Prison Comedy

I just watched "Jeff Ross at Brazos County Jail" on Comedy central,  and I think all Americans should watch.  If these people can laugh at themselves, any of us can.  Bill Maher is right, Americans need to get a sense of humor.  Jeff is harsh, and pulls no punches, but even the most personal jibes did not rattle them.

In addition, the show is interspersed with little factoids (I did not vet them all but the statistics are widely available).  Just a few examples:

More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals.[Clearly prisons have become our default Mental Illness treatment centers.] 

  
2.7 million Americans have a parent in prison.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime.

• According to the NAACP CRIMINAL JUSTICE fact SHEET:
•  5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites.
• African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites.

 

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  Today's subway story:

Saw cops bringing out a young white man in handcuffs.  He looked a little like Harry Potter.  I don't know what his offense was, but my guess is that he will never see the inside of a cell.

 


 
Harry Potter in handcuffs...