Millionaire protests about conditions in jail

[flashl]

Move to state prison angers millionaire

Brooks faces charge of capital murder

Millionaire John "Jay" Brooks is upset with state prosecutors for moving him to the state prison from a county jail, where he had enjoyed frequent visits from his lawyers and the use of one of five microwaves he donated himself.

The state attorney general's office moved Brooks, who is facing a death sentence on a murder-for-hire charge, in mid-December over concerns that he was buying candy and sneakers from the jail's commissary to influence witnesses in his pending trial, according to court records. Defendants are typically held in jail before trial but are moved to the prison when security or other concerns warrant it, a prison spokesman said.

At the state prison, he's locked in a cell by himself for 23 hours a day.

...

Just before Christmas, John Brooks's attorneys asked a federal judge to return Brooks to jail or require prison officials to grant him more liberties. Brooks, a 55-year-old diabetic, said prison life doesn't allow him the exercise and food he needs to manage his diabetes or provide him enough time with his lawyers to prepare for his trial.

Brooks raised other complaints in his court filing, too. "When I am moved within the prison, I am handcuffed at the wrists with my arms behind my back," he wrote. "My cell is small. (It) is under 24-hour video surveillance. I cannot turn out the lights in the cell. My meals are fed to me through a slot in the door."

Brooks has asked the federal court for daily access to exercise facilities, healthful foods and a chance to have his blood sugar tested twice a day. He also wants unlimited access to his legal team, which includes attorneys from Concord and Boston, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, weekends included.

Read Full Text

:nopity:

[graywarrior]

1. Is he the guy who put a hit out on his ex that paralyzed her?

[Crabby Appleton]

3. No, different dude

Brooks is the former president of PolyVac Inc. in Manchester, a company that in 1994 had annual sales of $20 million. He was arrested in April and charged with capital murder for allegedly hiring men to kidnap and kill Derry trash hauler Jack Reid Sr. in 2005. Brooks's son, Jesse Brooks, 31, has also been charged in connection with the death.

[lonestarnot]

16. And his motivation for allegedly killing the trash hauler Jack Reid Sr.?

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

2. He expected Club Med??????

[NashVegas]

4. I Think This Is Great!

Maybe if we sent more millionaires to state prisons and CCA, we'd see some real reform.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arcos]

8. Ah! The required tasteless prison rape joke...

:eyes:

[catnhatnh]

6. Presumption of guilt as a Democratic trait is kind of sickening...

Did he do it...I don't know but suspect so....Does it matter-NO-we have a legal process and a legal presumption. And that presumption is innocent until proven guilty. Comments about "rich boy" are meritricious. Applauding more restrictive incarceration is vindictive. And in the end he will most likely be proven guilty and I will look like a fool. But If being a Democrat means anything it means believing in the protections that the constitution provides in EVERY case.

[alfredo]

7. Here's a description of the crime

If he did kidnap, torture, then kill the trash hauler, then he deserves to be in a cage for the rest of his natural life.


http://wbztv.com/topstories/New.Hampshire.Death.2.586857.html

A Rockingham County grand jury concluded that John Brooks arranged and took part in Reid's murder "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse," according to documents released Friday.

Police found Reid's plastic and duct tape-wrapped body in the bed of his dump truck in a Saugus, Mass., parking lot a week after his family reported him missing in June 2005.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There is probably a lot of physical evidence.

[catnhatnh]

9. Yes,there probably is a ton of physical evidence...

And justice will most probably prevail.And since it is probably an easy conviction and ultimately a win for the good guys should it not be even easier to provide the protections we provide when guilt is in doubt? In a slam dunk the bad guy gets his come-uppance so isn't it easier to give the non-sympathetic fellow his full constitutional rights???

[alfredo]

18. Oh sure. I wasn't saying he shouldn't get a fair trial, I'm just saying it

could be an easy case as far as collecting physical evidence.

In the intelligence community they believe in keeping the circle small. The less people who know, the less chance for a breech of security. Same goes for crimes. The more involved, the harder it is to keep the alibi straight, it is also harder to keep on or more from turning states' evidence.

[ToeBot]

10. The presumption of innocence is a method of jurisprudence, it has nothing to do with public opinion

or partisan affiliation.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. even if guilty

any prisoner with diabetes should be allowed to have his blood tested regularly, and should be given healthful meals.

Any prisoner, even if guilty, should be allowed adequate time to meet with his lawyers.

