Convicted for masturbating in jail cell

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indra

ONE love, blood, life
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This seems excessive to me. The guy has a 10 year sentence -- you mean he's never supposed to jack off? Even if he only serves half his sentence that's five years. He didn't hurt anyone and he was alone in his cell. To me if the guard can't hack seeing that (and let's face it I'm sure she didn't need to watch the whole episode), she should be in another profession. Don't most jails have the commode right in the cell too? Isn't watching someone take a shit at least as disgusting? Sounds like a power trip to me.

So what do you think? Is this something that really should be prosecuted?


FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - A Florida jail inmate was convicted of indecent exposure after a guard complained that he had masturbated in his cell.

A jury took 45 minutes to convict Terry Lee Alexander, 20, of the misdemeanor on Wednesday. The judge sentenced him to 60 days in the county jail. He had faced up to a year.

In November, Broward County Deputy Coryus Veal, who was monitoring Alexander's cell from a centrally located control room, saw him masturbating while he was sitting on his bunk, alone in his cell. She testified that she brought the charge against him the third time he masturbated in view of her.

Veal has brought similar charges against seven other inmates in six months.

The sheriff's office encourages deputies to file criminal charges to discourage masturbating in the county's jails, said Elliot Cohen, an agency spokesman. He said privacy is one of the rights inmate give up in jail.

Kathleen McHugh, Alexander's attorney, said her client did nothing wrong. She said he was alone in his cell, which was not open to the public.

"I think the government's gone awry," McHugh said. "Has it been a slow year in crime that they've got to go prosecute masturbation in the Broward County Jail?"

During jury selection, McHugh looked at 17 prospective jurors and asked how many among them had never masturbated. No hands were raised.

Alexander was originally brought to jail on an armed robbery case, for which he received a10-year prison sentence.

link
 
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So let me get this straight...this CO sits around watching cameras hoping to catch some poor deprived dude taking care of business...

Prosecuting this = complete waste of time & money.
 
A jury took 45 minutes to convict Terry Lee Alexander, 20



sounds like if the jury had

visual stimulation

they could have got done quicker than 45 minutes









0725071lee1.jpg
 
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deep said:

The jury is most certainly liars.

or

he did not have a jury of his peers.

Why are they liars? You think the members of the jury have never masturbated in their lives?
 
McHugh looked at 17 prospective jurors and asked how many among them had never masturbated. No hands were raised.

do you really believe out of 17 people

none of them has ever masterbated?



also,
is it possible to find 17 people in one place that have not masterbated

if that is the case

it would be like putting only PETA members on a Laboratory vandalation trial

they are in very untypical and probably believe any and all masterbation is a sin and wrong and should be punished.

If they were all Catholic clergy judging a member of the cleargy I would consider it a jury of peers
 
If inmates didn't masturbate, I'm sure there would be more violence and rapes in prison. It's a no-brainer. This is the stupidest thing I've read today.
 
the 60 minute rule

allows me to edit that out

so I will not have to keep responding

for reading it wrong.




I do think this Guard is a bit strange

she has gone after several inmates for this bevavior


Most surveys suggest that approximately 94% of males "admitted" that they masturbated and about 70% of females "admitted" to this also. It’s always hard to establish absolute truth in any survey on sexuality and sexual behavior, since they are influenced so much by what people think is "normal". It is important to note the word "admitted" in the results of these surveys

I stand by my first premise

that this charge and conviction

may be motivated by other factors
 
Like Deputy Veal being a prude, you mean? That kind of goes without saying, doesn't it?
 
yolland said:
Like Deputy Veal being a prude, you mean?

How many other guards are bringing these charges?

If one was out in a park masturbating or in a prison yard they should be charged.


If one was in their bed, private room or prison buck / cell masturbating
it hardly seems lude or criminal.


If she were a 'prude' would she be able to tolerate watching the closed circuit feeds of the inmates urinating and showering. I am sure the cameras are on all the time.
 
Whether or not she is a prude has nothing to do with something we like to call prosecutorial discretion. What a waste of time and $.
 
Are you kidding me? I mean, come on, now. I understand it's jail, and it's supposed to be punishment, but how is punishing him for masturbation really solving anything? Really? It's not a crime, man - the crime is this silly woman standing there watching him and whining that he's doing it. Walk away, you idiot, walk away.
 
Okay...fact of life. Men in prison masturbate. They also use the toilet and shower in full view of the officers assigned to guard them. If you can't handle what you see in a men's prison, you shouldn't be working there.
 
That is so ridiculous. We are convicting men for masturbating longer than we are convicting men for raping children? I guarantee some rapist got off with a slap on the wrist somewhere in the US today while this poor man is going to be spending 10 more years in prison for playing pocket pool.
 
^
Actually he was sentenced to 60 days for the five knuckle shuffle (could have gotten as much as one year). The 10 sentence was for armed robbery.
 
Yeah, and we all know what decent men make up the average prison population. It couldn't at all have been provocation. We forget that this is a guy on an armed robbery charge. Is it more likely that he was playing up to the CCTV in his cell, given the stark lack of activities, in a bid to rile and annoy the shit out of those are supposed to be (literally) watching him?

But yeah, we only get one side of this story; the poor hapless inmate who is denied taking care of his personal needs. That's a nicer media story than yet another inmate who finally had the courts kick his arse for his custodial conduct. He'd not likely be one of those prisoners who shit on his lunch tray, or piss on another inmate while they get beaten, etc.


... Not that we can tell any of this from this story - any more or less than we can tell the guard was an uptight conservative in the wrong profession. I just know who I'd give benefit of doubt to. Judgemental as everyone else, yes, but with at least good reason.

