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The PRoblem With Too Much Power

1/17/2015

 
Since a Ferguson cop shot and killed unarmed teen Michael Brown there’s been increased news coverage of police officers who shoot first and ask questions later, if at all. 2014 was a banner year for police killing unarmed citizens who posed a threat to public safety and had to be eliminated. Numerous protests and angry speeches followed, with an emphasis on the need to change how police departments train their officers to deal with the “black community”. Some believe the police are not at fault. Others think these events are evidence the Jim Crow era has evolved into a DMZ where class can determine whether you go to college and earn a lot of money, rot in prison or are killed in the streets. I agree power and position have a lot to do with this, but for an altogether different reason.

Early in my pursuit of an education beyond a GED, before I became aware of cultural and socioeconomic issues that plague minority races, I enrolled in a psychology course about social interaction. It was a skill that eluded me as a teen and seemed a good place to start learning. What I discovered fueled my desire to understand the complexity of human behavior, but it also created an interest in the experiments researchers use to explain and define that behavior.

The first study to draw my attention was the Stanford Prison Experiment. This was an attempt to recreate the power dynamic between prison guards and inmates by using college students as subjects. One group of subjects was designated “prisoners” and were confined in rooms meant to mimic cells. The smaller group of subjects was given control over the prisoners, acting as guards who searched, monitored, fed, and contained their charges. It took only three days for the experiment to reach a premature end because the guards became abusive, antagonistic, and demeaning toward the prisoners. This behavior was not a suggested course of action proposed by the researchers, merely a naturally occurring response to the imbalance of power.

Like many concepts in psychology, the lessons of the Stanford Prison Experiment seemed like common sense. When you debase and devalue human beings, when you treat them as “less than” other people, they resist, rebel, and attempt to escape that sense of worthlessness. The core of this imbalance and reason for poor treatment occurs when resources – such as freedom – are denied to one party and granted to the party directly interacting with them, creating an environment where denigration of the target is inevitable.

Denigration of the target results from the belief that people inferior to an authority are incapable of doing anything without direct oversight. Failure to respond to an order is usually met with punitive force. In many cases there are civil rights violations, torture, death, and a systematic destruction of a group –the kind that can lead to pogroms and ethnic cleansings. Lost in all of this is the ideal that people in positions of authority have a responsibility to value all life equally.

These days prison guards in the U.S. go through training to avoid the problems demonstrated in the Stanford Prison Experiment. They are taught professional conduct intended to curb the mistreatment of prisoners. For many, I’m certain the training works. The same can be said of police, whose training is much more vigorous than prison guards.

However, there are always some people who can’t resist the power of the position and they value only the strength of their authority. It becomes easy to think less of a person in prison and torment him or her. Less thought goes into killing a civilian who was never really a threat.

In the wake of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and others it’s hard not to think of the Stanford Prison Experiment. To some degree I understand why the police are given the authority to kill if the need arises. There are also checks and balances against this power so it’s not abused, but when these safeguards are not in the hands of an independent group of civilians they are meaningless.

By now most people understand prosecutors, judges, and grand juries work hand-in-hand with the police. Cops are granted their authority by the courts, but when that power is misused it’s silly to expect them to be punished with the same fervor used for ordinary people and indigent defendants.

A simple half-measure of a solution to this imbalance of power is greater transparency in the grand jury room and civilian oversight. The best solution would be the removal of absolute immunity from prosecution for police officers and prosecutors. If they obey the law while carrying out the duties of their position they have nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, the high standard of equal justice under the law is too much to ask the people

F.Y.I

1/3/2015

 
The original purpose of this blog was to post essays about the prison experience and voice my opinion about elements of the criminal justice system in need of reform. Rather than rely on that tired cliché “the system is broken” I, along with some close friends, have been showing readers some of the broken pieces.

The current subject matter is pretty narrow, with the exception of a few deviations, because I want people to understand what it’s like to be incarcerated. Whether you believe prisoners should suffer or not or learn and grow, the bottom line is we are human beings despite our many failings. In the process of writing about our humanity I’ve done my best to avoid whining or complaining but there will always be that vague impression when objecting to the violation of constitutional rights.

As concerned as I am with how readers interpret the intent or purpose of my writing, there will also always be quibblers who cannot be satisfied. If What I write is clear, concise, comprehensible, and achieves my original goal then I’ve done my job.

Having said this, Waiting for the Last Train, is a snapshot of my life. It doesn’t cover everything that has ever occurred in my life. It’s a single perspective of many events. There is much I wanted to discuss but could not for legal reasons, but it was important people read of my life as an adolescent and as an adult. My hope is to reach teens and young adults who think dropping out of school, doing drugs, living recklessly, and disrespecting one’s family is okay. They are not. More than anything it was important I convey that event seemingly insignificant actions have consequences, and these poor decisions dig deep pits with no way out.

In the near future my writing will expand to include an array of subjects of interest to me and relevance to social justice. So be on the lookout for new material and guest posts.

Peace.

    Author

    In the time he has been incarcerated, Lyle May has earned an Associates in Arts degree with a social science emphasis through Ohio University; paralegal certification through the Center for Legal Studies; and is currently working on his bachelor’s degree. He has published two articles in The Wing, an international newsletter for death penalty opponents, and is hard at work writing a second memoir detailing his experiences on death row. When he is not writing Lyle enjoys sci-fi and fantasy novels, calisthenics, and dreams of freedom.

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    Lyle welcomes comments to his blog.  However, because Lyle's case is still pending, he will not be able to respond to any questions or comments that you may have.

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