Re: A Reader Reminds Us That There Is Such A Thing As A Rape Culture, And It Exists In Prison

From: An Anonymous Legal Professional [Email him]

I would also note that our shameless, cynical prosecutors and even judges(!) often make vile remarks to white defendants about having a cellmate named "Bubba", suggesting that some white, perhaps Southern brute, will enhance the sentence by subjecting the convict to forcible, painful anal sex.

In 2001, California Attorney Gen. Bill Lockyer threatened Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay: "I would love to personally escort Lay to an 8-by-10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey."'['Hi, My Name Isn't Justice, Honey,' and Shame on Lockyer, Cato.org, June 6, 2001]

Now, quite apart from the disgusting notion that such barbaric crimes are tolerated— if not encouraged —by our "justice" and penal system, why do they perpetuate the fiction despite openly conceding the outrageous abuse of human rights?

If they have no problem with it and think that it serves as an additional deterrent, then please, everyone, let's drop "Bubba" fantasy and euphemism, and start referring to an arrestee's potential cell mate as "Jamal", "Shitavious", "D'andre", "D'qwell", "Daquan" etc.

See a previous letter from the same reader.