2004-12-02 - 1:38 p.m.
went to detainee hearings again today. there are SO many people being deported. there was a mother at a detention center who started crying over the televideo today. it was very sad. afterwards, the government prosecutor remarked wryly to the people at the hearing that she went on a robbery spree, trying to deflate any sympathy for her (and perhaps to assuage his own conscience)
the biggest surprise from observing the hearings is how many people would rather be deported than stay in jail, even when it seems like they have a chance to stay. detention is supposed to be temporary, until there's a bond hearing. if they can't make bond, they have to be detained until the whole hearing is over. it must be horrible to be cut off from everything one holds dear in life. but it also makes me wonder what else is happening at these detention centers.
Most of the detainees are people whose grounds for both detention and deportation is a past criminal conviction, such as larceny, fraud, or assault and battery. it really doesn't make any sense.
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http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000122.php#more
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There are good radio show sites:
www.againstthegrain.org (calvin showed me this- you can download episodes going back a few months)
www.uprisingradio.org (i used to listen to this streaming over the internet)
www.democracynow.org (of course. you used to only be able to download episodes for the current day, i think you can download more now)
