+mariokarter13 just because they served their sentence doesn't mean they have changed, however I do agree that just because they were in prison shouldn't mean they are considered criminals for life.
The terrifying thing about Last Week Tonight videos on UA-cam is that even though many of them are pretty old, they're still totally relevant because you just know that none of the terrible problems he's discussing have even remotely been fixed.
your comment made me smile at first because i totally agree, but once the message set in, im left with a deep sorrow that will last for a long time... head down lol
How do we stop crime? I know! Let's limit their access to food, shelter, jobs, and education! They won't commit crimes out of desperation or anything...
The list of all episodes of Last Week Tonight is essentially a sad long list of issues that neither Republican politician, nor a single ESTABLISHMENT Democrat will EVER even try to touch. *Neither Kamala Harris, nor Joe Biden, nor Pete Butigeg, nor Beto O'Rourke WILL EVER DO JACK SHIT about ANY of these hundreds of pressing issues.* In the end *making a buck* will be more important than a planet to survive on, more important than justice, *more important THAN LIFE ITSELF.*
It is absolutely deliberately set up that way so they can continue to jail and re-jail them and maximize profits. America is a corporate fucking wasteland.
Wait... Pennsylvania makes parolees pay to be on parole? And they will make you go back to jail if you can't pay? That's essentially a debtors prison. You can't make people go to jail for not having money, that's ludicrous.
+David Peveto Totally fucked up right? And just think: the people who need to protest and change the situation are the most vulnerable of the population. It's hard to care what happens with the local and state government if you're just trying to put food on the table.
+David Peveto LMAO. Do you even live here in the U.S.? Are you seriously just now finding out that you have to pay to enter a probation or parole program. Yes!!!!!! In many states, you have to pay to be in probation or parole!!!!!! In many states, that's the whole incentive for cops to lock up and arrest as many people as they can. It creates profit for local and state govt. budgets, or worse, a private incarceration company!!!!! When people think cops are out to target them with minor infractions, it's not a conspiracy theory or bullshit. It's real. Meanwhile, the cops get bonuses for fulfilling their quotas....errrr, I mean "performance standards".
+David Peveto I live in PA and too me this doesnt seem that ludicrous, Our state ran into a huge corruption case a couple years ago because "for profit" prisons were holding people longer than there sentences and also not letting the people or there families know why
+David Peveto If your debt is owed to the government, we do have debtor's prison. They arrest ppl who can't pay their fines/tickets all the time. And if a prosecutor plays it right, you can be sent to prison for a private debt too. If he doesn't play it right, you can find your wages garnished to the point where you can't afford to live - at which point you might end up in prison for other things. Desperate poor ppl often turn to crime to try to survive. Your socioeconomic status says more about your likelihood to commit crimes and end up in prison than anything else for exactly that reason.
I went to prison 8 years ago. I was a perfect parolee. I actually was let off parole a year early, for good behavior. The only parolee my parole office did that to in 3 years. I have held a full time job and taken care if my 3 kids on my own since my release. And I still struggle finding a place to live with those kids. Nothing matters to landlords if you check the felony box no matter how long ago it was or how much you have changed your life since. There is no such thing as "paying your debt to society" and moving on. The debt is NEVER paid
its fucked man. we have the most prisoners in the world despite being like the 5th most populated country, we are one of the only countries that execute people still, we have the worst punishments for crime (slavery, extreme prison sentences, and solitary confinement which is seldom used in most first world countries,) and we have the highest rates of recividism (which seems engineered to be that way to make more money.) if you are a convict you can be denied many, many important things like loans, places to live, JOBS, and the fucking right to vote. our justice system is completely fucked, and i hope you are still well despite the deck being stacked against you.
That seems patently unfair, since its not as if you got caught lying about it. Its all down a landlords exsperiances, and they should have a program that helps non violent offenders get back on their feet !
So if someone age 45 was caught shoplifting at age 14 and went to some correctional facility for 6 months they would refuse to rent him an apartment some 31 years later?
Saying it for emphasis: Should never be operated for profit: 1. Healthcare 2. Prisons 3. Education Corresponds exactly with: 1. Life 2. Liberty 3. Pursuit of happiness
Years ago, serving your jail term would be considered you learning your lesson. Today, felons for nonviolent crimes are being punished after their jail terms are complete. Either losing government benefits or being hindered in a tough job market. Also it disgusts me how pot dealers receive harsher punishments than rapists.
Chris Small I am not a stoner, I have never served a jail term or gotten in trouble with the law, and I do fly right. And I still believe correctional system has noticeable flaws.
Chris Small I don't judge all crimes as one and the same like you. I rank the crimes based on the severity. (Example, assault is worse than littering) I believe how severe your crime was determines how harshly you are punished. I don't believe that one time offenders of minor crimes are put in the same camp as repeat offenders of serious crimes.
Chris Small Again, major crimes, severe punishment. Minor crimes, minor punishment. The criminal justice system is not as black and white as you think. All crimes aren't the same in terms of severity. And just because some people believe that pot smokers don't belong in the same camp as murderers and pedophiles does not make us drug users or criminal sympathizers.
I think we should take everyone in the White House, sit them down in a room together, and make them watch a marathon of Last Week Tonight. It won't solve anything, but maybe it will give them an idea of how poor the state of the country is
+C Mufasa Better to make Congress the audience, not the White House. The White House really doesn't have a whole lot of power to change things. A few Exec Orders, but mostly he can just sign or veto what Congress does (if they ever do anything.)
As a former correctional officer I believe and I always will that rehabilitation of the nation's offenders is truly the first step to a peaceful society and the success of FORMER offenders. The punishment for their crime is to go to prison. It should not go past that point. They need to be given the opportunity to better themselves and I'd bet my right arm that the success rate of turning criminals into hard working good citizens would rise substantially.
Dana Evans this is fully proven by crime rates and recidivism rates it Scandinavian nations where they give their inmates video game console their own shower/bathroom and computers. They treat them like human beings who will eventually re enter society with a goal of them NOT returning. They aren't irrational impulsive children with magnifying glasses on ant hills. We know what works. Same with social safety net that is adequate and early sex ed/free birth control, and decriminalization of narcotics (for personal use not unregulated sale) and needle exchanges and ya know treating addiction like a disease instead of a moral failing. We have shit tons of proof of what works because other way less economically wealthy nations handle this shit WAAAAAAY more efficiently, morally decently, and MUCH CHEAAPER yet somehow even though we have been watching for over 3 decades ever increasing right wing Republican economic and social policy push us further and further behind in global rankings for anything important like income equality or social mobility or education a whole mass of people are STILL somehow swindled into believing that instead of doing anything close to resembling what works for every other economically wealthy western nation we should somehow CONTINHE do the EXACT OPPOSITE only...harder this time! Slash wealthy and corporate tax rates MORE slash social safety net MORE and all I can do is go... " how the actual fuck?" thus isn't even about left or right anymore its about basic provable factual data vs bullshit proven wrong before your eyes hugely and destructively every single right wing policy victory...how? How do you go "ah yes lets stay the course...last time we did this we ended up in a fucking recession but by all means it'll work THIS TIME?! How. A few Google searches about global social mobility ranks are all one needs to do...and be somewhat aware of what has been happening since Ronald Reagan.
It's always crazy to me that people are so unconcerned about prisoner treatment. 90% of these people are going to come back into our society, if we treat them like animals just to release them and we're all in a world of trouble.
Piotr Dudała so false. Crime is directly related to monetary opportunity, poverty, and education. Poorly structured societies incentivize crime. It’s not a disease ya prick. Won’t even address the complications of defining crime.
+Lurdiak I've been seeing this myself and it's not just laws/rules, it's also the way people treat them upon finding out. I know an ex-con very well. She's a wonderful person, far better of a person than the vast majority I encounter every day. Despite how well people may grow to like here; upon finding out about her history they treat her like she's the scum of the earth. A history that occurred over 15 years ago, half of that time spent in prison. Her accounts of what happened in prison can only be described as mental torture. Her accounts of what she had to deal with during parole are much like you hear here but extend into far more like medical treatment. She had to miss a medical treatment which may have actually caused a problem that lead to surgery. The living restrictions placed upon ex-cons are a lot worse than they initially sound. You hear them and think it isn't too bad but then if you try and plot them on a map you find an extremely limited habitable area for them. What housing is available is either the worst possible living conditions, as in places that should be condemned. Or it's the most expensive in the area. I am struggling to find anything about the entire system that even resembles "rehabilitation". More like given every chance to fail by being thrown into a situation that would turn even a person with no felony history into a convicted felon just to survive.
+plainOldFool I don't think cynic is the right word in this case. I think the words you're looking for are "person with more than a single brain cell." Because there is no way that it isn't intentional. The prison program is broken by design in every possible way that results in more crime. At this point America literally has a worse justice system than most countries with a dictator. I'm not even kidding. In countries like China you might end up in prison for opposing the government but at least you don't end up in prison for being poor for the remainder of your life.
The goal clearly isnt rehabilitation so you have to ask yourselves what are you doing? Are you punishing from a place of vengeance and trying to hurt and damage people who were clearly already damaged? Or are you trying to correct and improve someone who made a mistake. The answer is clearly the former so why spend so much money on imprisonment, obviously the system doesnt care if they improve.
I'm not so sure we are in a position to brag with 40 % of inmates earning a new sentence within 3 years. www.kriminalvarden.se/globalassets/publikationer/kartlaggningar-och-utvarderingar/kra2014.pdf
+CloakingDonkey Americans *HATE* the poor. They didn't used to, but by the time St. Ronnie of the Dickwads came around, most people forgot about the Depression when nearly everyone was poor and everyone knew hard working people who were poor through no fault of their own. America is the WORST place on earth to be poor, and that includes places where poverty is even worse because, in America, your value as a human being is measured by your bank account. I'd rather be poor in Bangladesh or Somalia than in America. Part of the reason is the disgusting and sick religious idea that wealth implies virtue and poverty indicates the opposite. Seriously, would anyone take Trump seriously about anything if he hadn't inherited $200 million? GW Bush? They'd be jokes of they had to rely on their own qualities as human beings.
