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September 26, 2005
Lawsuit Over Prison Slavery
Some people keep pets. Some prison gangs keep slaves, according to a lawsuit covered yesterday by the New York Times.
Roderick Johnson, a former inmate at the Allred Unit, a violent prison a few miles from here, belonged to a gang called the Gangster Disciples, but not in the usual sense, the gang's former No. 2 man explained Wednesday in federal court here. "Was Mr. Johnson considered a member of the Gangster Disciples?" one of Mr. Johnson's lawyers asked the witness, whose name was withheld by the court because his testimony could subject him to retaliation. "No," said the witness, a soft-spoken, perfectly bald and quite imposing black man in a prison uniform and shackles. "What was he considered?" asked the lawyer, Jeffrey Monks. "Property," came the reply. That meant, the witness continued, that gang members could rape Mr. Johnson at will. They could, he said, also rent him out for sex, and they did, daily. A purchased rape, the witness said, cost $3 to $7. Mr. Johnson says the abuse went on for 18 months.
The two parties agree that prison is violent but apparently don't agree on anything else.
Richard E. Wathen, an assistant warden, testified that there was nothing in Mr. Johnson's seven written pleas for help that warranted moving him to what prison officials call safekeeping, a housing unit reserved for vulnerable gay men, former gang members and convicted police officers. "I believe that we did the right thing then, and I would make the same decision today," Mr. Wathen testified Wednesday. "There has to be some extreme threat before we put an offender in safekeeping."
Dictionary.com defines extreme thusly:
adj 1: of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity; "extreme cold"; "extreme caution"; "extreme pleasure"; "utmost contempt"; "to the utmost degree"; "in the uttermost distress" [syn: utmost(a), uttermost(a)] 2: far beyond a norm in quantity or amount or degree. ...
Frequent rape and daily sex rental? Sounds pretty extreme to me.
Posted by Deborah Branscum at September 26, 2005 01:26 PM
Comments
I know a guy who's been in prison. His stories have two intersections with this one: [a] This rape slavery business isn't news, and [b] the best way to get the guards to isolate you from your fellows is to explain that you are a paperwork magnet.
Posted by: Pete at September 27, 2005 05:05 AM