I was in jail once (held on bail) for selling pain pills (I'm white btw). It was my first offense. In jail I met a black kid in the same situation as me. I was immediately offered to go to drug court and have my charges dropped if I completed it (which I took and completed). When speaking with this black kid in jail (with the same first offense charge) he told me that they immediately offered him 1 year in jail if he pleaded guilty and didn't go to trial. I told him about the drug court offer I got and that he should ask he defense attorney about it. He did and ended up getting the same drug court deal I got. He told me when he asked his (non-paid) attorney why she didn't tell him about the drug court option first she said "Oh I didn't think it would be something you'd be interested in".... So because he was black and lower class it was just assumed he would rather go to jail and be a felon then try and clean up and have a clean record. That's the court system for you. I'm just glad I was able to help someone out with the right info at the right time.
Always makes me laugh when US politicians bang on about the human rights violations of other countries (China, NK, etc). Pot calling the kettle black springs to mind.
Yup! Torture has been legal here since they never repealed the "Patriot Act", which is a fancy way of saying we can do what we want because "terrorism".
@@ryana.7102 That's what I find funny about all this, the dictorial government responded to a more violent protest better than the world's 'champion of democracy'
At the end of the day statistics mean nothing because statistics assume that crimes are reported and recorded with honesty. Yet humans are not honest machines.
I did four years in prison for a crime that I committed and for which I was rightfully incarcerated (I robbed a bank, long story) but during my stay I met SOOOOOO many people just like those described in this video. And saw how corrupt our prison system is.
Brent Z I'm not talking about that. I only met one person inside who claimed to be innocent that I believed. I'm talking about the countless petty drug offenders inside, or people who couldn't pay probation it parole fees because lack of work. The people clogging up prisons and usually coming out worse than they went in.
Addition points worth noting: The rape statistics of inmate in prison. People ignore the massive amount of rapes in prison, because they envision prisons as being full of murders and monsters, but they're actually cages full of about 15-25% monsters, and the the rest are young men arrest for non-violent crimes, being rapes by those monsters... get caught with a little weed on you? How's several years in prison and being raped a bunch of times sound for a fair punishment? It's also worth noting that while this was presented as a race issue, it's also very much a gender issue. Dramatically more men than women end up in prison.
Looking at it purely selfishly, these policies mean tons of wasted tax dollars and an overall reduction in people's safety (as violent crimes have less resources and attention put to them). I'm being selfish when I say, I want these policies to change.
pragmatically these polices are a huge waste of resources and represent a massive reduction in safety and stability, but conservatives think with their hearts, and in their hearts not their heads, and it is more important to them that others suffer than they do well.
Actually if conservatives truly thought with their hearts, they'd still not support this crap. Sadly the political figures think with their wallets, and their constituency doesn't think at all.
And it's not just resources that are abused, it's community trust. Police are simply not as effective if people who might report instances won't do so because "oh fuck am I going to get fucked because I was high when I saw that?"
Cool stereotyping bro...white guys only listen to other white guys... So I guess I get to do one to you now. Where is your greencard... Funny thing about this little exchange we both did the same thing but I will be the one looked at as a racist for it. Because that's how equality works...
@@TheNitroG1 wow if you were a little smarter you'd be an idiot. Instead of countering his claim with any type of valid argument you decided to frame yourself as a victim now your entire response just proves his point. 😆🤣😆
TheNitroG1 your response proves his point. You, a white guy, didn’t listen to a damn thing he said, you just straight attached his post 😂😂. If there’s any white guys reading this can you translate it to Nitro for me please 🤦🏽♂️😂
@@TheNitroG1 it's not a stereotype dumbass.. Black people were fighting this for ages and white people didn't (and still don't) care about it cause they weren't affected as in "what? i don't know what you're talking about. i never get pulled over, stop being so dramatic" And yes some people only listen to what white people have to say but those people probably don't have problems with black people being thrown into prison..
I work in the prison system as an officer. It is really disheartening the way nonviolent offenders are often turned into violent offenders. Someone with a two-year sentence may get in a fight and cause serious injury and get more time. some of us try to help get them into programs but like one guy told, "Sarge ain't no one gonna want to hire me with a record." Which is true but we have to try to rehabilitate them and give them skills to use outside.
I live in Gilbert, Arizona. One of the safest places in the entire united states, and our police department is way over funded, bored, nosey, aggressive and horrible. They have no real crime to stop, but tons of cop toys and money and quotas.....so they will literally send an entire swat team to arrest a 14 year old for weed. I've seen two or three police cars at simple traffic stops, they'll send out full force police squads for teenagers out after curfew. It's sad.
Actually the larger anarchist talking point is that prisons often include literal slavery. After emancipation, Jim Crow laws developed to return slavery under another name. Because of the 13th amendment, slavery continued to be legal so long as black existence could be made illegal. Southern law makers made laws to target blackness and the state leased slaves back to former masters. (Read the book "Slavery by Another Name" for more info.) Nixon didn't so much start as escalate this pratice, leading to the modern slavery of today. Street signs and office furniture are commonly made by forced labor or slavery. You've probably run in to forced labor when you talk to customer support. Most call centers in the US are inside of prisons. Anarchists have been organizing inside of those prisons and supporting prisoners outside, leading to a lot of the recent prison strikes. If you're really interested in abolishing slavery, pay attention to the August 21st slave rebellion being organized by prisoners and IWOC (the incarcerated workers organizing committee of the IWW, which is a mostly anarchist union). The best thing you can do to help is spread the word and stay informed. Get more info at incarceratedworkers.org/
Tim Roberts Here's how it typically goes down. You get arrested and charged with something. They set your bail at a certain amount. If you can afford to pay it, you can post bail and be released from jail until your trial. If you can't afford to post bail, then you get to sit in jail until your trial. The Constitution guarantees us a speedy trial, but thanks to the massive amounts of prisoners/arrests/etc it's highly likely that your trial will be pushed back, delayed, rescheduled, lather rinse repeat. You could end up serving years in jail before ever going to trial.
Damn. Cracked's videos are getting deeper and more meaningful. They're actively trying to educate, and communicate to people what awful things happen in our country everyday. Things that we can do something about. Thanks, Cracked. Good lookin out.
An 18 year old, misdemeanor, conviction, with no convictions or even arrests since then, still keeps me from getting jobs I'm overqualified for. Been unemployed for nearly 4 years, with no governmental assistance, and have been homeless repeatedly, since 1999.
LOL most US prisons have free food electronics, drugs, and protect from the cold. watch any documentary on North Korea and you will see its like comparing the DMV to Hell. close but no cookie
I just want to say thank you for putting out content like this. Highlighting stuff that needs to be dealt with. Encouraging people to take action, even if it's just a call to congress or Senate. Seriously, thank you for using your platform in a constructive and critical way.
Right, it is a single country but that is not how language works. Pants are a single item but you have to use the plural present form of the word be because it is a plural. United States has a plural word in it's title so we have to use the plural form when referring to it.
Maybe I'll just post this the next time people try to justify things with 'not all cops' rhetoric. The system literally encourages and puts pressure on cops who aren't willing to partake in this kind of injustice.
