independent.co.uk — After two and a half years behind bars, the former proprietor of The Daily Telegraph – once a paid-up member of the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade – – now advocate penal reform and the legalization of recreational drugs.
Aug 2, 2010 View in Crawl 4
smacksawAug 2, 2010
In a sort of strange twist, while he's against prison, it seems that prison worked on him.
Personally, I think he got the message before he even showed up for his sentence. But whatever it takes to evolve people into seeing the difference between the types of crimes, and just because you broke the law or are a convict, you're not all the same criminals...or even criminals at all.
charlie6969Aug 2, 2010
I'd Digg you twice, if I could.
iamnotcreativeAug 2, 2010
It doesn't seem that it worked on him at all. Rather it seems he met many men who were sentenced for drug possession who were non violent, ordinary people who were waiting for their release and he came to realize the horrible problems caused by drug prohibition.
MicealOcorraAug 2, 2010
You know, he might of ruined lives but I love Pot.
Closed AccountAug 2, 2010
GRAMMAR ALERT
digg2point0Aug 2, 2010
lol
penal reform.
trevorpaceAug 2, 2010
mmmmmm I smell a New York Times Best seller on the way.
caramba421Aug 2, 2010
Just goes to show...once a person is among the corrupting influences, it doesn't take long for him to turn into a liberal, socialist, communist, muslim, terrorist Nazi.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
osceneintxAug 2, 2010
/s
caramba421Aug 2, 2010
That fact that I should need a "/s" stands as a testament to the monumental stupidity that plagues our political discourse.
nocowlevelAug 2, 2010
Woo, one less ignorant person in the media.
atomheartmotherAug 2, 2010
FTA:
"...(Black) explained that his time among the 1,800 residents of Coleman Low Security Prison in Florida has convinced him of "the fallibility of American justice, which does convict many people, who, like me, would never dream of committing a crime in a thousand years".
So he counts himself amongst those who've been wrongly imprisoned. I've never heard that before.
rsm33Aug 2, 2010
Aren't pretty much all conservatives like this? They want everyone to be punished for everything and they want to restrict what everyone else can do...
...right up until the point where it is them going to jail or wanting to do something that is restricted.
Good that he has finally formed a reasonable opinion, but almost every time a conservative rule is applied to a conservative, they suddenly change their mind.
pinchduckAug 2, 2010
Well, religious culture-warrior conservative. I consider myself a conservative because I believe that the budget should be balanced and I'm pro-life. Beyond that, I also think that all drugs should be legal, prostitution should be legal, immigrants should be given amnesty unless they have committed a crime, and pretty much anyone who wants in should be allowed in if they pass a cursory background check. Also, we need to end these two wars and bring our troops home, and close our far-flung bases. I also think that the recent health care reform should be scrapped in favor of a simple and transparent NHS style health care system. All the culture-warrior bulls**t has done is create a lucrative black market for bad people to thrive in and drive up our cost of living by taxing the hell out of us to pay for prison and enforcement.
I'm in the minority as a conservative, but the recent trend towards decriminalizing pot has heartened me somewhat.
capttwinkyAug 2, 2010
You feel unlike most conservatives because you aren't one. You are a single issue voter (conservative balanced budgets? Regan, bush, bush II, much? lol!) who doesn't want to be thought of as simple-minded bigot on the basis that you are willing to vote unqualified & unethical persons who disagree with the majority of your views into office solely on the fact that your religious leaders have commanded obedience.
You aren't conservative, you are just easily misled. Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
pinchduckAug 2, 2010
Who said I voted for the Republicans? And single issue? I really have no clue where you picked that up. I outlined a host of issues I'm concerned about. The Republicans claim to be pro-life, so I agree with them on one. The Democrats claim to be pro gay marriage, so I agree with them on one. Neither party gives a whit about a balanced budget (my #1 concern), genuinely legalizing drugs or prostitution (i.e., genuine personal freedom), ending the wars, and bringing the American military back home. I'm talking about their actions, now, not their words. I say both parties "claim" up above because the Dems have done little to legalize gay marriage and the Republicans have done little to overturn Roe v. Wade. Mostly, I vote libertarian or other third parties. The reason I adopt the conservative label is because I think that government should be substantially smaller than it is now and have a balanced budget. As for being easily misled, I challenge you to find one demagogue who meets all of my above criteria who has misled me. Quite the contrary, Captain, I am all alone out here.
nidstylesAug 2, 2010
You are not a Conservative.
nmatrix9Aug 2, 2010
You are pro-life . . . right up until the point the baby and mother need financial assistance, medical support, body armor when the baby grows up to 18 . . . etc.