:shrug:
 
Angela Harlem said:
Yeah, and we all know what decent men make up the average prison population. It couldn't at all have been provocation. We forget that this is a guy on an armed robbery charge. Is it more likely that he was playing up to the CCTV in his cell, given the stark lack of activities, in a bid to rile and annoy the shit out of those are supposed to be (literally) watching him?

But yeah, we only get one side of this story; the poor hapless inmate who is denied taking care of his personal needs. That's a nicer media story than yet another inmate who finally had the courts kick his arse for his custodial conduct. He'd not likely be one of those prisoners who shit on his lunch tray, or piss on another inmate while they get beaten, etc.


... Not that we can tell any of this from this story - any more or less than we can tell the guard was an uptight conservative in the wrong profession. I just know who I'd give benefit of doubt to. Judgemental as everyone else, yes, but with at least good reason.

:shrug:

You have to be kidding.

No one is saying he's a fine young man -- we are just saying that to expect men in jail not to masturbate is absolutely stupid and to prosecute them is even more so.

I do think the bit about this particular guard bringing similar charges against six other inmates is pretty telling about her prudish tendencies. My guess is prude and power tripper.
 
My guess is more that these inmates, possibly as a group mentality type thing, like to stir her because she reacts. The article paints this as him quietly minding his own business. It might very well be; but it could easily not be. Especially given the types of people these inmates are. So no, I'm not kidding.
 
http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/181902.html

Here's more, anyway.

The sole witness in the case, BSO Deputy Coryus Veal, testified that Alexander did not try to hide what he was doing as most prisoners do. Veal saw him perform the act while she was working in a glass-enclosed master control room, 100 feetfrom Alexander's cell. There was no video tape or other witnesses.

I find this part the most unbelievable. No tape, no witnesses, nothing, but her word? That's a real worry.

While most prisons deal with such an offense internally, Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne -- and Miami-Dade Corrections officials -- are hoping to curb the practice among inmates by prosecuting them.

Janelle Hall, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Corrections, said that while no charges have been brought against inmates, the department is working with State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office to discuss prosecution of such ''egregious'' cases in the jail.

''It has been a hot topic so to speak in our department,'' Hall said. ``In those cases that are egregious, where there is some sort of intent to deliberately expose themselves, those cases will be reviewed further in the courts.''

A spokesman for Broward State Attorney Michael Satz said prosecution is warranted when an inmate exposes himself in plain view of the detention staff or others.

''Female detention deputies are human beings, too. Why should they have to view such vulgar and indecent behavior in their place of work?'' said Satz spokesman Ron Ishoy.

So there's a concerted effort to curb this - not outlaw it. Fair enough? While the social structure of a gaol is different to outside, there needs to be a compromise met. It's not permissible outside and shouldn't be inside, either. However, there needs to be some kind of agreement made so that personal liberties are not infringed given the huge limitations on privacy any inmate faces. What a novel concept for corrections, huh? lol.

If it is up to the deputy's discretion as well, then all she'd have likely done is made the complaint and the buck got passed along. As for her suitability in this job if it bothers her so much, then it's unlikely she'll stay long - though it did state she doesn't mind the act itself, just as long as it's kept to it's right time and place. Also, it seems mainly like it should have remained a corrections matter, not for the courts. But that can be debated for hours, on where it stops being one and becomes the other.
 
The sad thing is, not defending inmates or anything, but my father works in a maximum security federal prison and there are far more people who have committed "lesser" crimes than you would think. Personally, I think people should get more time for raping than for using drugs. I know the correlation between gangs and drugs, but I do not understandhow you could put away a man for smoking dope and then let a man go who had sexually assaulted someone.

I mean of course they didn't have to provoke the guard. I mean things can be done to conceal or makem ore private the actions, but there are internal politics involved with prisons. Sometimes it's simpy one person's word against another's. Often, criminals are harrassed and nothing is done because they are seen as not having any rights. It's a question of morals whether you think prisoners should be given the same 'rights' as non-prisoners, but things go on all the time that deny prisoners their rights. Only rarely does it get publicized. Whether or not that is a good thing is a personal opinion.
 
indra said:
This seems excessive to me. The guy has a 10 year sentence -- you mean he's never supposed to jack off? Even if he only serves half his sentence that's five years. He didn't hurt anyone and he was alone in his cell. To me if the guard can't hack seeing that (and let's face it I'm sure she didn't need to watch the whole episode), she should be in another profession. Don't most jails have the commode right in the cell too? Isn't watching someone take a shit at least as disgusting? Sounds like a power trip to me.

So what do you think? Is this something that really should be prosecuted?




link

It really suprises me that you see nothing wrong with this.......no-one has the right to expose and masturbate in front of you, the guard asked him to stop it , he kept on going, prolly as a form of intimidation, if he is that desperate to "choke the chicken" he could wait until lights out......I say sucked in to him.
 
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Hinder said:
Are you kidding me? I mean, come on, now. I understand it's jail, and it's supposed to be punishment, but how is punishing him for masturbation really solving anything? Really? It's not a crime, man - the crime is this silly woman standing there watching him and whining that he's doing it. Walk away, you idiot, walk away.

Maybe she can't....maybe he has to be watched, JC i wish i was the guard i would have said "Let me get the tweezers for you Honey"
 
Next time he has a turtle peeking I hope he flashes her that too...then they can bring charges against him for taking a dump.

Ridiculous.

Real, violent crimes go on inside prisons. Funny nothing's done about that.
 
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