Let's just remember that a lot of his sources are Huffpost and non credible news sources. We don't actually know that they're implementing quotas and pressure cops for more arrests. There's just as much evidence suggesting against that as there is suggesting for that, especially considering it's illegal in most places. We shouldn't just believe it's true because a pop culture themed web show host saw an article about it on his Facebook page.
That is a fabulous point. However stereotyping in this manner is dangerous because the logical following is that it's ok to consider cops less than normal citizens. When by your own admission they dont want to do it either in many cases.
terry swamp - with 0 possibility of getting out of the situation? Many have mental health issues or other health issues for longer term homeless problem so how is jail the right place for a person who needs help? I mean it's the solution we as Americans have decided is ok for some reason but I don't understand getting rid of all mental health institutions and putting those people in prison usually in solitary for 23 hours a day is humane in any way. Which actually was until the 80's seen as cruel and unusual punishment until which we brought it back for some reason. www.scientificamerican.com/article/solitary-confinement-cruel-ineffective-unusual/
wtf?? As a non-American, the existence of private prisons is completely NOT understandable. Can someone explain why they would even allow to make those things in the first place....?
I learned about this around ten years ago when I did a research paper in college on drug law. I gave a presentation on it, when I said (keep in mind, this was 2006 or earlier data) "marijuana is associated with less crime than any other drug" and "alcohol is associated with more crime than any other drug" I heard someone as my teaching assistant if it was true....during my presentation. Of course he knew it was. A little off topic, but I'm just glad more of this information is finally coming out. It was an unpleasant experience to know while everyone around walks around obliviously. Also all drug prohibitions used racism to further the goal. Except acid, which was Nixon's hippies. Previously heroin, cocaine, and opium were used in medications. Hemp was outlawed to begin with because it was going to be a successful competitor for lumber. Our constitution was drafted on hemp paper. Good old lobbyists... Excuse me, I think I need to go reread some research papers.
i learn more from every cracked news video than i learn from even trying to research things myself, or watching tv news, or following social medias. as long as you keep making such good videos and getting the truth out there, you will have my loyalty and support.
if you believe in smaller government, then you must oppose this police state tyranny. If you are for social benefit programs and government for the people, you must oppose this police state tyranny. We, the people, who choose our government, must be United for our collective benefit!
Prisons shouldn't be privately run. Making a profit doesn't gel with incarceration, gives people on top too much incentive to meet arrest & conviction quotas.
As fucked up as the prison industry is in the US and as much as it NEEDS to be changed immediately, you'd think people would be a little more careful about the things that you can get arrested for. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and it isn't hard to enjoy life without them.
In Canada now, the police can pull you over without a reason, search your vehicle, if you do not give your id, arrestable and fineable offense, and if your a pedestrian, they can frisk you and go through your backpack or purse without cause.
Reasons to care: you forgot about enlightened self-interest. I mean-- you addressed it obliquely, but not head on. Bottom line is-- how black people get treated, over time, will become the common way that *anyone* without power is treated. And as the middle class shrinks, the number of individuals who could reasonably be said to be powerless increases. We'll all be potential prison fodder before long. -- You can tell a lot about a society by how it treats those that are on the bottom of the social standing.
And only the part of the 1st amendment that protects the speech of white supremacists like ^ cupcake here. Yeah, it's pretty awful. But the people in most states are better than their representatives. It's just the combination of our deepening corporate coup with the GOP's southern strategy for elections that makes our institutions so unjust. Socialism or barbarism! Seems we've made our choice...
It makes sense that drugs are illegal though, they are too addictive. Or at least, the only people who should be punished are those who sell them and create them. Maybe the money going into prisons should instead be going into rehabilitation.
TheColaGoodfellow Alcohol and cigarettes are addictive too. So much violent crime would be reduced if drugs and prostitution were legalized. Seriously, what would cartels traffic in if they were?
The S.C. high school they mention in the video is Stratford High School in Goose Creek South Carolina. I graduated from there, c/o 2010. The principal (George McCrackin) who called for the raid was gone by the time I got there.
Petitio Principii yeah they can but most exconvicts just admit it on the application and interview anyway since it's a federal crime to not mention that on an application in America. they still likely won't get hired for a job past being a ditch digger or janitor though. no one wants to give an exconvict any chance out here we just institutionally cast them out. American Prison System at it's best sadly.
Kera, it is not a federal crime not to declare past convictions. And most janitorial jobs require a clean background check... Most ex cons are lucky to get a job at micky d's, unless they have friends in positions to be able to hire or money.
I was charged with four felonies (not convicted, mind you, just charged, but plead down to misdemeanors which you don't have to mention on most applications) and got turned down for part-time work pushing shopping carts at Walmart because of it. I'm still out of work, and desperately need to support myself and my family, and each and every day crime is starting to seem like my only viable option. If I had a gun, I'd have probably already robbed somebody to buy my father medicine that he needs. Luckily I refuse to be armed, though, because I know what desperation can push me to. Our system is fucked up and it's only getting worse. We need a revolution.
ometta7 get out of America connect with your Roots or do independent contract side gigs their are jobs that will pay decent that doesn’t look at your background or actually cannot discriminate. Wish someone created a staffing company for felons their are jobs stack up and start a business afterwards
Something I found frightening was listening to Sessions give a speech to law enforcement in Philadelphia, where he stopped short of saying police should seize control but was pretty blunt about 'politicians' in philly being their enemies and how he would help police fight their own citizens. He and the police unions try to run law enforcement like a gang.
Instead of Mandatory Minimum sentences, we should have Mandatory Maximum sentences. Non-violent drug offenders shouldn't serve more than 30 days in jail per offense.
Wow, it's so awesome to see that someone gives a $H!T about this. I was just released from parole today, so let me tell you, "I know 1st hand how bad incarsiration can be". Plus, it destroys your life afterward. No good jobs, no voting, can't own a gun, can't live in certain neighborhoods or apartments, ext. It sux! So if you can do something about this problem, please do. Thanks for caring about a stranger. Your good people. My crime (minor drug offence)
I knew a dude who got arrested, and sentenced for a non violent drug charge. Poor guy couldn't hardly get a job, when he got out, and has to live with his parents now.
What if you as a multimillion Dollar company do something about this, and work with the people who want to see the system change. I hear a lot of people talking about change, but doing nothing about it. "Be the change you want to see in the world."
That soundbite with the government setting up hippies with weed and blacks with heroin should be the sort of thing to reach youtube trending Edit: All of this video should be trending
It disgusting how all of these target lower income people, normally african american and then they just dont show the reality of it to the middle class which just makes a huge disconect between the classes. Ask a middle class white american about it? Spread the word if you can. @rusticpenguin
Dominique Bourque OK, so I read your wall of text. You said it: "Indoctrination". But this happens with TV and school (and yes, dumb single mothers) . Try telling black people to not send their kids to school and see what happens.