Sorry just had to throw that in there.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
pinchduckAug 2, 2010
@NidStyles: Well, quite possibly I've gone so far off the reservation that I am not. I started there, dropped all the culture warrior bulls**t, realized that for our economy to function we can't deficit spend forever, and adopted a general rule to err on the side of personal freedom when considering policy issues.
@nmatrix9: I'm actually happy to experiment with many different means of social support. We have 50 different laboratories and can try all sorts of things. If we find one package of funding and social support structures that keeps the budget balanced and provides a reasonable safety net, that would be great. They only way to get there is to try different approaches. Under our current system, we cannot. One approach (social security + great society programs) is locked in and funded for the better part of a century, despite obvious evidence of failure. Your comment is a pithy but truthful critique of the Republican party, and really doesn't apply to me. I am pro life all the way around, including being against capital punishment. If you disagree with my views, that's fine with me.
lukeatronAug 2, 2010
@pinchduck: Kudos for being level headed in this discussion. I'd label you the counterpart to what I label self: you = pragmatic conservative; me = pragmatic liberal.
We hold a lot of the same ideas. I'm pro choice though in that I don't think there should be any government intervention in an individual's choice of elective medical procedures (as long as it's something deemed safe by the *medical* community, i.e. the FDA with less political influence). I also feel the government fits in a lot places where pure capitalism breaks down, most often due to demand being unable to adjust to supply as is the case health care. I don't mind paying taxes to support a better functioning government if that's what's needed but I think there are huge gains to be made in efficiency that can offset a large chunk of the increased financial weight of these programs (I work in the administrative end of the public health sector and I can tell you from first hand experience, there are entirely too many useless people on the government payroll).
I think if there were more people in politics willing to take a more pragmatic approach to governance, a lot of the bulls**t we're stuck with today would evaporate. Unfortunately, that's not the type of personality likely to seek out such a position. It's more the people who crave recognition and power that end up in those seats and by the time they get there, they don't really have the interests of the people who put them there at the top of their agendas anymore.
baphclassAug 2, 2010
Everybody knows they have good weed in prison.
x9002Aug 2, 2010
I thought it was just meth
sirdominoAug 2, 2010
And this is the reason that many of those who are convicted of crimes (i.e. felons) are unable to vote. The ones who know that reform is needed are the ones who have experienced the injustices and miscarriages of our system and know what needs to be done to fix it. If many of these individuals were given a voice then that could endanger the profits of the prison industrial complex as well as the job security of those in the Justice and law enforcement systems.
hipmanAug 2, 2010
I've never heard of that, they can disqualify you based on your record?.Sounds like alot of issues would e at play.
rhandlerAug 2, 2010
Felon disenfranchisement is not still in place in the majority of states, if you're talking about the US, so it looks like the prison industrial complex does not have as much as influence on the laws as you are suggesting (though certainly it has some, which is too much). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_disenfranchisement#United_States
wakkyweedAug 2, 2010
I propose a new law requiring all politicians to spend six months behind bars before they take office.
mbtriaAug 2, 2010
A liberal is a conservative who has been arrested.
nidstylesAug 2, 2010
Seem's he was Fringe before, and he's still Fringe now.
govtdoesnotworkAug 2, 2010
Yet another instance of what I'm starting to call "The Bob Barr Effect." They need to lose (an election, or their freedom) to understand reality, so it's everyone's job to make all these losers lose.
anakastAug 3, 2010
Actually I think those who go through prison have a warped sense of reality.
omeezy4sheezyAug 2, 2010
Afterall, he IS Canadian.
dpdish12Aug 3, 2010
Not anymore he's not. He's a Brit now.
tao52nycAug 2, 2010
Well, the old joke ran: A liberal is a conservative who's been arrested; a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged.
mcanusAug 15, 2010
IS FUNNY!
gkiltzAug 3, 2010
He must have tried some when he was in the joint!