I count myself as quite cynical about politics, but even I wouldn’t have predicted this…
19 years ago there was a murder in Wales, in the UK. One of the people arrested for it was innocent, but the court found him guilty and he was in prison for 11 years before they realised he was innocent and released him. During that time his daughter died (he had to go to her funeral in chains), and his wife left him. In short, it destroyed his life.
He was awarded £300,000 compensation. (for those non-Brits I think thats about $600,000 or 450,000 Euros).
But since he was innocent, and wrongly in jail, the governement are charging him £57,000 for his 11 years of prison accomodation and meals.
There’s been a similar case where I live recently, too - just in the news yesterday. He was in jail for 12 years, wrongly convicted. Thankfully the government is looking like they will compensate him with at least a million dollars, if not twice that much. They’d better not take taxes out of his compensation like the UK case!
The thing is it’s not even taxes. They’re sending him a bill for the rent of the bed and the food he’s eaten. It’s as if he was staying in a hotel, rather than having 11 years of his life forcibly removed. It’s as if a kidnapper sent you a bill for the taxi they’d used to kidnap you.
I mean seriously, don’t they have any shame? You’d think that they would feel guilty sending him off with such a small settlement and want to bury the case quickly, but come on this is getting rediculous! It was prison, not the Hampton Inn for god’s sake!
Even though there are are probably a lot of countries which would be much worse to spend jail time in, it still isn’t right. But then, how is the penal system over there? In Canada if you commit a crime and go to prison, you get three meals a day, a place to excercise, cable television and the oppourtunity to recieve a University Level education, all at the taxpayer’s expense
It is much the same here in the US however, prison time is no walk in the park. Some of the true stories I have herd from people would plow your mind. But some times it does piss me off that a prisoner is guaranteed 3 meals a day, a roof over their head and an education. Yet as a law abiding citizen I am not guaranteed any of those things.
Anyway back on topic:
That does sound unfair. He had to pay for the time he spent unjustly in prison I wonder what the thinking behind that is. Well if it is any consolation to you, here in the US people who are wrongfully convicted are not paid anything. Just told I’m sorry and sent back out into the world to pick up the pieces of their shattered life. Only in a few rare cases are people paid anything because they were sent to prison and later proven innocent.
And when you think things are bad in Brittain… 14–year–old is taken out of class by Secret Service agents and questioned for about 15 minutes because she had an antibush picture in her MySpace page. I’m dead serious. Oh maan, the Statue of Liberty is indeed getting a bit rusty, but that doesn’t mean the country of liberty should act accordingly.
Ok, I guess I am lucky to live here. It’s just the government annoys me so much…
The answer is, I’m afraid, no they don’t.
Probably more uncomfortable than the one you describe. They’re really cramming them in at the minute, and are even using police cells because they’ve run out of room.
That’s awful.
I’m afraid it’s getting like that here now. During the governing parties conference in 2005 I think that 600 people were arrested under anti-terrorism legislation (they were let out again after questioning but that’s not the point) for wearing anti-Blair (British PM) and anti-Bush t-shirts.
Also someone was arrested and convicted for standing on the Cenotaugh (a war memorial) and reading the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq. This is because the government put through legislation saying you’re not allowed to protest within a mile of parliament. She was taken to court and convicted!
The government has several times tried to bring through legislation to rob parliament of all its powers, and make a ministers word law. Scarily like Star Wars, they origionally called it the emergency powers bill.
There are many more things I could tell you, but I’m scared enough.
has been wanting to move from Britain to Brazil for years
Ok, I guess I am lucky to live here. It’s just the government annoys me so much…