As a European (Finland) not fully understanding how certain things work in the US, this video was more than informative. Also, i didn't know our prison system is regarded as a positive example :)
Emma Floop I suppose you could start a company & allow ex-convicts to be employed so that they have a stable source of income. Additionally try to arrange accessible & affordable housing accommodations for them ( see that most of their needs would be met so that they have little need to turn to crime to support themselves). The more their needs are met, the less they will have to commit a crime to make a living. Make sure it is work that gives people pride & uplifts their morale. I'm no expert but I hope this idea helps Thanks for asking It is really heartening to hear someone concerned for the welfare of these folks Have a nice day :)
FireLord GreenEye how do i do this if I'm a young Swedish gal living in Portugal though?? If I ever do start a company, I would defiantly allow ex cons but I'm not in America enough to help with housing. Unless my company becomes really popular, especially in the us.
as an American who works in a prison as a corrections officer let me tell you in addition to all these points daniel O'Brien has brought up the two prisons I've worked in are incredibly disorganized the prison I work in now has been open 30 years but it doesn't feel like it administration does not have there shit together and our new warden has no idea what she's doing
If you live in the Philadelphia area I can highly recommend visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary. It's a self-guided audio tour (featuring Steve Buscemi!) of the historical side, with another side focused on current mass incarceration in the United States.
I've found I like watching Cracked videos (especially Cracked explains) not because they're funny (they generally aren't) but they shine a generally thoughtful light on things one otherwise may not think about. Just weird that this comes from the same sub-par Mad magazine I used to read as a kid. That's the part I find funny.
or you can volunteer at your public defender so those who need representation have a better chance at a fair trial, I do. my willingness to do dull paperwork and run errands frees up hours the attorney can use to investigate evidence of cases. go volunteer at your public defender office, they need it!!
In Portugal they changed laws so that drug addiction will be passed on to the health system instead of the criminal, instead of it being a crime to do heroin, it was seen as a health problem. Heroin addict rates have gone through the floor, or at least it has dramatically lowered since before the change.
Here in the Netherlands, you won't get prosecuted for having a little bit of drugs for personal use on you. The cops will throw it away, and you might spend a night in jail if you're causing trouble because of drug use, but you won't get prosecuted if you have under 5 grams of weed, 1/2 gram of cocaine or heroine, or 1 pill. The cops are more interested in catching drug dealers, so this is a great policy to arrest the drug dealers but leave the users alone. But we don't have some crazy quotas to fill the prisons either; we are actually closing prisons because we have too few prisoners. America might be able to learn from it. Of course we are not perfect, and we have quite a few drug users, but not many drug abusers. And you can get help with drug abuse everywhere, and even get your drugs tested in many places without problems. We take priority in helping drug abusers, and informing people about the dangers of drugs, and if they still want to use it, inform them how to use safely without endangering themselves and others.
Happened to me. Lost my home over a simple personal use marijuana charge. Spent time until I did being "randomly" pulled nearly every time I left my house. After the 4th raid on my house by the local drug enforcement unit finding absolutely nothing every time, they simply told me my house was condemned and I had to pay $200 a day for every day I could not pay $10,000 to get it "up to code" knowing they had bankrupted me and cost me my job by telling my employer about the charge. I ended up losing everything. My house was paid for and valued at $145,000. It is a very difficult issue, and causes crippling depression at times, as well as panic attacks from all the unwelcome aggression and attention they brought to me. By the way I am a high functioning autistic man with extreme social anxiety issues. Thanks Justice System!
2021 July 27.... I’m depressed that this only has less than 400 thousand views. And even more depressed that it seems impossible to do anything about it
Whats hilarious about this is, while I was in college in Florence, AL we would regularly get stopped(Rightfully so) In many instances. For just being young and black. Of course we had weed on us. lol. But I digress. When smoking with the white kids and riding out with them, we got stopped a few times. But when the cops were shown that we were students the cars weren't searched, and it just was a little bit more than a hassle. I'm like but the White kids had all the money and all the harder drugs we might scrape together to kick in for a dub. When I was with the white cats. they would have like $400 bucks worth of coke a half an ounce, speed and other shit I didn't partake in. I'm like wow. The people with the money have the most drugs, why are they harassing us?
What is messed up about for profit prisons as well is that they can add time to people sentences for breaking the rules the prison makes up. They have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars and we give a corporation the ability to keep someone locked up longer with no trial.
I agree with most of this video, but I'd appreciate a source for the claim that "there are more violent crimes than ever." Everything I've read indicates that violent crime has been decreasing for decades: www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/21/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/
& that's without even mentioning that the US prison system is also the primary form of government care for people suffering from mental health issues and learning difficulties.
How do I go about obtaining permission to use this video as part of my presentation for school? I'm working on a presentation on the Power Elite and the Prison Industrial Complex. I want to use the end from 10:08 on to address what can be done to "fight the power" even in the midst of a socially unequal and inequitable system. A call to action button will direct viewers to your page after the clip.
To be fair, the police are allowed to search your car without your expressed permission under a few circumstances that I believe are pretty reasonable and have all been upheld by the US Supreme Court: 1) If they have a warrant. This is pretty straightforward, if the police have a warrant signed by a judge, they can search your property, including your car. This is outlined pretty clearly in the 4th Amendment. 2) If you've already been arrested. Let's say you've unfortunately been breathalyzed and arrested on a charge of DWI. The police, at this point, can search your car without permission to determine if you've broken any other laws in connection to the alleged DWI offense. 3) If he's been chasing you. The "hot-pursuit" exception means, for example, that if a cop approaches you after you've walked out of a grocery store and it looks like you're hiding stolen merchandise, he has license to approach and question you. You don't have to answer his questions but he is within his right to investigate. If you see him approaching, get scared, and drive away, that cop may then pursue and detain you without a warrant on the grounds that fleeing a police officer counts as probable cause. They may then search your car after you have been detained. 4) If they can see, smell, or hear something suspicious. I mean, if you look drunk, smell like weed, or have used needles/an illegal firearm in your backseat, chances are you may have committed a crime. This is also called "plain-view" probable cause. 5) If your car has been impounded. If you park illegally and your car gets towed, the police may search your car for illegal items. There's a lot of details I've left out for simplicity, but this is the gist of it, and I don't think any of these are particularly unreasonable.
"4) If they can see, smell, or hear something suspicious. I mean, if you look drunk, smell like weed, or have used needles/an illegal firearm in your backseat, chances are you may have committed a crime. This is also called "plain-view" probable cause." And they can make that shit up...
True, but if the state does not have evidence, the jury is unlikely to rule in their favor during the trial. Now of course, they may find drugs after a warrantless search where they had no "plain-view" probable cause, but a reasonable lawyer would easily be able to plead their defendant's case there. You might argue that minority communities are disproportionately poor and thus unable to afford an adequate defense for that case, which is true in many cases, but I don't believe that that is a problem that we should change the law to address. There's no perfect solution to this problem, but I firmly believe that a strong and independent justice system is indispensable to having a stable and free society, so to address this problem we should focus on other aspects of the issue such as the quality of public defenders and the severity of punishments for these offenses.
it doesn't matter if they don't have any evidence. Poor people plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit all the time, they can't afford bail so their only option is to sit in jail or plead guilty, a prosecutor says they'll get 15 years if it goes to trial and offers them 2 and they can't afford a decent attorney they'll be advised to take the deal. Bacically a cop can search your car for any bullshite reason, charge you, keep any money they find & possible the car and even if you never get convicted, you may have spent months in jail because you couldn't afford bail.