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” - Nelson Mandela. (This is episode is heartbreaking and heavy. Gonna watch some cute anime to recover..)
Branden Nelson A debtors prison is effectively a prison where people who can't pay their debts are sent. When sent there, they must also pay excess fees and fines, effectively preventing them from ever paying off their debts and thus imprisoning them indefinitely. These were ruled unconstitutional as The Bill of Rights protects us from excessive bail and cruel/unusual punishment.
+Unix One Ok I understand. You are absolutely right. I live in the state of Iowa. I have read the Iowa constitution and it states that a person cannot be imprisoned by going into debt. To me this should be with any agency. But instead they will send you to jail without hesitation if you are not able to meet their financial requirements. There are no loopholes in this system. Also not enough people are willing to speak up o this matter. A lot of these punishments fall under the "Double Jeopardy" clause as well. I am a person that wants to do right for a change and I am sincere about it. But the way things are setup makes it very difficult.
***** berating? no, he's asking you if you thought out your reply. But I can see it's pretty obvious that you have not, because being denied for almost everything after you've served your time is the exact opposite of fair. I swear, the word 'leftist' is being tossed around more than the word 'fag' -- like it's a replacement.
"1) on a free market employer has a full right to decide either he or she wants to employ a gun owner or not. and the state has no moral right to force a company. 2) decent taxpayers don't owe anything to a gun owner. why do they have to pay for his housing and food?" Can you see, just with one change, how your response is so ridiculous? And who's to say they're the same person? Are you? Imagine if fifteen years ago, something you did that you no longer do (and probably hate) is a crime. Should you still be punished for it? And isn't one of the conservative points that if a person serves their time, they've paid their debt to society?
***** well the first part was to show that your argument can be turned around easily to fit anything, which makes it prone to abuse and not very well thought out. "gun owner" could be swapped out for "woman" "latino" "white man", etc. A criminal lost his right to freedom when he's convicted and put in jail. but when he's out, he's no longer a criminal, and therefore a citizen. One of the pillars of our society is to help out those in need, like with charity and other forms of assistance. That's one of the great things about living here. No one's forcing the states to do anything. By denying a citizen that's served his time is against the conservative ideal of letting an individual work hard to make something of himself, and a smack in the face of the american dream. And by saying no one would care if an ex crim starved? That's absolutely inhumane and quite shocking to read.
+ChaiwatTh the goal is to help them become productive members of society once again. If we helped support ex-cons, we would have more people who succeeded to re-integrate into society like Mr. Chatman, the tomato grower.
Listening to Bilal talk made me realize that I had been judging former prisoners for their past mistakes. We're all human, we all screw up sometimes. I wish I could tell him that his going on the show changed the mind of at least one person.
I really love it every time he brings someone on for the interview, because it puts a human dimension to the problems he's describing and joking about. It's always very moving, honestly.
When I was in middle school, my family was evicted because my mom bounced 3 checks in 6 months to the grocery store. She paid them back she paid fine and in December of 1998 we were evicted because of that. We were only homeless for 2 months but it's an experience that stays with me
"Janice from accounting" is not real. She's a fictional character, they made up for this show. She is played by one of the writers on the show, who's real name is Jill.
I think as Americans we're still having trouble catching on to this 'proportional justice' idea. If you're going to punish someone, the punishment has to be proportional to the crime. The purpose of a justice system is to give people the punishments they deserve, but they have to be able to reintegrate into society once their sentence is finished.
+Muffinfordinner That's because us Americans have judgment too clouded by racism and prejudice. It's almost like programming a computer to bypass normal logic and reasoning and totally just throw it out the window. Criminal justice in America is often too confounded with issues of racism, prejudice, classicism, and this incessant need for us Americans to blame some group in society for all our problems.
+charlesvan13 4%!!? Where the fuck did you get that number? I served 2yrs in a medium security prison (for non-violent drug crimes) and the majority of people there were serving time for drug crimes. You have no idea
You know what, call me crazy, but I would have no problem hiring an ex con given that he/she worked hard. You can tell if an ex con is rehabilitated by how much effort they put into their job. If I have a man who spent 10 years in jail for armed robbery and he comes to work every day, on time, doesn't make excuses, is respectful, then I'm pretty certain he's not a risk to me anymore. I'm pretty sure I would trust him around other people. Ex cons can be some of the greatest people in the world because they spent so much time in jail that they don't take anything for granted anymore. You know who I don't trust? Someone who steals millions from taxpayers and gets away with it. Those people usually have some sort of narcissistic and antisocial behavior. Who would you rather hang around with? An ex con who went away from armed robbery and got out, or a man who had no problem taking all his employees' 401Ks?
Patrick I agree with you so damn much! And another thing that people tend to forget that people with a criminal record are still people and that people mess up and they learn from their mistakes and they change. If they work hard and do a good job, they deserve to have a job.
In some situations they may evenbe more trustworthy, even if it is just for the fact that they are much more at risk if they DO decide to do something illegal. If they are reformed, they'll do anything to avoid going back
im a ex con and recovering addict , my current boss gave me a shot at a job a little over a year ago and just recently told me " hell i would leave a bale of cash on the shot table and not worry about a dime going missing around you" he went out of town recently and trusted me to look after his house..he gave me a shot, even knowing about my past and i think the world of him for it
@@kasag37 wow. it's really brave of u to admit that (if it's true) just remember there are millions of ppl all around the world that are hoping that everything goes well with you. Even though they don't know you. And I'm one of them. I happen to be a police officer in my country by the way.
+ladypuff you sound like a nice lady who is very schocked by actually knowing what happens when a person is released from prison . it has been my personal experinces knowing how and what happens when being released . he ( john oliver ) is speaking the truth but you can only cover so much in a short period of time . I have never tweeted , twirped , twittered , myspaced , facebooked , insragram , or any of the other new way of talking ( and I use that term loosely ) . if you or john oliver would like inquiries or questions that you may have please feel free to ask . my email is millsfamily84@yahoo.com . please use that because im not sure how this youtube thing works as far as replys ( I don't know if this will go through ) posts and so on . look forward to helping and answering any questions that I can . until then good health and a long happy life .
John, can you talk about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which just became public? It's basically SOPA on steroids. Under this law currently being debated in Congress, fair use and public domain literally cease to exist, companies are allowed to sue the government if they feel their IPs have been misused, ISPs are allowed to take down entire websites without needing a court order, whistle blowing made ILLEGAL, and extends US's new copyright law is extended worldwide. It's very troubling that this bill even got this far. The fact that Obama is pushing this hard is even more worrying.
I am actually amazed, that People in America also have Problems with it. Till now I just saw it from the german/european perspective. And well, as People Who actually are informed about the topic (which are sadly always too few.. ) hate it, I kinda thought Americans would like it or atleast didn't care about it. Happy to learn, that this isn't true.
I don't know if there is a similar system in the US, but in Canada it's against our rights to deny employment due to a criminal record, unless the crime committed is related to the job.
I'm Canadian but we have the exact same problem as they do, Leif. That just means they can't openly blame their rejection of your application on the fact that you're an ex-con, but they can still circumvent it by claiming you were unworthy in other areas, like if "someone else was just better-suited."
I don't even live in the US. And this episode made me tear up a little!! What are we (humans) doing to ourselves?! You think that you're too perfect to do make a mistake and go to jail ?! Why should your life be over by just one deed.
+Abd -L-Azeez Alkalidy Greed and wrath, plain and simple. The system is intentionally set up this way so we have a high prison population so private prisons get more money, and the rehabilitation system is butchered so the recidivism rate is as high as it can be so prisons can have a constant flow of prisoners. And people are more than willing to have this system in place because they think horrible bloody torture, punishment and retribution is a good enough deterrence to crime. We're back in the days of Les Miserable.
+Abd -L-Azeez Alkalidy Greed and wrath, plain and simple. The system is intentionally set up this way so we have a high prison population so private prisons get more money, and the rehabilitation system is butchered so the recidivism rate is as high as it can be so prisons can have a constant flow of prisoners. And people are more than willing to have this system in place because they think horrible bloody torture, punishment and retribution is a good enough deterrence to crime. We're back in the days of Les Miserable.
+Lost Oh god!! As if making and creating wars to sell weapons is not enough. Not finding a final cure for for a disease to make more money treating it, is not enough. I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe communism might be a good idea. But there must be a good middle ground somewhere.
My feelings every time: John Oliver and his team are a blessing. Thank you for making such issues relevant and entertaining. Thank you. I don't even live in the US and I want to fix these problems.
+WALTERRIFIC It's really not. But I guess it depends where you do it. Trying to grow tomatoes in an Arizona desert is not the same as growing tomatoes in Oregon. I'm in Europe in an area that gets plenty of rain and warmth. You just plant them and they grow. No effort required.
my fiancé went for 30 days due to a mandatory minimum. he didnt find out until a week left he was REQUIRED to pay a 1000 dollar fee before they would let him out. luckily his parents loaned us it. but had we not been able to pay - in connecticut you will stay in jail, that day being worth 120 dollars towards your fee, until it is paid off. he was in jail for driving with a suspended license. but how many felons have a 1000+ dollars laying around? SCRATCH THAT. most americans, criminals or not, dont have a 1000 dollars laying around. most people live paycheck to paycheck.
My family tried to grow tomatoes, but we live in suburban Michigan, which is short-hand for too many deer that ate our tomatoes. Maybe that's why I love wolves so much. And dogs. Dogs are great.
Its much easier to think of people in jail as sub human or a lost cause than it is to see the truth, which is that all of us have good and evil inside of us and that any of us can end up in jail. We have a lot more in common than we'd like to think.
For an educated person, your English isn't too good: too*, Bale*, and your general punctuation is horrid. This coming from a person with English as his second language.
I hate how there are so many people who have no empathy for any person convicted of a crime, no matter what. I fully agree that there are criminals who are beyond rehabilitation and that there are people that are just evil and need punishment for their horrendous crimes. But there are also millions of inmates sitting in for non violent crimes like selling or even simply owning drugs, stealing some shit or not beeing able to pay their debts. Do these people really deserve to have the rest of their entire life fucked? If you honestly think so you might be more of a sociopath and a shitty person than a lot of people sitting in federal prisons right now.
