OK, some lawyers SHOULD be shot.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Actually, Embar, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to conviction.

Only if they don't make bail (or are considered a flight risk). Due process and all that.

[Relbeek Einre]

Still, it happens.

[Shallon]

Strange things do happen, like Rsak living to adulthood.

[Partha]

Actually, Embar, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to conviction.

Hell, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to being charged with a crime.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Still, it happens.

So does flipping a coin where it lands heads 14 times in a row. But that doesn't mean you should use that small probability to make an argument that flipping a coin gives someone who calls "heads" a bigger advantage than "tails".

[Rsak]

in·mate
n.

A resident of a dwelling that houses a number of occupants, especially a person confined to an institution, such as a prison or hospital.

Yeap inmate was the proper term and Embar becomes the monkey!

And what a shame some of those strange things occured years ago.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Actually, Embar, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to conviction.

Hell, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to being charged with a crime.

What is "quite a while"? Last I checked it was forty-eight hours.

[Relbeek Einre]

Depends on the state.

Regardless, Klast and Rsak are right (!)about their points:

People incarcerated prior to conviction should be treated with a minimum of harshness, people incarcerated for any reason should be treated humanely, and people who have rich lawyers shouldn't get special privileges.

[Partha]

Actually, Embar, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to conviction.

Hell, there are people who are incarcerated for quite a while prior to being charged with a crime.

What is "quite a while"? Last I checked it was forty-eight hours.

Two words: Jose Padilla.

[Embar Angylwrath]

The US mishandled that one, but I think we can all agree that Jose Padilla's case isn't an average criminal case.

Out of the thousands of people charged with crimes everyday, are you saying that Jose Padilla is the norm?

Or the exception?

[Ddrak]

Definitely the exception.

There were several thousand incarcerated post-911 without charges, lawyers etc. I think the fact that there is an "exception" is a significant problem, but that's a whole different argument.

Dd

[Akhbarali]

It is very common for people to spend substantial prison time prior to their trial. When a judge sets bail at $20,000 that means someone has to pay a bailbondsman $2K in cash that will not be returned even if the defendant shows up for his trial. If he skips trial it is the full $20K. $2K is a prohibitive sum to a large segment of the population (poor people) and that same segment is disporporitionaly in trouble with the law. Bottom line, at any given time there are a lot of people in US prisons awaiting trial. Although I am sure the vast majority of them are not saints, they are not convicted criminals either. I believe in most states "pre-trial inmates" are kept in local facilities that are generally "safer" than most state or federal facilities.

Akhbar

[maltheos]

Supposed to be the difference between a jail and a prison. Jail is where they keep you pending trial, prison is where you go if they find you guilty.

Jails are supposed to be safer and better supervised. Also they are usually supervised by the aresting authority and prisons are usually maintained by the state directly.

However, slopy word use has blurred this definition over time.

[Relbeek Einre]

Actually felons go to prison, those guilty of misdemeanors, or who are still on trial, go to jail.

Jails tend to be owned by counties, prisons are owned by the state or feds.

It's actually pretty clear division still.