+phantomrachie +phantomrachie Um, firstly, bail isn't "get out of jail anytime money". Paying bail means that you don't have to wait in jail before or during your trial. Bail has little to do with the quality of your defense, and you can still prepare a defense even if you're being detained by the police. If you get convicted - rich or poor - you go to jail, so I don't see what bail has to do with the issue at hand. Secondly, do you have any evidence of police stopping cars and arresting people just to steal their cash? Cause that seems like a pretty flimsy argument, and I'm sure there are penalties against that kind of behavior within the police departments themselves. Third and finally, I can't really tell what you're arguing here. Is your point just that "cops are bullshit"? Because that's a non-starter. What are you arguing against, and what's your proposed solution?
Mercury Atamolos bail is important tp this issue because if you can't afford it, you are in jail with people who have been convicting when you have been convicted of no crime. And since poor people mostly do shift work, they'll get fired if they don't turn up to work, meaning they can't pay rent, bills, for food, this is why most people in that situation plead guilty even if they didn't comit the crime, they can't afford to be sitting for days or weeks in jail waiting for a trail date. As for stealing people's money, that is called civil forfeiture, this video already comments on it. If the police suspect the money or property has been involved in a crime, they can take it & they don't have to give it back if you are aren't charged or found innocent. As for what I'm calling bullshite, I thought it was pretty clear. I think it's bullshite that the police can search your car for no specific reason, just a vague suspicion. IMO police should always have a clear reason for searching a person's property, vague suspicion is not enough to violate a person's rights
Spot on! I'm a two-time loser who spent most of his twenties in prison and I can tell you, from personal experience, that this system is geared in such a way as to prevent escape from it
I'm surprised you failed to mention that the incarceration rates are highly concentrated in southern states (where racial bias toward full internment versus alternative incarceration like house arrest and weekend lockup is EVEN MORE pronounced,) and that the majority of those get shipped to private prisons, where they are allowed to use them as a labor force at a fraction of minimum wage, essentially transforming the prison system into a defacto reinstitution of slavery. The corruption in the judiciary is often-times the primary motivator for the trumped up charges and plea bargain game you mentioned, trying to secure a pipeline of able-bodied workers to fuel demand.
I just love how Cracked loves the constitution when it suits their agenda but when it doesn't then what's this constitution you speak of? I agree with this video but your lack of integrity is showing bad.
Being from Finland I can say that our legal system is very soft on some crimes like drug offences, I have a relative that has been arrested about 7-8 times for different drug related possessions (Heavy drugs not Weed). In total he spent less than 20 days in jail but was sentenced to forced rehab, it has now been some 5 years and he is still clean and has a steady job and is actually thankful to the police and the justice system about how he got treated in all this. Long winded story but could give some insight in how things could be done. And on a side note, having only had contact with the police here myself during some instances of speeding or being drunk and annoying, I can only say that the police in Finland are extremely patient and never seem to lose their cool...
I was in jail once (held on bail) for selling pain pills (I'm white btw). It was my first offense. In jail I met a black kid in the same situation as me. I was immediately offered to go to drug court and have my charges dropped if I completed it (which I took and completed). When speaking with this black kid in jail (with the same first offense charge) he told me that they immediately offered him 1 year in jail if he pleaded guilty and didn't go to trial. I told him about the drug court offer I got and that he should ask he defense attorney about it. He did and ended up getting the same drug court deal I got. He told me when he asked his (non-paid) attorney why she didn't tell him about the drug court option first she said "Oh I didn't think it would be something you'd be interested in".... So because he was black and lower class it was just assumed he would rather go to jail and be a felon then try and clean up and have a clean record. That's the court system for you. I'm just glad I was able to help someone out with the right info at the right time.
DoomFinger511 you deserve a cookie
Thank you for sharing this
DoomFinger511 damn 😔
Damnnn now that’s terrible.
You're a real one ✊🏾
Always makes me laugh when US politicians bang on about the human rights violations of other countries (China, NK, etc). Pot calling the kettle black springs to mind.
Yup! Torture has been legal here since they never repealed the "Patriot Act", which is a fancy way of saying we can do what we want because "terrorism".
That awkward moment when there’s literally no fucking difference between the protests in Hong Kong and those in America
@@ryana.7102 That's what I find funny about all this, the dictorial government responded to a more violent protest better than the world's 'champion of democracy'
"America, land of the free"
Most people incarcerated per capita in the world
NRK Chavo America has about as many people in prison as the entire continent of Africa has prisoners
At the end of the day statistics mean nothing because statistics assume that crimes are reported and recorded with honesty. Yet humans are not honest machines.
"It's called 'The American Dream' because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin
in usa prisons are more people then in my country :(
The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
I did four years in prison for a crime that I committed and for which I was rightfully incarcerated (I robbed a bank, long story) but during my stay I met SOOOOOO many people just like those described in this video. And saw how corrupt our prison system is.
Because prisoners are totally not known for pleading their innocence and how it wasn't their fault to anyone who will listen
Brent Z
I'm not talking about that. I only met one person inside who claimed to be innocent that I believed. I'm talking about the countless petty drug offenders inside, or people who couldn't pay probation it parole fees because lack of work. The people clogging up prisons and usually coming out worse than they went in.
Petty drug offenses are easy to avoid. Don't do drugs.
Anthony Mefford I would love to hear that story
I did two years in prison for my cousin I seen a guy get raped and he was just in there for driving with a suspended license more than 3 times
Addition points worth noting:
The rape statistics of inmate in prison.
People ignore the massive amount of rapes in prison, because they envision prisons as being full of murders and monsters, but they're actually cages full of about 15-25% monsters, and the the rest are young men arrest for non-violent crimes, being rapes by those monsters... get caught with a little weed on you? How's several years in prison and being raped a bunch of times sound for a fair punishment?
It's also worth noting that while this was presented as a race issue, it's also very much a gender issue.
Dramatically more men than women end up in prison.
btdtpro how dare you practice wrongthink by saying men have problems
terry swamp *break
Have you ever been to prison?
its free sex plus you cant get pregnant from anual sex
ya your right
Looking at it purely selfishly, these policies mean tons of wasted tax dollars and an overall reduction in people's safety (as violent crimes have less resources and attention put to them). I'm being selfish when I say, I want these policies to change.
I would be perfectly OK with those selfish reasons getting shit done.
pragmatically these polices are a huge waste of resources and represent a massive reduction in safety and stability, but conservatives think with their hearts, and in their hearts not their heads, and it is more important to them that others suffer than they do well.
Actually if conservatives truly thought with their hearts, they'd still not support this crap. Sadly the political figures think with their wallets, and their constituency doesn't think at all.
what3269 not selfish, pragmatic
And it's not just resources that are abused, it's community trust. Police are simply not as effective if people who might report instances won't do so because "oh fuck am I going to get fucked because I was high when I saw that?"
