Source: The Bulwark
by James F McHugh
“There is no doubt that the conditions of confinement in Alcatraz and ADX Florence were and are harsh, but the people incarcerated in those facilities committed serious crimes and had been convicted of those crimes after trials before juries of their peers — and in many cases, after appeals. The conditions under which they were incarcerated were designed to ensure that they would never again engage in similar behavior. By contrast, incarceration in the brutal confines of the Florida facility comes before decisions are made about whether the inmates have violated any laws …. When a cabinet secretary, the head of a major government department charged with making decisions that can affect every citizen of the United States, calls current and future detainees ‘scumbags,’ she creates a dehumanizing force that inevitably ripples through her entire organization.” (08/13/25)