Weblog on the Internet and public policy, journalism, virtual community, and more from David Brake, a Canadian academic, consultant and journalist

Archive forOctober 17th, 2005 | back to home

17 October 2005

I just came across this political screed by a middle class American white guy imprisoned for having drugs in which I read:

Laws prohibiting ex-felons from associating with other ex-felons and gang members, such as the Illinois Street Gang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act, or those preventing ex-offenders from being in areas designated as ‘high crime’� or where ‘controlled substances are illegally sold, used, distributed, or administered’ means that many ex-offenders are in violation of their parole simply by going home.

Sounds like a system that will more or less guarantee the police can choose to prosecute any ex-cons they please in areas with those laws. Scary stuff.