We need more well spoken white guys to do these kinds of videos so the rest of the white guys will listen to what we've been telling them for years.
Cool stereotyping bro...white guys only listen to other white guys...
So I guess I get to do one to you now. Where is your greencard...
Funny thing about this little exchange we both did the same thing but I will be the one looked at as a racist for it. Because that's how equality works...
@@TheNitroG1 wow if you were a little smarter you'd be an idiot. Instead of countering his claim with any type of valid argument you decided to frame yourself as a victim now your entire response just proves his point. 😆🤣😆
TheNitroG1 your response proves his point. You, a white guy, didn’t listen to a damn thing he said, you just straight attached his post 😂😂.
If there’s any white guys reading this can you translate it to Nitro for me please 🤦🏽♂️😂
@@TheNitroG1 it's not a stereotype dumbass.. Black people were fighting this for ages and white people didn't (and still don't) care about it cause they weren't affected as in "what? i don't know what you're talking about. i never get pulled over, stop being so dramatic"
And yes some people only listen to what white people have to say but those people probably don't have problems with black people being thrown into prison..
@@TheNitroG1 ya played yourself white boy
I work in the prison system as an officer. It is really disheartening the way nonviolent offenders are often turned into violent offenders. Someone with a two-year sentence may get in a fight and cause serious injury and get more time. some of us try to help get them into programs but like one guy told, "Sarge ain't no one gonna want to hire me with a record." Which is true but we have to try to rehabilitate them and give them skills to use outside.
it's needlessly destructive.
I live in Gilbert, Arizona. One of the safest places in the entire united states, and our police department is way over funded, bored, nosey, aggressive and horrible. They have no real crime to stop, but tons of cop toys and money and quotas.....so they will literally send an entire swat team to arrest a 14 year old for weed. I've seen two or three police cars at simple traffic stops, they'll send out full force police squads for teenagers out after curfew. It's sad.
Let me guess, the police union prevents any cuts from being made?
I understand anarchists now
Michael Haas anarchism doesn't mean no laws
+Seirios it means having no government "dictating" us.
Michael Haas wake up every body.
Anarchism is still gay
Actually the larger anarchist talking point is that prisons often include literal slavery.
After emancipation, Jim Crow laws developed to return slavery under another name. Because of the 13th amendment, slavery continued to be legal so long as black existence could be made illegal. Southern law makers made laws to target blackness and the state leased slaves back to former masters. (Read the book "Slavery by Another Name" for more info.)
Nixon didn't so much start as escalate this pratice, leading to the modern slavery of today. Street signs and office furniture are commonly made by forced labor or slavery. You've probably run in to forced labor when you talk to customer support. Most call centers in the US are inside of prisons.
Anarchists have been organizing inside of those prisons and supporting prisoners outside, leading to a lot of the recent prison strikes. If you're really interested in abolishing slavery, pay attention to the August 21st slave rebellion being organized by prisoners and IWOC (the incarcerated workers organizing committee of the IWW, which is a mostly anarchist union). The best thing you can do to help is spread the word and stay informed. Get more info at incarceratedworkers.org/
Is innocent until proven guilty not a thing in the US?
Nah, its backwards now... Guilty until you have enough money to be proven innocent.
Guilty until proven white/rich/female
In theory and statute yes, in practice absolutely not
Not anymore
Tim Roberts Here's how it typically goes down. You get arrested and charged with something. They set your bail at a certain amount. If you can afford to pay it, you can post bail and be released from jail until your trial. If you can't afford to post bail, then you get to sit in jail until your trial. The Constitution guarantees us a speedy trial, but thanks to the massive amounts of prisoners/arrests/etc it's highly likely that your trial will be pushed back, delayed, rescheduled, lather rinse repeat. You could end up serving years in jail before ever going to trial.
Damn. Cracked's videos are getting deeper and more meaningful. They're actively trying to educate, and communicate to people what awful things happen in our country everyday. Things that we can do something about.
Thanks, Cracked. Good lookin out.
"Money not your thing? Empathy not your thing? You seem fun at parties."
XD
An 18 year old, misdemeanor, conviction, with no convictions or even arrests since then, still keeps me from getting jobs I'm overqualified for. Been unemployed for nearly 4 years, with no governmental assistance, and have been homeless repeatedly, since 1999.
And they say North Korea is bad... How hypocritical.
LOL most US prisons have free food electronics, drugs, and protect from the cold. watch any documentary on North Korea and you will see its like comparing the DMV to Hell. close but no cookie
Vasil Zahariev would you rather live in North Korea or the US?
@@smokeemifyougotem9662 give all that but still 💩 quality
Have you been to north Korea?
@@marklumley619 Fortunately, there are other options.
I just want to say thank you for putting out content like this. Highlighting stuff that needs to be dealt with. Encouraging people to take action, even if it's just a call to congress or Senate. Seriously, thank you for using your platform in a constructive and critical way.
Fuck the war on drugs, it ruined and destroyed so many lives, and holy shit last time i came this early there was no time for a courtesy tap
Thank you for bringing some light to his subject which is insane! Criminal justice should never be a for profit business.
Shoutout to Cracked for tellin it how it is 👏👏👏
As a Canadian, the U.S. are a country I am afraid to travel to.
Frogasmol "the U.S are" at least you tried
the Jay Johann show
"United STATES of America"
Last I checked, states is plural.
I am not who I say I am the United States is a country. Not multiple countries. As the OP stated it
I am not who I say I am But country is singular so "are" should be "is"...
I can't believe this is what I do on UA-cam
Right, it is a single country but that is not how language works. Pants are a single item but you have to use the plural present form of the word be because it is a plural. United States has a plural word in it's title so we have to use the plural form when referring to it.
Thank you for this video Cracked. It's awesome to see groups with a large viewerbase/voice address social issues like this.
Maybe I'll just post this the next time people try to justify things with 'not all cops' rhetoric. The system literally encourages and puts pressure on cops who aren't willing to partake in this kind of injustice.
Let's just remember that a lot of his sources are Huffpost and non credible news sources. We don't actually know that they're implementing quotas and pressure cops for more arrests. There's just as much evidence suggesting against that as there is suggesting for that, especially considering it's illegal in most places. We shouldn't just believe it's true because a pop culture themed web show host saw an article about it on his Facebook page.
Tim nigga what?
Whup
I smell bacon. Outta here, pig
Tim My roommate is a cop. His entire zone are pressured to meet a quota even though there's "Not one here." Stop it
That is a fabulous point. However stereotyping in this manner is dangerous because the logical following is that it's ok to consider cops less than normal citizens. When by your own admission they dont want to do it either in many cases.
They're tryin to build a prison
They're tryin to build a prison
for you and me to live in...
