Ocasio-Cortez says Manafort, others should be released from solitary confinement

[DonViejo]

Ocasio-Cortez says Manafort, others should be released from solitary confinement

BY REBECCA KLAR - 06/05/19 10:41 AM EDT

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday called for former President Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to be released from solitary confinement.

The freshman congresswoman has frequently taken aim at Rikers Island Prison, which is located in her district, for inhumane conditions.

On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, focused on a New York Times report of Manafort being sent to Rikers as a chance to renew her push for better treatment of prisoners.

Link to tweet

Rikers Island has often been cited for violence and management issues.

It has not been made clear if Manafort will actually be placed in solitary confinement. The New York City Department of Corrections has reportedly stated that Manafort will be placed in isolation for his own protection, but would not be placed in solitary confinement.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/447056-ocasio-cortez-says-manafort-other-prisoners-should-be-released-from-solitary

[Anon-C]

1. I agree, and think that ending Administrative Segregation and similar practices...

Last edited Wed Jun 5, 2019, 12:47 PM - Edit history (1)

...across prisons should be a higher priority (and is politically more palatable) than addressing prisoner voting rights (AT THIS TIME, edited to add)

[BannonsLiver]

2. Well well well.

Isn’t that an interesting development.

[hlthe2b]

3. I agree that it is cruel. The answer is more security and inmate screening, not isolation.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

Last edited Wed Jun 5, 2019, 11:51 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212164490

[shockey80]

5. OK, release him into the general population.

He would survive for about a day. Works for me.

[Hortensis]

6. He's in solitary because he was breaking the law out of it,

trying to subvert the process on Trump's and his own behalf. And who knows who else's. He broke the agreement that gave him a nice, cushy gentleman's incarceration filled with amenities and was contacting people in eastern Europe on business related to his imprisonment and investigations around Trump. Some intractable criminals are just like that, and he's one of them.

How about border jails so overcrowded that detainees literally have to stand in the cells because there's no room to sit down?

Or these:

Trump administration cancels English classes, soccer, legal aid for unaccompanied child migrants in U.S. shelters

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Migrant children stuck at border stations, sleeping on concrete, because of HHS overcrowding: Officials have warned that there will be more deaths of children at border stations if Health and Human Services does not increase its capacity.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-children-stuck-border-stations-sleeping-concrete-because-hhs-overcrowding-n1013341

And if it's isolation that's especially disturbing, note that we no longer reserve it for criminals:

Immigrant children described being put in isolation for eight days, deprived of physical touch and constantly sobbing at a temporary detention center in Homestead, Florida, according to a motion filed by immigration lawyers on Friday.

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[Me.]

9. Isolation For Manfort Means

unlocked cells, ability to exercise and visit the community room for television. He is there for safety reasons with other non violent prisoners according to MSNBC last night.

He'll be fed and receive medical treatment not to mention a bed to sleep on, an ability to shower and access to clean clothes unlike the children at the border.

[Hortensis]

10. Worth pointing out. As said, not exactly like these children.

We must at least a million other people incarcerated in worse conditions, many far, far, far worse. Some unfortunates are spending years of prison sentences in county jail facilities that would be very unfit for long-term incarceration even if they weren't seriously overcrowded. And any federal prison is better than almost all state facilities.

I don't understand why Ocasio felt this particular incarceration called for her activism, but someone may be misleading her.

[Me.]

11. She Is Blaming The Times

and has amended her statement

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/aoc-gets-it-wrong-tweet-about-manafort-solitary-confinement-n1014056?cid=public-rss_20190605

[Hortensis]

12. Still doesn't explain her adoption of Russia-Trump's Manafort of all

people as a victim of our criminal justice system who needs her attention. Which would be worse -- reading too much far-LW/Russian agitprop or a naive knee-jerk leap to assume "solitary" meant atrocity, as if all were equal? In a congresswoman and at her age?

She supposedly has staff to handle her tweeting and keep her out of trouble. Just remembering a couple on that staff and on staffs she was part of before this -- maybe that's where the problem lies.

I'm being a bit harsh, I'm usually more tolerant of mistakes, but Manafort?

[Me.]

13. I Quite Agree

All the millions he squandered and how he betrayed (IMHO) his country to get them. Also, he could've helped connect the dots for Mueller but chose to hold out for a pardon which I don't see coming. So let him do his time the same as the other convicted criminals.

Why she chose this hill to stand on I can't say.

[BannonsLiver]

15. I agree

Her concern for Manafort has not gone unnoticed.

[shockey80]

7. I am a big fan of her's but I don't think she has thought this one through.

Manafort could get killed if he was released into the general population at Rikers.

[bullwinkle428]

8. The solitary thing for Manafort is clearly for his own protection, but I

totally agree with her about how it's used against POC who don't have any kind of particular fame or status.

[RoadMan]

14. Put him in general population

so he can get his face smashed in and get his ramen noodles and honey buns confiscated by other people.

[Maru Kitteh]

16. Jesus Fucking Christ. She should maybe learn a bit before looking so ridiculous here.

Because this statement of hers is just plain stupid. And I like her. Very much.

[nini]

17. Hell no

He's an enemy of the state.

[Grasswire2]

18. Does she know it's for his protection?

Although no one of his fame and his messing around with Russian mob is safe ANYWHERE, and certainly not in prison.