I mean it's not like he's a nightly talkshow host who does 3 interviews a night. He has a once a week show and he also doesn't do an interview on most shows.
My uncle is a good example of how F'd up the situation is. He's been busted multiple times for meth over the last decade. He's been caught with possession, trafficking, dealing, and hiding from law enforcement. When they do bust him, he gets maybe six months to a year at a time. Then he gets out, re offends, and goes back and is on the books for violence. Local police know him and my family by name due to his actions. Then you hear stories of some poor bastard who had a bad day at work and just wanted to smoke a bowl who gets busted and given 10+ years for weed. The legal system is screwed up as is the prison system and the re-introduction system. You end up with the really bad people (like my uncle) while another person who hasn't done a tenth of the crime gets the book thrown at them for something most people don't believe should be illegal.
@@wolftitanreading5308 You appear to misunderstood the entire point of the comment. The point being made is a person who repeatedly does hard drugs, deals them, and runs from the police(again repeatedly doing so) is punished less for a for someone who commits a lesser crime one time.
@@charlescannon2469 hows this drug dealers (they harm neighborhoods those peices of shit gets jail for 20 years and drug dealers who do not run or violent gets a year maybe less for goid behavior also best way to stay out of jail quit breaking the law
The pastor who used to preach at my church now has a house in California that houses ex-prisoners who have no where else to go. I think he's amazing for that.
i honestly don't think we're giving bilal enough credit. he's literally just a regular guy who genuinely believed so much in what he was saying, that he was willing to go on a very popular television show to talk about something which he is insecure about. i could never lol
Last Week Tonight is a good show, even though John Oliver (and Bill Maher, John Stewart or Stephen Colbert, as well) is a far cry from people like Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory and George Carlin, real satirists, and arguably the sharpest political and social comedians ever. Still, this is Oliver's best piece so far. Funny, insightful, enlightening, humane, compassionate. Strangely, it’s probably his least-viewed long segment on UA-cam.
My husband had to turn down a well qualified applicant for a job they had trouble getting qualified people for, simply because he had a conviction five years ago. The home office wouldn't allow it even though he tried.
Fucking watermelons? People like you disgust me. Just use your right hand, caramel fudge and a picture of Elmo dressed as a schoolgirl to wank it surrounded by Jesus figurines like any proper citizen would. You deserve the stigma!
I admire your strength. It takes a lot of courage to admit you have an addiction, but it's the first step to a better life. We're with you, my friend. We're with you.
Been down that road. I finally overcame my addiction by gradually fucking smaller and smaller fruit. Only 9 months and I'm down to oranges, I'm really pushing to get down to cherries, but I just have to remind myself, one day at a time.
My mom grows tomatoes in her yard. Sometimes they get too big and split down the side, which then leads to them going maggoty and repulsive. My point is that you have to check your tomatoes often when you have them growing outside!
Many people have a hard time with the idea of 'helping' criminals in any way. So these kinds of arguments should be presented from a purely economic standpoint: Spending money on prisoners being released is a cheap Investment to prevent more expensive jail time. Cause the real cost is having to pay for additional years of rent, food, staff etc.
+MrRay168 Sure, the Refugee Crisis in Europe is a challenge. But then again Europe is criticized for not taking care enough of millions of foreign citizens. The US cant even take care of their on citizens in need.
This is the problem with a punishment based system. It's expensive, it doesn't work and it's counter-productive. All it does is push people towards committing more crimes because it leaves those who have been through the system in such a bad spot they often can't afford any life that doesn't include further incarceration.
It's hard to come up with a non-punishment based system that does keep some order in the country though. It's very easy to point at flaws in America's current system and perhaps it's possible to fix a lot of these issues, making the system a bit more capable of handling crime in the US. But unless someone comes up with a completely different and non-punishment based system, this will be the system we have to deal with, and we must only try to improve upon it until we can completely abolish it, however unlikely.
Those kind of system already exist in nothern european country (Skandinavia like +Kyrill said before me), with the better result in term of reintegration than any system mostly based on punishment. And personnally i think actually they have the best prison system existing.
So, a prison is technically an employer of prisoners, but they aren't subject to mandatory minimum wage laws if/when you're exonerated? How many businesses can get away with not paying an employee for 10 full years of labor?
The documentary that Bilal Chatman was a part of, "The Return," is really fantastic -- anyone interested in prison reform, re-entry, life after prison or any kind of social justice should check it out.
John, love the show! Please do a segment about The Trans Pacific Trade Deal. This is very important and I don't think many people understand how serious it is.
+Thiago Santos Yes, please! It will ruin the citizens of New Zealand, and will only benefit big American businesses. I wish that we didn't have John Key as our Prime Minister, he's just a weak idiot, who does whatever big businesses tell him. He's ruined our beautiful country. :-(
+Thiago Santos or TTIP, the one they want to establish in Europe. TTIP is a fucked up thing and even the European Parliament has no insight for the content of TTIP, yet they have to vote for it. This is just stupid...
Bilal is a shining example of the mindset of successful recovery of of all types. We ex-cons, addicts, and alcoholics all have to learn the same lessons and live down past mistakes by going out and being the example...by becoming the best version of ourselves. We have to prove it to ourselves, for ourselves.
One of the more baffling things about this episode is the seeming inability of american workplaces to be flexible, as in the case of Mr. Chatman, whose work ended too late for him to make it to an appointment. If I had the same issue, I'd simply go to my boss and ask "may I get two hours of unpaid leave on this day at this time?" or maybe "may I do a different shift on this day" or even "I have this and this appointment, is it possible to arrange my work so that I can make it?", depending on the nature of the job of course. And truth be told, unless there was some special occasion on that day that prevented it, every single boss at every single job I've ever had would've agreed to something. Frankly, I think most workplaces here could manage somehow. I don't know, the idea that such a situation is even possible just feels super alien to me.
no they won't. you're statement is baffling to me. so when you're employers ask why you're leaving early consistently what are you saying? your kinda weird bosses aren't the norm, and it's sad that you think that YOU are the norm of society...
Well, I mean... did you read what I said? I don't live in the US. The whole point of my comment was that there are clearly differences between my experience with workplaces and the experience shown here. I have asked those questions several times and most of the times we have come to a solution that works for both me and my employer. And the (speculative, sure) claim that the same would work at other places of work here is wholly based on the experience of my friends, acquaintances, parents etc. so I think I got that relatively close to the truth. But I didn't claim to be the norm of society (which is a silly thing to say accuse anyway since a singular society does not exist for all humans). Technically, I didn't even claim to be a norm, since I was just sharing my and others' experiences.
+Kerry Bialo i wouldnt. he's from the country that is holding a boot against my countries neck and fucking our agriculture. i buy my countries tomatoes....
+DarKMaTTeR I don't think there is any way to address that bit, aside from... "the fuck does that even mean?" Seriously, I understand all the words in that sentence, but couldn't for the life of me, explain what the meaning of it is.
+Sólyom Csaba I'm sure he's implying that the government/state/Obama(!) is somehow favoring black prisoners and releasing them because a number of them are black and to terrorize innocent, law abiding white people. No logic or journalistic integrity just racist fear mongering.
+DarKMaTTeR "some believe".......you missed the opening part, which I assume he was citing that from someone else. He didn't say "I". Typical libtard though, judging something from an edited clip.
Because that is a claim is not an opinion of Bill OReileys but an opinion of other that he was pointing out. I guess by "comment" you want john Oliver to call him a racist huh?
I felt some sort of pride for Bilal. How he managed to get his life back on track, it's really impressive. It even makes me kind of emotional actually lol
+robotpanda77 It's is pretty hard to not go back to crimes, if the outside doesn't feel like giving you a slightest chance and help to redeem yourself.
What can we say, the 90s was a weird time. Action movies were Xtreme and mom jeans were in. The 90s was a chill era to the point that we allowed Bush jr into office
This reminds me of Les Misérables waaay too much. Jean Valjean was released literally exactly 200 years ago. Guys, seriously, when your justice system in 2015 can be justifiably compared to a justice system _in 1815_, something is _fucked up_. And even more of if even back then people were talking about how unjust the system was. WHICH THEY WERE.
"When the hour came for him to take his departure from the galleys, when Jean Valjean heard in his ear the strange words, Thou art free! the moment seemed improbable and unprecedented; a ray of vivid light, a ray of the true light of the living, suddenly penetrated within him. *But it was not long before this ray paled*. Jean Valjean had been dazzled by the idea of liberty. He had believed in a new life. *He very speedily perceived what sort of liberty it is to which a yellow passport is provided*. And this was encompassed with much bitterness. He had calculated that his earnings, during his sojourn in the galleys, ought to amount to a hundred and seventy-one francs. It is but just to add that he had forgotten to include in his calculations the forced repose of Sundays and festival days during nineteen years, which entailed a diminution of about eighty francs. At all events, his hoard had been reduced by various local levies to the sum of one hundred and nine francs fifteen sous, which had been counted out to him on his departure. He had understood nothing of this, and had thought himself wronged. Let us say the word-robbed. On the day following his liberation, he saw, at Grasse, in front of an orange-flower distillery, some men engaged in unloading bales. He offered his services. Business was pressing; they were accepted. He set to work. He was intelligent, robust, adroit; he did his best; the master seemed pleased. While he was at work, *a gendarme passed, observed him, and demanded his papers*. It was necessary to show him the yellow passport. That done, Jean Valjean resumed his labor. A little while before he had questioned one of the workmen as to the amount which they earned each day at this occupation; he had been told thirty sous. When evening arrived, as he was forced to set out again on the following day, he presented himself to the owner of the distillery and requested to be paid. The owner did not utter a word, but handed him fifteen sous. He objected. He was told, "That is enough for thee." He persisted. The master looked him straight between the eyes, and said to him "Beware of the prison." There, again, he considered that he had been robbed. Society, the State, by diminishing his hoard, had robbed him wholesale. Now it was the individual who was robbing him at retail. *Liberation is not deliverance*. *One gets free from the galleys, but not from the sentence*." - Les Misérables (volume I, book two, chapter IX) emphasis mine
+Tuuliska I definitely got that point from the Liam Neeson movie. His face constantly has that "Am I allowed to live my life without thinking about my past FOR ONE FUCKING SECOND ALREADY!?" look on it. Man, was I wishing horrible things on Javert.