If your homeless it better id say rather than to be out in the streets its a lot safer plus you have a roof over your head and heating
terry swamp - with 0 possibility of getting out of the situation? Many have mental health issues or other health issues for longer term homeless problem so how is jail the right place for a person who needs help? I mean it's the solution we as Americans have decided is ok for some reason but I don't understand getting rid of all mental health institutions and putting those people in prison usually in solitary for 23 hours a day is humane in any way. Which actually was until the 80's seen as cruel and unusual punishment until which we brought it back for some reason.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/solitary-confinement-cruel-ineffective-unusual/
My "brain radio" was playing that for the whole video! Glad to know some have been paying attention, LOL
I dint make them brake the law
terry swamp - I'm not sure where anyone suggested you did. I will suggest that maybe you missed some English, grammar and spelling classes, though.
Thank you so much for covering important topics like this one. Great job, guys!
This is why i like living in Canada.
Black and First Nations ppl overrepresented in Canadian prisons too.
wtf?? As a non-American, the existence of private prisons is completely NOT understandable. Can someone explain why they would even allow to make those things in the first place....?
"What can you do?" If you're not from the US, pat yourself on the back and feel proud for once of your own country.
Thanks for the "What you can do" section. The news needs this segment everywhere.
I learned about this around ten years ago when I did a research paper in college on drug law. I gave a presentation on it, when I said (keep in mind, this was 2006 or earlier data) "marijuana is associated with less crime than any other drug" and "alcohol is associated with more crime than any other drug" I heard someone as my teaching assistant if it was true....during my presentation. Of course he knew it was. A little off topic, but I'm just glad more of this information is finally coming out. It was an unpleasant experience to know while everyone around walks around obliviously.
Also all drug prohibitions used racism to further the goal. Except acid, which was Nixon's hippies. Previously heroin, cocaine, and opium were used in medications. Hemp was outlawed to begin with because it was going to be a successful competitor for lumber. Our constitution was drafted on hemp paper. Good old lobbyists... Excuse me, I think I need to go reread some research papers.
i learn more from every cracked news video than i learn from even trying to research things myself, or watching tv news, or following social medias. as long as you keep making such good videos and getting the truth out there, you will have my loyalty and support.
if you believe in smaller government, then you must oppose this police state tyranny. If you are for social benefit programs and government for the people, you must oppose this police state tyranny. We, the people, who choose our government, must be United for our collective benefit!
Prisons shouldn't be privately run. Making a profit doesn't gel with incarceration, gives people on top too much incentive to meet arrest & conviction quotas.
I like how Ehrlichman means honest man in german and the guy was openly honest about what happened lol
were would the jews go if they went to space? THE SUN LOLOLOLOL
As fucked up as the prison industry is in the US and as much as it NEEDS to be changed immediately, you'd think people would be a little more careful about the things that you can get arrested for. Nobody is forcing you to use drugs, and it isn't hard to enjoy life without them.
that map behind you has some crazy non existent massive rivers on it.
In Canada now, the police can pull you over without a reason, search your vehicle, if you do not give your id, arrestable and fineable offense, and if your a pedestrian, they can frisk you and go through your backpack or purse without cause.
Reasons to care: you forgot about enlightened self-interest. I mean-- you addressed it obliquely, but not head on.
Bottom line is-- how black people get treated, over time, will become the common way that *anyone* without power is treated. And as the middle class shrinks, the number of individuals who could reasonably be said to be powerless increases.
We'll all be potential prison fodder before long.
--
You can tell a lot about a society by how it treats those that are on the bottom of the social standing.
End the Fed. When I was on jury duty I refused to convict anyone involved in drug posession.
I guess in US of A only first two amendments matters
shwetank verma must of us seem to be two stupid to remember the rest
shwetank verma nope just the second
shwetank verma I actually care about all of them and hate it when any of them are violated. 😡
That's highly debatable. I believe that none of them matter. But, tomato, tomato.
And only the part of the 1st amendment that protects the speech of white supremacists like ^ cupcake here.
Yeah, it's pretty awful. But the people in most states are better than their representatives. It's just the combination of our deepening corporate coup with the GOP's southern strategy for elections that makes our institutions so unjust. Socialism or barbarism! Seems we've made our choice...
This was a fantastic video! Great job, team!
This Aged Well...
This was soooooo good, Daniel.
It makes sense that drugs are illegal though, they are too addictive. Or at least, the only people who should be punished are those who sell them and create them.
Maybe the money going into prisons should instead be going into rehabilitation.
TheColaGoodfellow Alcohol and cigarettes are addictive too. So much violent crime would be reduced if drugs and prostitution were legalized. Seriously, what would cartels traffic in if they were?
The S.C. high school they mention in the video is Stratford High School in Goose Creek South Carolina. I graduated from there, c/o 2010. The principal (George McCrackin) who called for the raid was gone by the time I got there.
Michelle Alexander's "Mass incarceration The New Jim Crow" perfectly describes this.
Abshir and who started Jim crow? the left
That's a really good read.
"These goods are NOT meant for human consumption."
Prison food is literally a crime against humanity.
Most "food" is not fit for human consumption...
Are crime records of people public? Can an employer know why exactly some ex-convict was imprisoned?
Petitio Principii yeah they can but most exconvicts just admit it on the application and interview anyway since it's a federal crime to not mention that on an application in America. they still likely won't get hired for a job past being a ditch digger or janitor though. no one wants to give an exconvict any chance out here we just institutionally cast them out. American Prison System at it's best sadly.
Kera, it is not a federal crime not to declare past convictions. And most janitorial jobs require a clean background check... Most ex cons are lucky to get a job at micky d's, unless they have friends in positions to be able to hire or money.
yes all you have to do is put a person's first and last name into a Google search
I was charged with four felonies (not convicted, mind you, just charged, but plead down to misdemeanors which you don't have to mention on most applications) and got turned down for part-time work pushing shopping carts at Walmart because of it. I'm still out of work, and desperately need to support myself and my family, and each and every day crime is starting to seem like my only viable option. If I had a gun, I'd have probably already robbed somebody to buy my father medicine that he needs. Luckily I refuse to be armed, though, because I know what desperation can push me to.
Our system is fucked up and it's only getting worse. We need a revolution.
ometta7 get out of America connect with your Roots or do independent contract side gigs their are jobs that will pay decent that doesn’t look at your background or actually cannot discriminate. Wish someone created a staffing company for felons their are jobs stack up and start a business afterwards
Something I found frightening was listening to Sessions give a speech to law enforcement in Philadelphia, where he stopped short of saying police should seize control but was pretty blunt about 'politicians' in philly being their enemies and how he would help police fight their own citizens. He and the police unions try to run law enforcement like a gang.
Man, Doug Stanhope is right: Not only is the prison system fucked, it's borderline impossible to make funny.
More cracked explains videos please. I'm enjoying a little break from the general pop culture videos
Thanks Cracked.:) "Hey! We worked hard on those Amendments. What's your deal Bro/Sis?"
Instead of Mandatory Minimum sentences, we should have Mandatory Maximum sentences. Non-violent drug offenders shouldn't serve more than 30 days in jail per offense.
Wow, it's so awesome to see that someone gives a $H!T about this. I was just released from parole today, so let me tell you, "I know 1st hand how bad incarsiration can be". Plus, it destroys your life afterward. No good jobs, no voting, can't own a gun, can't live in certain neighborhoods or apartments, ext. It sux! So if you can do something about this problem, please do. Thanks for caring about a stranger. Your good people.
