgage brokers were arrested and prosecuted for the dozens of criminal
acts related to the 2008 financial fraud that victimized millions of Americans?
None. Justice in America is only a smoke and mirrors illusion yet our prisons
are full. All crimes need to be prosecuted with equal vigor and objectivity yet
government and Wall Street crimes are virtually ignored, or worse covered
up by the U.S. Justice Department.
As author Rodney Stich documents
quite well in his book Crimes of the
U.S. Department of Justice, we
have a fox guarding the hen house in
Washington. Why do we tolerate this?

Are YOU willing to wait until someone


in YOUR family gets arrested and jailed for a bogus or ridiculous offense?
Will you then expect others to help YOU find justice when you yourself turned
a blind eye and deaf ears to the pleas of others who were victimized before
YOU?

If all Americans were so selfish, wed still be living under a British flag

and paying taxes to the queen. Perhaps you think something like this can
never happen to you because you mind your own business and dont care
about politics. This is exactly what they are counting on public apathy and
indifference.

Our prison nation is growing. $40 Billion dollars have already been
appropriated for the next generation of prisons. Our government will not even
confirm how many new prisons are being built as you read these very words
but activists have already identified 12 new facilities being built with an
estimated capacity for 2 million more Americans. The DHS also recently
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purchased 70,000 riot guns and 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, and 50,000
riot outfits. Why? Do they suddenly realize Americans are learning the truth
about too many things and may revolt and take to the streets? I would love to
hear their explanation wouldnt you?

Sanity and equality needs to be


restored to our criminal justice system
if America is to stand any chance of
restoring

its

own

integrity

and

credibility in the world. Even the Chinese and Canadians are not fooled by the
many charades and veiled threats of Washington. Our allies in Europe only
cooperate with America because they have to these days. Their leaders have
been spied on for years by NSA and they can easily be extorted and
blackmailed by Washington if they step too far out of line. Sixty years ago,
foreign governments cooperated with America because they wanted to.
We held the moral high ground following World War II. Since the Supreme
Court appointment of George W. Bush as President of America, we allowed
our government to forfeit that high ground. In truth, we no longer deserve it,
and if we actually care about our reputation as Americans, we will have to work
long and hard to restore it. Genuine justice is a great starting point. Only a pure
and equal justice can resolve the income disparity that has robbed Americans
of not only their money, but hope for the future. Never before in my life have I
seen so many Americans unsure and nervous about their futures.

We cannot restore what was lost without finding what is hidden within our
prisons the truth about ourselves, our leaders, and a highly-selective criminal
justice system. I am just one of the many witnesses who were hidden and as
CBS News Investigative Reporter Ty West suggested in his sworn affida vit,
whistle blowers hidden in prisons can affect the outcomes of elections. Sure,
prisons help keep dangerous people off the streets, but they also keep news of
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government crimes off the news and internet. When government officials can
get away with murders, rapes and war crimes we have abandoned our core
principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for all. Ethics and human rights need
to come before profits and not vice versa. If I were the attorney general for one
year, Id reduce corruption to just a very bad memory. Barack Obama may
have had the best intentions when was an aspiring Senator, but there is no
dount in my mind they got to him. It is easy to sell out in America. Doing the
rights things are never easy. I know. I tried for years to do the right things and
got slammed and punished for it almost every time. But what do we really want
to teach our children an ideology that they will never see? Do we want to tell
them about the good old days when you could be proud of our government,
and always trust a cop?

Or do we want to put the wheel back on Americas,

find a new bus driver, and rebuild the engine. We can fix our nation friends, but
each and every American needs to stand tall and firm for what they know in
their hearts are right and wrong. We can and must hold corrupt leaders
accountable, so those future leaders have more than one reason to be honest
and sincere with us. But it must start with our criminal justice system which
needs to unplug and permanent disconnect from politics. If not we shall remain
adrift is a sea of corruption with no paddle, nor sail, nor charts.

Remember convicted felons are not allowed to vote nor own a gun, even
if their crime was a third degree non violent felony. If a prisoner serves
his time, he deserves to have his rights restore providing they are
mentally stable with no history of violence.

Also when you go to bed tonight, ask yourself what are the true loyalties and
duties of a Supreme Court Justice who is politically appointed. These justices
just recently ruled that unlimited amounts of money can be donated from
essentially anonymous sources. This law is fertilizer for the weeds of
corruption. They further have the right to refuse to hear a case submitted by
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citizens, even if it is deemed meritorious b y an Appeals Court. Why? The


constitution drafted by our forefathers guarantees access to the highest courts
by all (Read the Hamilton Papers). These supreme judges also do not have to
give any reason nor explanation for their rulings. How politically convenient!
Across the board reform is in order my fellow-Americans. Strong leaders with
vision need to be searched out and recruited to do the work that everyone
dreads prosecuting corruption and graft at all levels, not just at the bottom.

On May 1st, 2014 at 8:30 pm CST,, turn off the lights in your home for just 15
minutes if your want our current leaders to resign now before they do any more
damage and disgrace our nation even more abroad. Send a signal for the
whole world to see that the American people do not condone and support the
massive corruption that is eating our nation alive just like a cancer. If you
want Bradley Manley released from prison, turn off your lights. If you want
America to stop killing innocent civilians in foreign countries with drone, turn off
your lights. If you dont want the internet to be censored and you think you
have a right to read Wikileaks or any web site you choose, turn off your lights.
If we can unite for 15 minutes, in May, we can unite for one hour in November
when it comes time to vote every incumbent out of office and start fresh with an
honest and ethical government. We had them before, and we can have them
again. It is not up to me friends. It is up to YOU.

Copyright 1995-2014 By Bruce A. Gorcyca All Rights Reserved

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