This is what news should be about instead of a 30 minute sequence of unrelated idocies we just cant get to fully understand nor do anything about. after this video i presume people will change or at least ponder on how to act when they meet an ex convict.
Great show on prisoner re-entry John. Thank you for opening our eyes or reminding old minds of these inherent abuses every week. Ultimately, it comes down to getting out the vote. So VOTE PEOPLE.
That’s horrible. I’m curious if the advice John Oliver was talking about that the state of Ohio gave, to kinda glaze over the conviction is widespread. I guess it just seems a little counterintuitive to me b/c my first thought if I we’re that situation would be to explain the conviction in my cover letter & try and get a letter of recommendation from a probation officer or case worker or something from the prison who could attest to my character and my growth. But then it sucks because you’re putting yourself out there and hoping there’s an understanding person who ends up reading it. Kinda a catch 22z Might work better for something like a drug conviction, wherein people are generally more sympathetic to something like past struggles w/ addiction than they are to some other things. Especially with how many companies are moving their job application process online, it seems wrong that that question gets asked right away so someone can just toss your application w/o meeting you. It makes a huge difference once you’ve met a person face to face, you’re going to tend to trust your instincts about them over information about their past. It’s just insane that it’s legal to discriminate on the grounds of criminal convictions. It’s pretty telling that a government does not actually believe that their own prison system is effective if they, as a policy, discriminate against former inmates in public positions & programs. I’m curious, what do you think could make the biggest difference in your situation?
What a sensitive man John Oliver is to encourage his audience to think of Chatman as a guy who grows tomatoes rather than as an ex-felon. None of us wishes to be defined by the worst moment of our lives when we have so much more to offer. How many people have been in possession of enough pot to be sent to prison who have been lucky enough to get away with it? At the very minimum one in ten at the university that I attended (which ranks within the top five or top ten universities annually) might have suffered Chatman's fate if they had been in the wrong place in the wrong time and couldn't afford a highly capable attorney. On a tangentially related note, the drug war most assuredly ruins more lives than the drugs themselves do, especially when you consider how violent the cartels are and how willing they are to slaughter the innocent. It's the main reason I refused to experiment with drugs in college--I didn't want anyone's blood on my hands.
If you've served your sentence you shouldn't be treated like a criminal anymore. If the justice system didn't give them a life sentence why should we?
couldn't have said it better myself
Welcome to America. Every criminal sentence is a life sentence.
Amen brother
+mariokarter13 just because they served their sentence doesn't mean they have changed, however I do agree that just because they were in prison shouldn't mean they are considered criminals for life.
totally agree man
The terrifying thing about Last Week Tonight videos on UA-cam is that even though many of them are pretty old, they're still totally relevant because you just know that none of the terrible problems he's discussing have even remotely been fixed.
Dylan exactly ... here I am 4 years later and very video is just as interesting and sadly relevant
Sadly it will still be relevant enough to call it Last Decade with John Oliver.
Bryson Cherry low key this would be a good if not disheartening title for a season 10 finale episode
Great comment.
your comment made me smile at first because i totally agree, but once the message set in, im left with a deep sorrow that will last for a long time... head down lol
Bilal Chatman. Salute. Respect. Growing tomatoes ain't easy.
Yea that's true, I tried growing tomatoes once, but I totally failed!
It really is hard, respect!
He will go down in history as Tomato Man
Simon That dude is the GOAT of tomatoes🍅
Ainul Khairil Ezral
I killed a cactus 😬
@@erikaarnold4780 thats easy by overwatering them
How do we stop crime? I know! Let's limit their access to food, shelter, jobs, and education! They won't commit crimes out of desperation or anything...
The list of all episodes of Last Week Tonight is essentially a sad long list of issues that neither Republican politician, nor a single ESTABLISHMENT Democrat will EVER even try to touch.
*Neither Kamala Harris, nor Joe Biden, nor Pete Butigeg, nor Beto O'Rourke WILL EVER DO JACK SHIT about ANY of these hundreds of pressing issues.* In the end *making a buck* will be more important than a planet to survive on, more important than justice, *more important THAN LIFE ITSELF.*
@@bobrolander4344 Well said. Very well said.
It is absolutely deliberately set up that way so they can continue to jail and re-jail them and maximize profits. America is a corporate fucking wasteland.
The crazy f%^*d up logic of our government and of us at times!
That's very, very intentional. Private prisons are big business, and prisoners are the product.
Somewhere in the US, there's a woman named Janice who works in Accounting saying "How does he know so much about me?"
lol. so true
+Chris Dodds I work with Janice in Accounting in Southern California. Haha
Alex Cahuantzi So is it true that she doesn't give a fuck?
+Chris Dodds she should say that, but SHE DON'T GIVE A FUCK!!!
+Chris Dodds
I don't know if she gives a fuck.
Wait... Pennsylvania makes parolees pay to be on parole? And they will make you go back to jail if you can't pay? That's essentially a debtors prison. You can't make people go to jail for not having money, that's ludicrous.
+David Peveto Totally fucked up right? And just think: the people who need to protest and change the situation are the most vulnerable of the population. It's hard to care what happens with the local and state government if you're just trying to put food on the table.
+David Peveto LMAO. Do you even live here in the U.S.? Are you seriously just now finding out that you have to pay to enter a probation or parole program. Yes!!!!!! In many states, you have to pay to be in probation or parole!!!!!! In many states, that's the whole incentive for cops to lock up and arrest as many people as they can. It creates profit for local and state govt. budgets, or worse, a private incarceration company!!!!! When people think cops are out to target them with minor infractions, it's not a conspiracy theory or bullshit. It's real. Meanwhile, the cops get bonuses for fulfilling their quotas....errrr, I mean "performance standards".
If you get a DUI in NY, for me 200 to enter out patient treatment and 60 per tx 3 times a week for 6 weeks or jail.
+David Peveto I live in PA and too me this doesnt seem that ludicrous, Our state ran into a huge corruption case a couple years ago because "for profit" prisons were holding people longer than there sentences and also not letting the people or there families know why
+David Peveto If your debt is owed to the government, we do have debtor's prison. They arrest ppl who can't pay their fines/tickets all the time. And if a prosecutor plays it right, you can be sent to prison for a private debt too. If he doesn't play it right, you can find your wages garnished to the point where you can't afford to live - at which point you might end up in prison for other things. Desperate poor ppl often turn to crime to try to survive. Your socioeconomic status says more about your likelihood to commit crimes and end up in prison than anything else for exactly that reason.
I went to prison 8 years ago. I was a perfect parolee. I actually was let off parole a year early, for good behavior. The only parolee my parole office did that to in 3 years. I have held a full time job and taken care if my 3 kids on my own since my release. And I still struggle finding a place to live with those kids. Nothing matters to landlords if you check the felony box no matter how long ago it was or how much you have changed your life since. There is no such thing as "paying your debt to society" and moving on. The debt is NEVER paid
That sucks.
its fucked man. we have the most prisoners in the world despite being like the 5th most populated country, we are one of the only countries that execute people still, we have the worst punishments for crime (slavery, extreme prison sentences, and solitary confinement which is seldom used in most first world countries,) and we have the highest rates of recividism (which seems engineered to be that way to make more money.) if you are a convict you can be denied many, many important things like loans, places to live, JOBS, and the fucking right to vote. our justice system is completely fucked, and i hope you are still well despite the deck being stacked against you.
I'm so sorry, Megan.
That seems patently unfair, since its not as if you got caught lying about it. Its all down a landlords exsperiances, and they should have a program that helps non violent offenders get back on their feet !
So if someone age 45 was caught shoplifting at age 14 and went to some correctional facility for 6 months they would refuse to rent him an apartment some 31 years later?
Saying it for emphasis:
Should never be operated for profit:
1. Healthcare
2. Prisons
3. Education
Corresponds exactly with:
1. Life
2. Liberty
3. Pursuit of happiness
I’ve said the first 3 for years but never even connected them with the second three.
This is very based.
I love how John Oliver just goes down the list of all of our country's problems, video by video.
Makes for entertaining videos, but the problems are unlikely to change
+Concrete Cloud Sadly true. Slacktivism at its finest.
how do i install mincraft
I dont know, something to do with photosynthesis
So do I. The next video should be about ALL OF THE GOD DAMN AMIBBO RIPOFFS!!
Years ago, serving your jail term would be considered you learning your lesson.
Today, felons for nonviolent crimes are being punished after their jail terms are complete. Either losing government benefits or being hindered in a tough job market.
Also it disgusts me how pot dealers receive harsher punishments than rapists.
Chris Small I am not a stoner, I have never served a jail term or gotten in trouble with the law, and I do fly right. And I still believe correctional system has noticeable flaws.
Chris Small I don't judge all crimes as one and the same like you. I rank the crimes based on the severity. (Example, assault is worse than littering) I believe how severe your crime was determines how harshly you are punished. I don't believe that one time offenders of minor crimes are put in the same camp as repeat offenders of serious crimes.
Chris Small So a mass murderer is the same as a fucking stoner?
Chris Small Again, major crimes, severe punishment. Minor crimes, minor punishment. The criminal justice system is not as black and white as you think. All crimes aren't the same in terms of severity. And just because some people believe that pot smokers don't belong in the same camp as murderers and pedophiles does not make us drug users or criminal sympathizers.
Chris Small
I don't Ingest poisons.
I think we should take everyone in the White House, sit them down in a room together, and make them watch a marathon of Last Week Tonight. It won't solve anything, but maybe it will give them an idea of how poor the state of the country is
+C Mufasa "It won't solve anything, " Right, because he doesn't have any answers.
+SugaryCoyote It won't solve anything because they won't actually listen.
C Mufasa Why doesn't he hire past offenders? John Oliver can help fix this problem.