My crime (minor drug offence)
I knew a dude who got arrested, and sentenced for a non violent drug charge. Poor guy couldn't hardly get a job, when he got out, and has to live with his parents now.
That 70s Show, made a Swastika. Interesting.
What if you as a multimillion Dollar company do something about this, and work with the people who want to see the system change. I hear a lot of people talking about change, but doing nothing about it. "Be the change you want to see in the world."
I knew I wasn't the only one who seen it
It wasn't tilted, so it wasn't hitlers version of it
Wut?
That soundbite with the government setting up hippies with weed and blacks with heroin should be the sort of thing to reach youtube trending
Edit: All of this video should be trending
It disgusting how all of these target lower income people, normally african american and then they just dont show the reality of it to the middle class which just makes a huge disconect between the classes. Ask a middle class white american about it? Spread the word if you can. @rusticpenguin
This is not about low income. This is an excuse for genocide.
@WallOfText IT'S GENOCIDE
Dominique Bourque
If you can't see something that's obvious, then I can't help you. Turn the TV off and read
Dominique Bourque
OK, so I read your wall of text. You said it: "Indoctrination". But this happens with TV and school (and yes, dumb single mothers) . Try telling black people to not send their kids to school and see what happens.
Dominique Bourque
Tell me WHY you're using a thumbnail image of a black man?
As a European (Finland) not fully understanding how certain things work in the US, this video was more than informative. Also, i didn't know our prison system is regarded as a positive example :)
I feel really bad for American convicts. What can I do as someone who doesn't live in America??
Emma Floop I suppose you could start a company & allow ex-convicts to be employed so that they have a stable source of income. Additionally try to arrange accessible & affordable housing accommodations for them ( see that most of their needs would be met so that they have little need to turn to crime to support themselves). The more their needs are met, the less they will have to commit a crime to make a living. Make sure it is work that gives people pride & uplifts their morale.
I'm no expert but I hope this idea helps
Thanks for asking
It is really heartening to hear someone concerned for the welfare of these folks
Have a nice day :)
FireLord GreenEye how do i do this if I'm a young Swedish gal living in Portugal though?? If I ever do start a company, I would defiantly allow ex cons but I'm not in America enough to help with housing. Unless my company becomes really popular, especially in the us.
Emma Floop not come here
Emma Floop dont go to that shithole
Emma Floop
Donate to one of the organization's mentioned in the video.
Thank you guys for making these, cracked explains always does a really good job getting the whole picture
Can America like stop.
sure. do you have more Guns, people, and rhetoric? no? than no,
as an American who works in a prison as a corrections officer let me tell you in addition to all these points daniel O'Brien has brought up the two prisons I've worked in are incredibly disorganized the prison I work in now has been open 30 years but it doesn't feel like it administration does not have there shit together and our new warden has no idea what she's doing
I wish school would go this in-depth. it's sad we go to school to learn but I learn the more important things on UA-cam not in school
literally the best youtube channel going
It's too bad you didn't do "If the criminal justice system was honest."
If you live in the Philadelphia area I can highly recommend visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary. It's a self-guided audio tour (featuring Steve Buscemi!) of the historical side, with another side focused on current mass incarceration in the United States.
Damn! Look at the up, down vote ratio. The alt-right must not have seen this yet.
Love how you get a clusterfuck of a complex problem and lay it out simple
sigh... this was a dope video, guys.
I've found I like watching Cracked videos (especially Cracked explains) not because they're funny (they generally aren't) but they shine a generally thoughtful light on things one otherwise may not think about. Just weird that this comes from the same sub-par Mad magazine I used to read as a kid. That's the part I find funny.
or you can volunteer at your public defender so those who need representation have a better chance at a fair trial, I do. my willingness to do dull paperwork and run errands frees up hours the attorney can use to investigate evidence of cases. go volunteer at your public defender office, they need it!!
In Portugal they changed laws so that drug addiction will be passed on to the health system instead of the criminal, instead of it being a crime to do heroin, it was seen as a health problem.
Heroin addict rates have gone through the floor, or at least it has dramatically lowered since before the change.
Yeah. See what happens when government gets too big and intrusive? Hm
Thank you for the post neighbor. Very entertaining and informative.
Here in the Netherlands, you won't get prosecuted for having a little bit of drugs for personal use on you. The cops will throw it away, and you might spend a night in jail if you're causing trouble because of drug use, but you won't get prosecuted if you have under 5 grams of weed, 1/2 gram of cocaine or heroine, or 1 pill. The cops are more interested in catching drug dealers, so this is a great policy to arrest the drug dealers but leave the users alone. But we don't have some crazy quotas to fill the prisons either; we are actually closing prisons because we have too few prisoners. America might be able to learn from it. Of course we are not perfect, and we have quite a few drug users, but not many drug abusers. And you can get help with drug abuse everywhere, and even get your drugs tested in many places without problems. We take priority in helping drug abusers, and informing people about the dangers of drugs, and if they still want to use it, inform them how to use safely without endangering themselves and others.
Happened to me. Lost my home over a simple personal use marijuana charge. Spent time until I did being "randomly" pulled nearly every time I left my house. After the 4th raid on my house by the local drug enforcement unit finding absolutely nothing every time, they simply told me my house was condemned and I had to pay $200 a day for every day I could not pay $10,000 to get it "up to code" knowing they had bankrupted me and cost me my job by telling my employer about the charge. I ended up losing everything. My house was paid for and valued at $145,000. It is a very difficult issue, and causes crippling depression at times, as well as panic attacks from all the unwelcome aggression and attention they brought to me. By the way I am a high functioning autistic man with extreme social anxiety issues. Thanks Justice System!
The day Trump was elected stocks went up not down,way up and have since .
2021 July 27.... I’m depressed that this only has less than 400 thousand views. And even more depressed that it seems impossible to do anything about it
Whats hilarious about this is, while I was in college in Florence, AL we would regularly get stopped(Rightfully so) In many instances. For just being young and black. Of course we had weed on us. lol. But I digress. When smoking with the white kids and riding out with them, we got stopped a few times. But when the cops were shown that we were students the cars weren't searched, and it just was a little bit more than a hassle. I'm like but the White kids had all the money and all the harder drugs we might scrape together to kick in for a dub. When I was with the white cats. they would have like $400 bucks worth of coke a half an ounce, speed and other shit I didn't partake in. I'm like wow. The people with the money have the most drugs, why are they harassing us?
What is messed up about for profit prisons as well is that they can add time to people sentences for breaking the rules the prison makes up. They have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars and we give a corporation the ability to keep someone locked up longer with no trial.
I agree with most of this video, but I'd appreciate a source for the claim that "there are more violent crimes than ever." Everything I've read indicates that violent crime has been decreasing for decades: www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/21/5-facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/
Thanks, JL Ryan and Cracked.
& that's without even mentioning that the US prison system is also the primary form of government care for people suffering from mental health issues and learning difficulties.
