Sunday, August 29, 2010

American Justice

SCRANTON, Pa. — If his diary and witness accounts are to be believed, Nicholas Pinto endured months of physical, sexual and mental abuse in prison. Guards roughed him up, made him stand naked in a cold cell for hours at a time, and taunted him relentlessly. A fellow inmate raped him night after night, beat him when he resisted, and stole his possessions.

And no one, he claimed, did a thing about it.

"The overall treatment I have received from both the prison and (the prison's) medical providers (is) unconstitutional, insufficient, cruel, inhumane and shamefully unacceptable," Pinto wrote in April.

He feared for his life, yet the officials responsible for his safety appear to have ignored his pleas for help — nor did they heed a warning from the prison chaplain that Pinto was in grave danger.

An accused child pornographer, he was at the bottom of the prison hierarchy. So what came next was perhaps inevitable.

The 29-year-old former Connecticut man was heading back to his cell block from a recreation area when he was ambushed by an inmate with a history of violence who was supposed to be locked down — but wasn't. The inmate knocked him to the floor and stomped on his head at least 15 times "with all his might," according to a police report. Pinto's face was shattered, and he suffered brain injuries that left him comatose.

After the attack, his assailant had enough time to return to his cell and use a rag to wipe evidence from his black sneakers, police said.

It doesn't matter what a person has done. When they are in prison, they deserve to be treated humanely and not abused in any way.

I know a lot of people disagree with that, probably most people. That says a lot about our society.

It seems odd to me, but there's a trend lately where news organizations allow comments to their news posts. I suppose they're trying to be more blog-like, and hipper.

This is the very first comment to the story;

I am having a hard time believeing he is comatose and the plug has not been pulled. I for one believe he as a child molester should be ( put Down ) like the mutt that he is....save us money turn off the machine...

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