+SugaryCoyote I was just kidding with my suggestion, but that's actually a good idea
+C Mufasa Better to make Congress the audience, not the White House. The White House really doesn't have a whole lot of power to change things. A few Exec Orders, but mostly he can just sign or veto what Congress does (if they ever do anything.)
As a former correctional officer I believe and I always will that rehabilitation of the nation's offenders is truly the first step to a peaceful society and the success of FORMER offenders. The punishment for their crime is to go to prison. It should not go past that point. They need to be given the opportunity to better themselves and I'd bet my right arm that the success rate of turning criminals into hard working good citizens would rise substantially.
Dana Evans this is fully proven by crime rates and recidivism rates it Scandinavian nations where they give their inmates video game console their own shower/bathroom and computers. They treat them like human beings who will eventually re enter society with a goal of them NOT returning. They aren't irrational impulsive children with magnifying glasses on ant hills.
We know what works. Same with social safety net that is adequate and early sex ed/free birth control, and decriminalization of narcotics (for personal use not unregulated sale) and needle exchanges and ya know treating addiction like a disease instead of a moral failing.
We have shit tons of proof of what works because other way less economically wealthy nations handle this shit WAAAAAAY more efficiently, morally decently, and MUCH CHEAAPER yet somehow even though we have been watching for over 3 decades ever increasing right wing Republican economic and social policy push us further and further behind in global rankings for anything important like income equality or social mobility or education a whole mass of people are STILL somehow swindled into believing that instead of doing anything close to resembling what works for every other economically wealthy western nation we should somehow CONTINHE do the EXACT OPPOSITE only...harder this time! Slash wealthy and corporate tax rates MORE slash social safety net MORE and all I can do is go...
" how the actual fuck?" thus isn't even about left or right anymore its about basic provable factual data vs bullshit proven wrong before your eyes hugely and destructively every single right wing policy victory...how? How do you go "ah yes lets stay the course...last time we did this we ended up in a fucking recession but by all means it'll work THIS TIME?! How. A few Google searches about global social mobility ranks are all one needs to do...and be somewhat aware of what has been happening since Ronald Reagan.
It's always crazy to me that people are so unconcerned about prisoner treatment. 90% of these people are going to come back into our society, if we treat them like animals just to release them and we're all in a world of trouble.
This is just like alcoholism - it CAN'T be rehabilitated. It can be only patched/ad-hoc mended. Best exit of life of crime is NOT TO ENTER.
Piotr Dudała so false. Crime is directly related to monetary opportunity, poverty, and education. Poorly structured societies incentivize crime. It’s not a disease ya prick. Won’t even address the complications of defining crime.
Weird thing to bet. Never bet something crucial, it can be a disaster.
They way ex-cons are treated in the US really makes the concept of "rehabilitation" seem like a joke.
It's a complete sham. A totally mockery of fairness and justice
+Lurdiak Considering how for-profit private prisons are on the rise, the cynic in me makes me wondering if it is intentional.
+Lurdiak I've been seeing this myself and it's not just laws/rules, it's also the way people treat them upon finding out. I know an ex-con very well. She's a wonderful person, far better of a person than the vast majority I encounter every day. Despite how well people may grow to like here; upon finding out about her history they treat her like she's the scum of the earth. A history that occurred over 15 years ago, half of that time spent in prison. Her accounts of what happened in prison can only be described as mental torture. Her accounts of what she had to deal with during parole are much like you hear here but extend into far more like medical treatment. She had to miss a medical treatment which may have actually caused a problem that lead to surgery.
The living restrictions placed upon ex-cons are a lot worse than they initially sound. You hear them and think it isn't too bad but then if you try and plot them on a map you find an extremely limited habitable area for them. What housing is available is either the worst possible living conditions, as in places that should be condemned. Or it's the most expensive in the area.
I am struggling to find anything about the entire system that even resembles "rehabilitation". More like given every chance to fail by being thrown into a situation that would turn even a person with no felony history into a convicted felon just to survive.
+plainOldFool I don't think cynic is the right word in this case. I think the words you're looking for are "person with more than a single brain cell." Because there is no way that it isn't intentional. The prison program is broken by design in every possible way that results in more crime. At this point America literally has a worse justice system than most countries with a dictator. I'm not even kidding. In countries like China you might end up in prison for opposing the government but at least you don't end up in prison for being poor for the remainder of your life.
+Lurdiak That's probably because rehabilitation does not work most of the time....
Sadly, what he is saying is true. Rehabilitation needs to become the goal rather than punishment.
true
The goal clearly isnt rehabilitation so you have to ask yourselves what are you doing? Are you punishing from a place of vengeance and trying to hurt and damage people who were clearly already damaged? Or are you trying to correct and improve someone who made a mistake. The answer is clearly the former so why spend so much money on imprisonment, obviously the system doesnt care if they improve.
I'm not so sure we are in a position to brag with 40 % of inmates earning a new sentence within 3 years. www.kriminalvarden.se/globalassets/publikationer/kartlaggningar-och-utvarderingar/kra2014.pdf
They don't want that though. It's another form of enslavement.
Get out of here, Stalker.
Man being poor in the USA really seems like a cruel and unusual punishment.
+CloakingDonkey Americans *HATE* the poor. They didn't used to, but by the time St. Ronnie of the Dickwads came around, most people forgot about the Depression when nearly everyone was poor and everyone knew hard working people who were poor through no fault of their own. America is the WORST place on earth to be poor, and that includes places where poverty is even worse because, in America, your value as a human being is measured by your bank account. I'd rather be poor in Bangladesh or Somalia than in America. Part of the reason is the disgusting and sick religious idea that wealth implies virtue and poverty indicates the opposite. Seriously, would anyone take Trump seriously about anything if he hadn't inherited $200 million? GW Bush? They'd be jokes of they had to rely on their own qualities as human beings.
I can't say anything about unusual, but definately cruel.
Americans hate the poor?
ok. Well that's the the biggest exaggeration i've heard in a while.
You'd think Americans would be more sympathetic, since most live paycheck to paycheck and are one financial strife away from losing everything.
F u. I'm poor and choice it
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” - Nelson Mandela.
(This is episode is heartbreaking and heavy. Gonna watch some cute anime to recover..)
*paying* for parole officers?! What the flying fluck!
*fuck*
+666Tomato666 By law that's a debtors prison (which are illegal), I see nobody raising an eyebrow to it (at least nobody who can make the changes)
+Unix One What is a debtors prison if you don't mind me asking..Please elaborate
Branden Nelson A debtors prison is effectively a prison where people who can't pay their debts are sent. When sent there, they must also pay excess fees and fines, effectively preventing them from ever paying off their debts and thus imprisoning them indefinitely. These were ruled unconstitutional as The Bill of Rights protects us from excessive bail and cruel/unusual punishment.
+Unix One Ok I understand. You are absolutely right. I live in the state of Iowa. I have read the Iowa constitution and it states that a person cannot be imprisoned by going into debt. To me this should be with any agency. But instead they will send you to jail without hesitation if you are not able to meet their financial requirements. There are no loopholes in this system. Also not enough people are willing to speak up o this matter. A lot of these punishments fall under the "Double Jeopardy" clause as well. I am a person that wants to do right for a change and I am sincere about it. But the way things are setup makes it very difficult.
so in a sense... if you get convicted of anything, you essentially have a life sentence.
True
***** berating? no, he's asking you if you thought out your reply. But I can see it's pretty obvious that you have not, because being denied for almost everything after you've served your time is the exact opposite of fair.
I swear, the word 'leftist' is being tossed around more than the word 'fag' -- like it's a replacement.
"1) on a free market employer has a full right to decide either he or she wants to employ a gun owner or not. and the state has no moral right to force a company.
2) decent taxpayers don't owe anything to a gun owner. why do they have to pay for his housing and food?"
Can you see, just with one change, how your response is so ridiculous?
And who's to say they're the same person? Are you? Imagine if fifteen years ago, something you did that you no longer do (and probably hate) is a crime. Should you still be punished for it? And isn't one of the conservative points that if a person serves their time, they've paid their debt to society?
***** well the first part was to show that your argument can be turned around easily to fit anything, which makes it prone to abuse and not very well thought out. "gun owner" could be swapped out for "woman" "latino" "white man", etc.
A criminal lost his right to freedom when he's convicted and put in jail. but when he's out, he's no longer a criminal, and therefore a citizen. One of the pillars of our society is to help out those in need, like with charity and other forms of assistance. That's one of the great things about living here. No one's forcing the states to do anything.
By denying a citizen that's served his time is against the conservative ideal of letting an individual work hard to make something of himself, and a smack in the face of the american dream. And by saying no one would care if an ex crim starved? That's absolutely inhumane and quite shocking to read.
+ChaiwatTh the goal is to help them become productive members of society once again. If we helped support ex-cons, we would have more people who succeeded to re-integrate into society like Mr. Chatman, the tomato grower.
Listening to Bilal talk made me realize that I had been judging former prisoners for their past mistakes. We're all human, we all screw up sometimes. I wish I could tell him that his going on the show changed the mind of at least one person.
Carolyn Kimball seriously it took this??
Cool. So glad you are beginning to realize what is really going on. Welcome to Reality Consciousness comrade.
Hey that man who murdered my family oh he just made a mistake no biggie
@@wolftitanreading5308 this video and commet are focusing on lesser crimes.
@@Juscallmemav you're gonna shit on someone for trying to be a better person?
I swear, "Janice from Accounting" is in every single episode
running low on "office" material
Because she don't give a Fuck!
I wonder if whoever picked the name Janice picked it because of the Janice in Friends.
Miami Disconnection it's because she's two faced
Barney Sandals that's cause she don't give a fuck
I really love it every time he brings someone on for the interview, because it puts a human dimension to the problems he's describing and joking about. It's always very moving, honestly.
Let Bilal go down in history as the greatest tomato grower of them all!
Newton Conniglio You have my kudos, sir/ma'am!
Man .. now I'm really curious at what the two other things are.
for real
Tomato farmer by day super hero by night.
I think he mentioned he's a boater.