And I think it's barbaric to keep people confined in tiny cells 23 hours a day.

[symbolman]

12. Yep

Been there, done that - its absolutely barbaric.. Should be treated decent until proven guilty, THEN get the nutcracker out.. If you torture someone, and they can prove it, then an eye for an eye should prevail... Maybe something along the lines of the film "Idiocracy" ..

[MonkeyFunk]

13. Even if convicted

they should have adequate healthcare, decent food and ability to meet with lawyers.

My objections are not based on whether or not the person is guilty or not. It's based on how civilized people treat those under confinement, and the utter uselessness, even counter-productivity, of treating inmates like animals.

[symbolman]

14. most of what you say I fully agree with

but, on the other hand SOME inmates ARE Animals.. I saw guys in the next cell throw cups of semen at the Trusties serving them food, they were covered with tatoos (sure, I have a few myself) of dollar and Nazi symbols all the up to their scalp.. They'd killed a man, a roommate after they'd found out he was gay, but ostensibly for a whole $60.. They growled by day, and howled by night, throwing themselves against the half inch plexiglass covering the bars, leaping trying to bust it with both feet.. I've worked in two mental hospitals (one was. VA), and at night had never heard sounds like they all made all night, the 7th level of he'll, sounded like demons. I had everything I was issued wrapped around my head, and still couldn't dull the sound...

The man in the next cell was making animals out of his shit and biting the heads off them while I visited with my lawyer, his story got ever more interesting in the next few days and finally the pigs dragged him out and chained him naked to a chair under the freezing AC all night. That was particularly disgusting. A man had died on the very concrete floor I laid on for three weeks, the guards had refused him insulin.

Yeah, I know all about it, the county jail I was in had been compared to a South African prison by Congress itself.

If you'd like to see someone who's made a real difference check out the Foundation For Human Kindness, Bo's been creating ashrams in prisons since the 70s, and his book. "We're All Doing Time" literally saved my sanity in that jail. He calls for better treatment, teaches prisoners meditation, yoga, and an all inclusive form of Spirituality.. Great man.. Read that book, you don't have to do jail to get a lot out of it...

But some of these men are not men, spend some time in there and see what you think :)

[riverdeep]

21. What to do with society's unfit?

It's a really, really tough question. It's one that no society anywhere has answered perfectly. There are abuses in any prison system, anywhere. As bad as ours is, it's still one of the better ones in the world, which is frightening. For proof, take a look south of the border. Talk about rights and they will laugh in your face.

How comfortable should we make prisoners before it stops being punishment? There are plenty of prisoners that will pull cons on the system. You give them an inch and they will take a mile. They'll say this, that or the other violates their rights and that's why they can't have privileges taken away. Talk to a prison guard and they'll tell you, in most hardcore prisons, the inmates run the show-and that's outrageous.

One of the things that would de-escalate the situation immediately is decriminalize drug use. Overcrowding is a huge problem, and unnecessary, since we would then have plenty of space for real criminals. Personally, I don't think prison should be a comfortable place. It should be free of barbarism, and sexual assault in particular should be taken seriously. But it should not be comfortable. Prisoners should be made to work for their supper, like people on the outside have to do. Niceties should be kept out of it, just the bare essentials. No TV, cigarettes, men's magazines, etc. We also have to ask a fundamental question, are prisons primarily for punishment or reform? Because there are going to be some things that are then mutually exclusive.

The way it is now, is a mess.

[riverdeep]

22. One other point.

The story about the cellmate indicates another serious problem. Modern prisons have basically become dropping off points for the mentally ill. Ever since Reagan, our public policies toward the mentally ill, especially the transient ill, who have no family or spouse or support to look out for them, have been shameful. Of course, it's possible to be both criminal and mentally ill as well. But being mentally ill alone, the last place you should be is in prison.

[madinmaryland]

15. Nice post, Nancy Grace.

Have you not heard of one of the principals of our democracy:

INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

Seems most of the folks here want to convict this guy before his day in court, just because he is a millionaire.

Elitist bigots!

:grr:

[lonestarnot]

17. Tee hee.

Keep'n 'em on their toes I see. :toast:

[riverdeep]

19. I think the point of the post isn't that prisoners should be treated horribly.

I think it's that there's a ton of people who have these same complaints that would never get the time of day because they aren't rich. Somehow, being rich makes it so horrible in people's eyes, whereas with poor folk, we've got other problems.

[flashl]

20. Exactly!

Collect 200 DU points.