Those people locked up are better off dead- their lives are literally destroyed
Hey Cracked! Put those last tips in the description, so that they are easy to reread and copy-paste post. Excellent stuff.
All drugs should just be legalized and taxed like cigarettes and liquor
Exactly
How do I go about obtaining permission to use this video as part of my presentation for school? I'm working on a presentation on the Power Elite and the Prison Industrial Complex. I want to use the end from 10:08 on to address what can be done to "fight the power" even in the midst of a socially unequal and inequitable system. A call to action button will direct viewers to your page after the clip.
To be fair, the police are allowed to search your car without your expressed permission under a few circumstances that I believe are pretty reasonable and have all been upheld by the US Supreme Court:
1) If they have a warrant. This is pretty straightforward, if the police have a warrant signed by a judge, they can search your property, including your car. This is outlined pretty clearly in the 4th Amendment.
2) If you've already been arrested. Let's say you've unfortunately been breathalyzed and arrested on a charge of DWI. The police, at this point, can search your car without permission to determine if you've broken any other laws in connection to the alleged DWI offense.
3) If he's been chasing you. The "hot-pursuit" exception means, for example, that if a cop approaches you after you've walked out of a grocery store and it looks like you're hiding stolen merchandise, he has license to approach and question you. You don't have to answer his questions but he is within his right to investigate. If you see him approaching, get scared, and drive away, that cop may then pursue and detain you without a warrant on the grounds that fleeing a police officer counts as probable cause. They may then search your car after you have been detained.
4) If they can see, smell, or hear something suspicious. I mean, if you look drunk, smell like weed, or have used needles/an illegal firearm in your backseat, chances are you may have committed a crime. This is also called "plain-view" probable cause.
5) If your car has been impounded. If you park illegally and your car gets towed, the police may search your car for illegal items.
There's a lot of details I've left out for simplicity, but this is the gist of it, and I don't think any of these are particularly unreasonable.
"4) If they can see, smell, or hear something suspicious. I mean, if you look drunk, smell like weed, or have used needles/an illegal firearm in your backseat, chances are you may have committed a crime. This is also called "plain-view" probable cause."
And they can make that shit up...
True, but if the state does not have evidence, the jury is unlikely to rule in their favor during the trial. Now of course, they may find drugs after a warrantless search where they had no "plain-view" probable cause, but a reasonable lawyer would easily be able to plead their defendant's case there. You might argue that minority communities are disproportionately poor and thus unable to afford an adequate defense for that case, which is true in many cases, but I don't believe that that is a problem that we should change the law to address. There's no perfect solution to this problem, but I firmly believe that a strong and independent justice system is indispensable to having a stable and free society, so to address this problem we should focus on other aspects of the issue such as the quality of public defenders and the severity of punishments for these offenses.
it doesn't matter if they don't have any evidence. Poor people plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit all the time, they can't afford bail so their only option is to sit in jail or plead guilty, a prosecutor says they'll get 15 years if it goes to trial and offers them 2 and they can't afford a decent attorney they'll be advised to take the deal.
Bacically a cop can search your car for any bullshite reason, charge you, keep any money they find & possible the car and even if you never get convicted, you may have spent months in jail because you couldn't afford bail.
+phantomrachie +phantomrachie Um, firstly, bail isn't "get out of jail anytime money". Paying bail means that you don't have to wait in jail before or during your trial. Bail has little to do with the quality of your defense, and you can still prepare a defense even if you're being detained by the police. If you get convicted - rich or poor - you go to jail, so I don't see what bail has to do with the issue at hand.
Secondly, do you have any evidence of police stopping cars and arresting people just to steal their cash? Cause that seems like a pretty flimsy argument, and I'm sure there are penalties against that kind of behavior within the police departments themselves.
Third and finally, I can't really tell what you're arguing here. Is your point just that "cops are bullshit"? Because that's a non-starter. What are you arguing against, and what's your proposed solution?
Mercury Atamolos bail is important tp this issue because if you can't afford it, you are in jail with people who have been convicting when you have been convicted of no crime. And since poor people mostly do shift work, they'll get fired if they don't turn up to work, meaning they can't pay rent, bills, for food, this is why most people in that situation plead guilty even if they didn't comit the crime, they can't afford to be sitting for days or weeks in jail waiting for a trail date.
As for stealing people's money, that is called civil forfeiture, this video already comments on it. If the police suspect the money or property has been involved in a crime, they can take it & they don't have to give it back if you are aren't charged or found innocent.
As for what I'm calling bullshite, I thought it was pretty clear. I think it's bullshite that the police can search your car for no specific reason, just a vague suspicion. IMO police should always have a clear reason for searching a person's property, vague suspicion is not enough to violate a person's rights
THESE VIDEOS ARE INTELLIGENT AND INFORMATIVE PLEASE KEEP MAKING THESE
#Peoplearentprofit
I am wondering which country has the worst civil right infringement? China, Russia, Iran, or the US?
title for next cracked video. "why water is wet!?"
Water is only wet so long as you are not fully in water. if you are submerged in water you are not wet
Spot on! I'm a two-time loser who spent most of his twenties in prison and I can tell you, from personal experience, that this system is geared in such a way as to prevent escape from it
I love this video, keep it up Cracked
I'm surprised you failed to mention that the incarceration rates are highly concentrated in southern states (where racial bias toward full internment versus alternative incarceration like house arrest and weekend lockup is EVEN MORE pronounced,) and that the majority of those get shipped to private prisons, where they are allowed to use them as a labor force at a fraction of minimum wage, essentially transforming the prison system into a defacto reinstitution of slavery. The corruption in the judiciary is often-times the primary motivator for the trumped up charges and plea bargain game you mentioned, trying to secure a pipeline of able-bodied workers to fuel demand.
I just love how Cracked loves the constitution when it suits their agenda but when it doesn't then what's this constitution you speak of? I agree with this video but your lack of integrity is showing bad.
Being from Finland I can say that our legal system is very soft on some crimes like drug offences, I have a relative that has been arrested about 7-8 times for different drug related possessions (Heavy drugs not Weed). In total he spent less than 20 days in jail but was sentenced to forced rehab, it has now been some 5 years and he is still clean and has a steady job and is actually thankful to the police and the justice system about how he got treated in all this.
Long winded story but could give some insight in how things could be done.
And on a side note, having only had contact with the police here myself during some instances of speeding or being drunk and annoying, I can only say that the police in Finland are extremely patient and never seem to lose their cool...
And you don't understand why terrorism happens
People steal or terrorize because they like the thrill. That leftist stuff is just an excuse for them to claim despair
I love this series.
Also, Daniel.
That is all, thanks.
People should sew US
I don't know how a tailor could help.
Obi-Wan Kenobi find someone who can spell check before you go on a legal campaign.
said the finest, though somewhat arrogant fabrics...
Betsy Ross to da Rescue !!! Hahahahaha
I mean sure at our core we're just a patchwork of communities and ideals but do we really need a seamstress I mean that seems a bit extreme....
Glad to hear more people getting the word out. Keep educating people guys!