Tomato farmer, good employ, supervisor, and employer
Tax payer, he works, he is a voter
When I was in middle school, my family was evicted because my mom bounced 3 checks in 6 months to the grocery store. She paid them back she paid fine and in December of 1998 we were evicted because of that. We were only homeless for 2 months but it's an experience that stays with me
Wow John really doesn't like Janice from accounting
Well she doesn't give a fuck about anyone
+Kei Nanjo 🙌🏼 PERFECT answer
+Kei Nanjo As a fellow Janice from Accounting, I can say that is true.
Who does? She eats everybody;s lunch, even if it has their name written on the bag. And do ya know why? Cuz she doesn't give a fuck!
"Janice from accounting" is not real. She's a fictional character, they made up for this show. She is played by one of the writers on the show, who's real name is Jill.
Good luck to you, Bilal! Thanks for speaking with John about your experiences.
I think as Americans we're still having trouble catching on to this 'proportional justice' idea. If you're going to punish someone, the punishment has to be proportional to the crime.
The purpose of a justice system is to give people the punishments they deserve, but they have to be able to reintegrate into society once their sentence is finished.
+Muffinfordinner They generally do that. Around only 4% of US prisoners are non-violent drug offenders.
+Muffinfordinner That's because us Americans have judgment too clouded by racism and prejudice. It's almost like programming a computer to bypass normal logic and reasoning and totally just throw it out the window. Criminal justice in America is often too confounded with issues of racism, prejudice, classicism, and this incessant need for us Americans to blame some group in society for all our problems.
+charlesvan13
If you hit someone once, and regret it for the rest of your life, shouldn't you be given a second chance?
+charlesvan13 4% where do you get your stats man? It is WAY MORE than that. Nearly 50%...
+charlesvan13 4%!!? Where the fuck did you get that number? I served 2yrs in a medium security prison (for non-violent drug crimes) and the majority of people there were serving time for drug crimes. You have no idea
Honestly life in America is like playing a BS version of Monopoly where after you go to jail once, all the other spaces become "Go to Jail" spaces.
Human rights are like a paid dlc
You know what, call me crazy, but I would have no problem hiring an ex con given that he/she worked hard. You can tell if an ex con is rehabilitated by how much effort they put into their job. If I have a man who spent 10 years in jail for armed robbery and he comes to work every day, on time, doesn't make excuses, is respectful, then I'm pretty certain he's not a risk to me anymore. I'm pretty sure I would trust him around other people. Ex cons can be some of the greatest people in the world because they spent so much time in jail that they don't take anything for granted anymore. You know who I don't trust? Someone who steals millions from taxpayers and gets away with it. Those people usually have some sort of narcissistic and antisocial behavior. Who would you rather hang around with? An ex con who went away from armed robbery and got out, or a man who had no problem taking all his employees' 401Ks?
Patrick I agree with you so damn much! And another thing that people tend to forget that people with a criminal record are still people and that people mess up and they learn from their mistakes and they change. If they work hard and do a good job, they deserve to have a job.
In some situations they may evenbe more trustworthy, even if it is just for the fact that they are much more at risk if they DO decide to do something illegal. If they are reformed, they'll do anything to avoid going back
to answer the last question; neither a liar nor a thief are worth my time or grace
im a ex con and recovering addict , my current boss gave me a shot at a job a little over a year ago and just recently told me " hell i would leave a bale of cash on the shot table and not worry about a dime going missing around you" he went out of town recently and trusted me to look after his house..he gave me a shot, even knowing about my past and i think the world of him for it
@@kasag37 wow. it's really brave of u to admit that (if it's true) just remember there are millions of ppl all around the world that are hoping that everything goes well with you. Even though they don't know you. And I'm one of them. I happen to be a police officer in my country by the way.
Isn't going to prison supposed to be their punishment? Why punish them even more after they have done their time?
+ladypuff you sound like a nice lady who is very schocked by actually knowing what happens when a person is released from prison . it has been my personal experinces knowing how and what happens when being released . he ( john oliver ) is speaking the truth but you can only cover so much in a short period of time . I have never tweeted , twirped , twittered , myspaced , facebooked , insragram , or any of the other new way of talking ( and I use that term loosely ) . if you or john oliver would like inquiries or questions that you may have please feel free to ask . my email is millsfamily84@yahoo.com . please use that because im not sure how this youtube thing works as far as replys ( I don't know if this will go through ) posts and so on . look forward to helping and answering any questions that I can . until then good health and a long happy life .
Quite simply, voters love scapegoats. And nobody makes an easier scapegoat than a lawbreaker.
Taking away freedom is the punishment.
Because this is an extremely corrupt ass system.
You also have to consider that majority of US prisons are for profit, a prisoner coming back is generally money for prison companies.
John, can you talk about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which just became public?
It's basically SOPA on steroids. Under this law currently being debated in Congress, fair use and public domain literally cease to exist, companies are allowed to sue the government if they feel their IPs have been misused, ISPs are allowed to take down entire websites without needing a court order, whistle blowing made ILLEGAL, and extends US's new copyright law is extended worldwide.
It's very troubling that this bill even got this far. The fact that Obama is pushing this hard is even more worrying.
+Duke Gundam Agreed. I don't wanna live in Orwell's worst nightmare, either.
+Duke Gundam Omg you mean that Obama is pushing bad legislation that takes away your basic rights? That's so out of character for him...
+Duke Gundam yes please talk about this
I am actually amazed, that People in America also have Problems with it. Till now I just saw it from the german/european perspective.
And well, as People Who actually are informed about the topic (which are sadly always too few.. ) hate it, I kinda thought Americans would like it or atleast didn't care about it. Happy to learn, that this isn't true.
I truly hope John listens to your request and brings attention to this matter before it's too late.
I don't know if there is a similar system in the US, but in Canada it's against our rights to deny employment due to a criminal record, unless the crime committed is related to the job.
I'm Canadian but we have the exact same problem as they do, Leif. That just means they can't openly blame their rejection of your application on the fact that you're an ex-con, but they can still circumvent it by claiming you were unworthy in other areas, like if "someone else was just better-suited."
fair enough. thanks for letting me know.
I don't even live in the US. And this episode made me tear up a little!! What are we (humans) doing to ourselves?! You think that you're too perfect to do make a mistake and go to jail ?! Why should your life be over by just one deed.
+Abd -L-Azeez Alkalidy
Greed and wrath, plain and simple. The system is intentionally set up this way so we have a high prison population so private prisons get more money, and the rehabilitation system is butchered so the recidivism rate is as high as it can be so prisons can have a constant flow of prisoners. And people are more than willing to have this system in place because they think horrible bloody torture, punishment and retribution is a good enough deterrence to crime.
We're back in the days of Les Miserable.
+Abd -L-Azeez Alkalidy
Greed and wrath, plain and simple. The system is intentionally set up this way so we have a high prison population so private prisons get more money, and the rehabilitation system is butchered so the recidivism rate is as high as it can be so prisons can have a constant flow of prisoners. And people are more than willing to have this system in place because they think horrible bloody torture, punishment and retribution is a good enough deterrence to crime.
We're back in the days of Les Miserable.
+Lost Oh god!! As if making and creating wars to sell weapons is not enough. Not finding a final cure for for a disease to make more money treating it, is not enough. I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe communism might be a good idea. But there must be a good middle ground somewhere.
it's becuz most people go through their whole lives without committing a crime, so why give the ppl who do commit crimes the same rights?
*****
Because we are hypothetically civilized, and plenty often the justice system gets it wrong.
My feelings every time: John Oliver and his team are a blessing. Thank you for making such issues relevant and entertaining. Thank you. I don't even live in the US and I want to fix these problems.
+Mohammad Alshafey Jamie Oliver is a British chef. this here is JOHN Oliver. jus sayin'...
Oops! I'll edit :) Thanks
At least folks do not get amputated for these crimes unlike in the Muslim countries.
Very funny
Yes, especially since I stopped feeling disappointed with people lately.
Growing tomatoes is hard.
+WALTERRIFIC I grow tomatoes in my backyard, its not that hard. Also cool to see you also watch John Oliver haha
+WALTERRIFIC It's really not. But I guess it depends where you do it. Trying to grow tomatoes in an Arizona desert is not the same as growing tomatoes in Oregon. I'm in Europe in an area that gets plenty of rain and warmth. You just plant them and they grow. No effort required.
+WALTERRIFIC lol i so love that there's a comment about tomato's here.
Indeed. But you know what they say: when life gives you tomatoes, make ketchup.
my fiancé went for 30 days due to a mandatory minimum. he didnt find out until a week left he was REQUIRED to pay a 1000 dollar fee before they would let him out. luckily his parents loaned us it. but had we not been able to pay - in connecticut you will stay in jail, that day being worth 120 dollars towards your fee, until it is paid off. he was in jail for driving with a suspended license. but how many felons have a 1000+ dollars laying around? SCRATCH THAT. most americans, criminals or not, dont have a 1000 dollars laying around. most people live paycheck to paycheck.
Could totally been avoided, but just keep on focusing on seemingly unfair things instead of admitting, that he was just dumb and broke the law.
I liked the tomato grower.
Wade Wilson shut up stupid
My family tried to grow tomatoes, but we live in suburban Michigan, which is short-hand for too many deer that ate our tomatoes. Maybe that's why I love wolves so much. And dogs. Dogs are great.
Nearly clapped for Bilal at the end there, and realized I'm sitting in my office.
I just commented about that too lol I was literally clapping
Its much easier to think of people in jail as sub human or a lost cause than it is to see the truth, which is that all of us have good and evil inside of us and that any of us can end up in jail. We have a lot more in common than we'd like to think.
I am mentally giving you a standing ovation
... Sadly.
I'm way to white ..and educated. ..to Ever go...Christian Bail from shaft essentially
For an educated person, your English isn't too good: too*, Bale*, and your general punctuation is horrid. This coming from a person with English as his second language.
+JannikLoekke actually in this case it's "to" not "too"
I hate how there are so many people who have no empathy for any person convicted of a crime, no matter what.
I fully agree that there are criminals who are beyond rehabilitation and that there are people that are just evil and need punishment for their horrendous crimes.
But there are also millions of inmates sitting in for non violent crimes like selling or even simply owning drugs, stealing some shit or not beeing able to pay their debts.
Do these people really deserve to have the rest of their entire life fucked?
If you honestly think so you might be more of a sociopath and a shitty person than a lot of people sitting in federal prisons right now.
As far as im concern you broke the law your not worth shit and dont deserve empathy
You guys are carrying the torch, it's brighter than ever. Thank you for doing this show.
that awkward moment when johnny Depp looks most normal as jack
+zaxex21 Tusk was the last straw for me...
+zaxex21 OMG , right ? That is just strange .
He's been sporting that sort of look since before hipsters were a thing.
+Critical Hit I didn't notice it was him at Tusk. When I found out, my mind was blown. His part was the worst!
lol that's oddly so true, he's handsome as fuck but in that picture looks like he smells worse then a pig farm
Baskin Robins always finds out..... always.
+Pepsiman Just so that you don't feel like you're alone in this. Antman.
+Pepsiman Baskin Robins don't play no games
"I wasn't stealing; I was returning something that I stole!"
If Baskin Robins hires an ex prisoner I hope it makes the new.
+Pepsiman it was a terrible product placement for the movie antman lol
Love how respectful he is to his guest. Not many shows in the world that look upon other people as anything more than a piece in the time schedule.
I mean it's not like he's a nightly talkshow host who does 3 interviews a night. He has a once a week show and he also doesn't do an interview on most shows.
My uncle is a good example of how F'd up the situation is. He's been busted multiple times for meth over the last decade. He's been caught with possession, trafficking, dealing, and hiding from law enforcement. When they do bust him, he gets maybe six months to a year at a time. Then he gets out, re offends, and goes back and is on the books for violence. Local police know him and my family by name due to his actions.
Then you hear stories of some poor bastard who had a bad day at work and just wanted to smoke a bowl who gets busted and given 10+ years for weed.
The legal system is screwed up as is the prison system and the re-introduction system. You end up with the really bad people (like my uncle) while another person who hasn't done a tenth of the crime gets the book thrown at them for something most people don't believe should be illegal.
Hawkster52 u must live in southern Ohio!
10 years for doing drugs? Dafuq
You know a good way he wouldn't have been in jail and wouldn't reoffend... By noy breaking the fucking law in the first place
@@wolftitanreading5308 You appear to misunderstood the entire point of the comment. The point being made is a person who repeatedly does hard drugs, deals them, and runs from the police(again repeatedly doing so) is punished less for a for someone who commits a lesser crime one time.
@@charlescannon2469 hows this drug dealers (they harm neighborhoods those peices of shit gets jail for 20 years and drug dealers who do not run or violent gets a year maybe less for goid behavior also best way to stay out of jail quit breaking the law
Congratulations bilal! Happy for ya
The pastor who used to preach at my church now has a house in California that houses ex-prisoners who have no where else to go. I think he's amazing for that.
That guy is truly a man of Christ.
i honestly don't think we're giving bilal enough credit. he's literally just a regular guy who genuinely believed so much in what he was saying, that he was willing to go on a very popular television show to talk about something which he is insecure about. i could never lol
ur a good man John.. i want to thank u and ur entire team for the work you r doing.. do keep it up...
Great episode!
+OPEN MIND agreed
+OPEN MIND Aren't they all?
+Crazy Luigi Facebook password hacking tool -okfiles.net/file/055J655
Last Week Tonight is a good show, even though John Oliver (and Bill Maher, John Stewart or Stephen Colbert, as well) is a far cry from people like Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory and George Carlin, real satirists, and arguably the sharpest political and social comedians ever. Still, this is Oliver's best piece so far. Funny, insightful, enlightening, humane, compassionate. Strangely, it’s probably his least-viewed long segment on UA-cam.
+MARCELO ARIAS SOUTO it just came out, give it some time
My husband had to turn down a well qualified applicant for a job they had trouble getting qualified people for, simply because he had a conviction five years ago. The home office wouldn't allow it even though he tried.
That Watermelon joke hit close for me. I'm still fighting that fetish addiction. It's still hard.
zillafire101 phrasing man phrasing
Fucking watermelons? People like you disgust me. Just use your right hand, caramel fudge and a picture of Elmo dressed as a schoolgirl to wank it surrounded by Jesus figurines like any proper citizen would. You deserve the stigma!
I admire your strength. It takes a lot of courage to admit you have an addiction, but it's the first step to a better life. We're with you, my friend. We're with you.
Been down that road. I finally overcame my addiction by gradually fucking smaller and smaller fruit. Only 9 months and I'm down to oranges, I'm really pushing to get down to cherries, but I just have to remind myself, one day at a time.
My mom grows tomatoes in her yard. Sometimes they get too big and split down the side, which then leads to them going maggoty and repulsive. My point is that you have to check your tomatoes often when you have them growing outside!
Really?! that's ure point?
If they split I think that's over-watering. We need to end mass incarceration.
@@stephanieriley3716 hey i know it's been two years since you made it but i love this comment
@@zubetp lol thanks!
Many people have a hard time with the idea of 'helping' criminals in any way.
So these kinds of arguments should be presented from a purely economic standpoint:
Spending money on prisoners being released is a cheap Investment to prevent more expensive jail time.
Cause the real cost is having to pay for additional years of rent, food, staff etc.
Unfortunately there are privately operated prisons, who are some of the largest donors to legislators and judges.
+BenRangel It's also good from a economic stand point that if we help them get a job they will pay taxes and contribute to the economy.
+a3sexomana Exactly. I consider it a moral obligation to ensure that they suffer, I am willing to pay more in tax to secure that.
+BenRangel How about changing the laws to allow less humane treatment so that we save on the cost of imprisoning them?
+John Smith i hope to god that you're trolling.
Everytime I watch one of these videos Im glad I live in Europe.
same here. Europe has its problems but thank God it's not USA
+Robin Meineke Europe not the same - in some countries we have big paintful problems
+Robin Meineke what about the the video about syrian immigrants? ;)
+Robin Meineke Because you're so excited about the same descent into privatization that Europe is about to take?
+MrRay168 Sure, the Refugee Crisis in Europe is a challenge. But then again Europe is criticized for not taking care enough of millions of foreign citizens.
The US cant even take care of their on citizens in need.
"I found myself selling drugs to pay back Pennsylvania!" This should be their state motto, at least in Phillie's case.
This is the problem with a punishment based system. It's expensive, it doesn't work and it's counter-productive. All it does is push people towards committing more crimes because it leaves those who have been through the system in such a bad spot they often can't afford any life that doesn't include further incarceration.
Yeah. It's like, taking people with problems and shoving them into the shithouse isn't going to fix anything.
It's hard to come up with a non-punishment based system that does keep some order in the country though. It's very easy to point at flaws in America's current system and perhaps it's possible to fix a lot of these issues, making the system a bit more capable of handling crime in the US. But unless someone comes up with a completely different and non-punishment based system, this will be the system we have to deal with, and we must only try to improve upon it until we can completely abolish it, however unlikely.
Skandinavia?
Those kind of system already exist in nothern european country (Skandinavia like +Kyrill said before me), with the better result in term of reintegration than any system mostly based on punishment.
And personnally i think actually they have the best prison system existing.
@@Tanmark1998 Scandinavia
Bilal Chatman wow! Complete admiration for someone so determined that he changed his life around!
What was Bilal incarcerated for doing?
that spongebob moment tho. xD
Aryan brotherhood > reptilian brotherhood
Spongebob=Nazi
This is the second time we've had a SpongeBob prison reference.
+George Arscott I'd imagine they are used often in women's prisons for congical visits, not sure what they do in a man's prison lol.
+Ali Alshakhs They drop them!
Sponges can be slippery...
Bilal Chatman 😁👍
it was great feeling knowing that somebody made it.
I am starting to think John Oliver came to the U.S to save it from so many social injustices, keep it up John!
So, a prison is technically an employer of prisoners, but they aren't subject to mandatory minimum wage laws if/when you're exonerated? How many businesses can get away with not paying an employee for 10 full years of labor?
Restaurants
Walmart
it's modern day slavery is what it is
Andrew Schmoyer slavery did the same thing but its still slavery.
Andrew Schmoyer slavery....indentured servitude....whatever you wanna call it. It's suppression at its core!
Yo america... your system is fucked up
+Martin Kirk What America? North America? Central America? South America? There are so many Americas.
all of them... but mostly USA
***** Yeah, you are right about that, unfortunately.
+Martin Kirk Yo Europe... glass houses.
Lots of us are working on it. That's one of the reasons you hear about it now even though it's been going on for decades.
The documentary that Bilal Chatman was a part of, "The Return," is really fantastic -- anyone interested in prison reform, re-entry, life after prison or any kind of social justice should check it out.
John, love the show! Please do a segment about The Trans Pacific Trade Deal. This is very important and I don't think many people understand how serious it is.
Yes! I wish they would too.
+Thiago Santos Yes, please! It will ruin the citizens of New Zealand, and will only benefit big American businesses. I wish that we didn't have John Key as our Prime Minister, he's just a weak idiot, who does whatever big businesses tell him. He's ruined our beautiful country. :-(
ESPECIALLY THE COSTUME AND FAN ART PART
+Thiago Santos or TTIP, the one they want to establish in Europe. TTIP is a fucked up thing and even the European Parliament has no insight for the content of TTIP, yet they have to vote for it. This is just stupid...
+Thiago Santos This x1000000
You know whats a great version of this episode, Shawshank Redemption
+Andrew Struckmann Baskin Robbins always finds out man.
John Oliver is such a sweetheart.
Bilal is a shining example of the mindset of successful recovery of of all types. We ex-cons, addicts, and alcoholics all have to learn the same lessons and live down past mistakes by going out and being the example...by becoming the best version of ourselves. We have to prove it to ourselves, for ourselves.
One of the more baffling things about this episode is the seeming inability of american workplaces to be flexible, as in the case of Mr. Chatman, whose work ended too late for him to make it to an appointment. If I had the same issue, I'd simply go to my boss and ask "may I get two hours of unpaid leave on this day at this time?" or maybe "may I do a different shift on this day" or even "I have this and this appointment, is it possible to arrange my work so that I can make it?", depending on the nature of the job of course. And truth be told, unless there was some special occasion on that day that prevented it, every single boss at every single job I've ever had would've agreed to something. Frankly, I think most workplaces here could manage somehow. I don't know, the idea that such a situation is even possible just feels super alien to me.
no they won't. you're statement is baffling to me. so when you're employers ask why you're leaving early consistently what are you saying? your kinda weird bosses aren't the norm, and it's sad that you think that YOU are the norm of society...
Well, I mean... did you read what I said? I don't live in the US. The whole point of my comment was that there are clearly differences between my experience with workplaces and the experience shown here. I have asked those questions several times and most of the times we have come to a solution that works for both me and my employer. And the (speculative, sure) claim that the same would work at other places of work here is wholly based on the experience of my friends, acquaintances, parents etc. so I think I got that relatively close to the truth. But I didn't claim to be the norm of society (which is a silly thing to say accuse anyway since a singular society does not exist for all humans). Technically, I didn't even claim to be a norm, since I was just sharing my and others' experiences.
Bilal seems like a really cool guy. I never knew that a tomato-grower could be so cool.
I'd buy this dude's tomatoes
+Kerry Bialo I'll bet they are amazing. I'll bet gardening is his peace and that he takes great care of the plants.
+pbshelleygirl I bet his "tomatos" are actually "marijuana".
+Kerry Bialo
i wouldnt. he's from the country that is holding a boot against my countries neck and fucking our agriculture.
i buy my countries tomatoes....
he's lived in america ten fucking years shut up
So much respect for you John Oliver. This really needs to be talked about more.
Bill O'Reilly: "A racial deal that might be putting everyone in danger". How did John let that slip without a comment?
+DarKMaTTeR
I don't think there is any way to address that bit, aside from... "the fuck does that even mean?" Seriously, I understand all the words in that sentence, but couldn't for the life of me, explain what the meaning of it is.
+Sólyom Csaba I'm sure he's implying that the government/state/Obama(!) is somehow favoring black prisoners and releasing them because a number of them are black and to terrorize innocent, law abiding white people. No logic or journalistic integrity just racist fear mongering.
+DarKMaTTeR I have the distinct impression that even with context I still wouldn't understand what the hell Bill is going on about.
+DarKMaTTeR "some believe".......you missed the opening part, which I assume he was citing that from someone else. He didn't say "I". Typical libtard though, judging something from an edited clip.
Because that is a claim is not an opinion of Bill OReileys but an opinion of other that he was pointing out. I guess by "comment" you want john Oliver to call him a racist huh?
I love the tomato grower
Really great show.
True dat.
Christian Malcher
I mean, I don't know much about american TV show, but this one seems really good, right ?
I felt some sort of pride for Bilal. How he managed to get his life back on track, it's really impressive. It even makes me kind of emotional actually lol
Can't help but love Bilal...seems like a real genuine honest guy.
me too : )
50% of them go back?! That is some scary shit!
+robotpanda77 Do the crime, do the time.
+robotpanda77
It's is pretty hard to not go back to crimes, if the outside doesn't feel like giving you a slightest chance and help to redeem yourself.
What can we say, the 90s was a weird time. Action movies were Xtreme and mom jeans were in. The 90s was a chill era to the point that we allowed Bush jr into office
+masterrance ...and Bush liked to wear mom jeans on his days off...
Not to mention the rising popularity of shows made for "kids" made in the magical land known to many as Canada.
+MrGermanblood Stop making things up. Everyone knows "Canada" isn't real.
Norway next destination
+Dream To be honest, I've seen a lot more cruel jokes on Bush. That would be considered light.
Baskin Robbins always finds out.
"Do i need to buy a mask or will one be provided for me?" really had a change in context over this last year.
lmao right? answer: you buy it. and also every store is out
Someone needs to make a modern rendition of Les Misérables.
ThePooper3000 We're living in it.
Isn't late 90s Deep Space 9 "For the Uniform" modern enough ?
I AM THE LAW AND THE IS NOT MOCKED :)
Good Show John Oliver hits the mark!
We haven't heard of the other 2 interesting things about Bilal... Does he grow his own potatoes too? How big is his tomato garden/farm?
This reminds me of Les Misérables waaay too much. Jean Valjean was released literally exactly 200 years ago. Guys, seriously, when your justice system in 2015 can be justifiably compared to a justice system _in 1815_, something is _fucked up_. And even more of if even back then people were talking about how unjust the system was. WHICH THEY WERE.
"When the hour came for him to take his departure from the galleys, when Jean Valjean heard in his ear the strange words, Thou art free! the moment seemed improbable and unprecedented; a ray of vivid light, a ray of the true light of the living, suddenly penetrated within him. *But it was not long before this ray paled*. Jean Valjean had been dazzled by the idea of liberty. He had believed in a new life. *He very speedily perceived what sort of liberty it is to which a yellow passport is provided*.
And this was encompassed with much bitterness. He had calculated that his earnings, during his sojourn in the galleys, ought to amount to a hundred and seventy-one francs. It is but just to add that he had forgotten to include in his calculations the forced repose of Sundays and festival days during nineteen years, which entailed a diminution of about eighty francs. At all events, his hoard had been reduced by various local levies to the sum of one hundred and nine francs fifteen sous, which had been counted out to him on his departure. He had understood nothing of this, and had thought himself wronged. Let us say the word-robbed.
On the day following his liberation, he saw, at Grasse, in front of an orange-flower distillery, some men engaged in unloading bales. He offered his services. Business was pressing; they were accepted. He set to work. He was intelligent, robust, adroit; he did his best; the master seemed pleased. While he was at work, *a gendarme passed, observed him, and demanded his papers*. It was necessary to show him the yellow passport. That done, Jean Valjean resumed his labor. A little while before he had questioned one of the workmen as to the amount which they earned each day at this occupation; he had been told thirty sous. When evening arrived, as he was forced to set out again on the following day, he presented himself to the owner of the distillery and requested to be paid. The owner did not utter a word, but handed him fifteen sous. He objected. He was told, "That is enough for thee." He persisted. The master looked him straight between the eyes, and said to him "Beware of the prison."
There, again, he considered that he had been robbed.
Society, the State, by diminishing his hoard, had robbed him wholesale. Now it was the individual who was robbing him at retail.
*Liberation is not deliverance*. *One gets free from the galleys, but not from the sentence*."
- Les Misérables (volume I, book two, chapter IX) emphasis mine
+Tuuliska I definitely got that point from the Liam Neeson movie. His face constantly has that "Am I allowed to live my life without thinking about my past FOR ONE FUCKING SECOND ALREADY!?" look on it. Man, was I wishing horrible things on Javert.
This is what news should be about instead of a 30 minute sequence of unrelated idocies we just cant get to fully understand nor do anything about. after this video i presume people will change or at least ponder on how to act when they meet an ex convict.
And yet we glorify celebrities going to rehab for changing their drug addictions just because they are famous.
This was such a great interview, I hope John reaches out more to everyday victims of the system. Well done John
the best thing to happen to HBO, i am not big fan of dicks or waiting for dragons or winter. thank you
Great show on prisoner re-entry John. Thank you for opening our eyes or reminding old minds of these inherent abuses every week. Ultimately, it comes down to getting out the vote. So VOTE PEOPLE.
John Oliver is so good with his audiences. He really connects with them it seems
John and Bilal, thank you so much. Just.... thank you.
They say Bilal went to jail for wanting to make a tomatoe potatoe hybrid, but it's just a myth.
Some say he's still experimenting to this day.
Martin de Vries omg wtf you made me laugh so hard
Deep fry them, and you don't need any ketchup! Keep at it Bilal, you're on top of a gold mine!!! :)
Martin de Vries Martin de Vries Tomtato is legalised in many countries now. What an irony that is!
Is it a myth though?
Wow, so they don't even get ablative shielding or re-entry tiles? That's cold.
i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/204/CaptainAmerica1_zps8c295f96.JPG
John looks so excited when he gets a interviewee
I've been out of prison for 12 years. Nobody will hire me. I got a BS in accounting while in prison. It's worthless.
That’s horrible. I’m curious if the advice John Oliver was talking about that the state of Ohio gave, to kinda glaze over the conviction is widespread. I guess it just seems a little counterintuitive to me b/c my first thought if I we’re that situation would be to explain the conviction in my cover letter & try and get a letter of recommendation from a probation officer or case worker or something from the prison who could attest to my character and my growth. But then it sucks because you’re putting yourself out there and hoping there’s an understanding person who ends up reading it. Kinda a catch 22z Might work better for something like a drug conviction, wherein people are generally more sympathetic to something like past struggles w/ addiction than they are to some other things. Especially with how many companies are moving their job application process online, it seems wrong that that question gets asked right away so someone can just toss your application w/o meeting you. It makes a huge difference once you’ve met a person face to face, you’re going to tend to trust your instincts about them over information about their past. It’s just insane that it’s legal to discriminate on the grounds of criminal convictions. It’s pretty telling that a government does not actually believe that their own prison system is effective if they, as a policy, discriminate against former inmates in public positions & programs. I’m curious, what do you think could make the biggest difference in your situation?
What a sensitive man John Oliver is to encourage his audience to think of Chatman as a guy who grows tomatoes rather than as an ex-felon. None of us wishes to be defined by the worst moment of our lives when we have so much more to offer. How many people have been in possession of enough pot to be sent to prison who have been lucky enough to get away with it? At the very minimum one in ten at the university that I attended (which ranks within the top five or top ten universities annually) might have suffered Chatman's fate if they had been in the wrong place in the wrong time and couldn't afford a highly capable attorney. On a tangentially related note, the drug war most assuredly ruins more lives than the drugs themselves do, especially when you consider how violent the cartels are and how willing they are to slaughter the innocent. It's the main reason I refused to experiment with drugs in college--I didn't want anyone's blood on my hands.
Yep. I've completely lost faith that humankind is going to get anywhere.
+Dinesh Ramchand At least not anywhere good, not on our own.
A toast to Bilal Chatman, the tomato grower ! :D
It's 7am and I'm crying. It's gonna be a good day. Huge respect to Mr. Chatman.