Justice

Is It Too Much To Ask To Not Throw People Onto The Highways?

Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

jailLast night I had a situation that I found to be quite disappointing. Just after seven o’clock in the evening, I thought I would have dinner at a restaurant on the other side of town and drove over there to dine out. Along the way, I needed to merge onto a major interstate freeway in the metro area having four lanes and busy traffic. As I drove along in the outside lane, it was after dark at the time, I saw a man walking along the hard shoulder of the roadway. I worried that a drunk might veer off the travelled portion and hit him so I pulled over to offer him a ride. Thus began a conversation that really shows how we can often allow people to be put at risk because the county does not want to offer them a modicum of accommodation.

After I picked him up, the gentleman walking around the roadway told me that he had just been released from the county jail after serving time for driving while license suspended. He did not have someone to pick him up from jail so he had no other option but to walk back home. He lived twenty five miles from the jail. The only way he could get home, since he had no money with him, was to walk along a busy interstate freeway.

We previously wrote about the virtual debt peonage and endless circle of jail and further increases of fines with suspended drivers in an article HERE.

It would have taken him until after six in the morning to walk that far. So rather than drive him to the next exit to find another ride I just drove him home.

He was 57 years old, unemployed and had no family available to drive him. He had no other choice than to walk. I asked him if the jail offered him a bus ticket or some other accommodation to allow him to return home after release. He said the jail used to give bus tickets to people in his situation but stopped doing that several years ago.

We had a good visit with each other, but the entire time we were together I could not help but wonder why the county has a system as such that a person of little means is forced to walk twenty five miles home because no effort was made to arrange for his journey. The risk this man faced from being hit by a drunk driver, stopped by the state patrol for being a pedestrian on a limited access freeway, or simply collapsing from exhaustion is certainly not something that we should accept nor something a person released from custody should endure.

I recognize that the sheriff’s office is not a taxi service and has no obligation to provide transport for released inmates after their term has expired, but couldn’t the county at least take a few more steps to ensure that someone can either pick up the inmate or try to prevent a situation where a fifty seven year old does not have to walk twenty five miles to get home?

Is this too much to ask?

By Darren Smith

The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.

440 thoughts on “Is It Too Much To Ask To Not Throw People Onto The Highways?”

  1. chestercat, I’ve had many discussions w/ veterans and most have had very bad experiences w/ the Red Cross. David is correct, disaster relief is different than everyday care, Disaster relief is the Red Cross specialty. Ask anyone who has worked in a disaster area about their preference between the Salvation Army and Red Cross. It’s no contest. Red Cross is like dealing w/ DMV employees. But, when a disaster hits they are right on it, COLLECTING MONEY!!

  2. Darren wrote: “We had a good visit with each other, but the entire time we were together I could not help but wonder why the county has a system as such that a person of little means is forced to walk twenty five miles home because no effort was made to arrange for his journey.”

    Wonder no longer! The answer is contained in “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap” by Matt Taibbi and Molly Crabapple. Its thesis is that there’s one system of “justice” for the poor, who find themselves on the wrong side of the bars a disproportionately large amount of time, and a very different one for the rich, whose peccadilloes are generally excused or lightly slapped, usually including no jail time.

  3. David – Interesting Snopes article, and I’m inclined to believe you (and it), as I don’t disparage the Red Cross, but the friend I had was a straight shooter, and he was referring to Viet Nam, and I don’t disbelieve him either. As I said, it could have been a “bad apple” within the Red Cross, too.

    1. chestercat1, the snopes page indicated a mixed review, acknowledging that the Red Cross did charge soldiers. According to the following page, the Red Cross continued the practice of charging from WWII up through the Vietnam War. I see no reason to doubt your friend.

      “Apparently it was indeed true, and continued up through the Vietnam War. The explanation given is that Secretary of War Stimson wanted to make the Allies feel equal and since they had to pay for their stuff he suggested the Red Cross do the same to the Americans in the European Theater. However, they did it in the Pacific Theater also, and kept on doing it after WWII at least up through the Vietnam War.”

      http://askville.amazon.com/grandfather-navy-WWII-Salvation-Army-gave-free-coffee-donuts/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5781365

  4. bfm, You think that I think it’s sexist? No, I don’t. But I’d love for someone with malice in mind to meet up with a woman who could clean his clock and dump him at a police station. Each of us, male and female, of whatever age, need to determine our own capabilities and vulnerabilities and willingness to assume certain risks. My evaluation has changed over the years as my capabilities and vulnerabilities have changed. This has dictated that my means of helping has changed.

    1. “You think that I think it’s sexist? No, I don’t.”

      Sorry if I gave the impression that I was in any way critical of you.

      My point was to emphasize that each of us is responsible for our own safety and each of us has special considerations. In particular it seems to me that women might reach very different conclusions than men about a particular situation. I personally don’t seem any problem with that.

      To me you sound as though you have a clear view and have made reasonable choices.

  5. Nick and David –

    Interesting back and forth about the Salvation Army. It’s all about the individual site, I suppose. When I lived in Buffalo I was close friends with a veteran who would never again have dealings with the Red Cross, an organization I think of highly. He claimed that when he was in the service, and I really don’t remember if this was when he was in Viet Nam or some other time, the organization showed up to “aid” the soldiers. He was grateful, until he found that they were CHARGING for the coffee and sandwiches.
    Does anyone else have any stories of the like? I had never heard this before, and never have since.

    2. maxcat – the salary for the head of the San Diego Red Cross was released a couple of years ago and she was making more than the CEOs of most major corporations. I also know that the Red Cross does not want you to donate items during an emergency, rather they want you to donate money. Their thinking is that they have enough money for this emergency, but will need it for the next one, at least that is their story.

      2. ” I also know that the Red Cross does not want you to donate items during an emergency, rather they want you to donate money. ”

        I think part of the rationalization is that goods have to be transported and may not be suitable for use. Funds, in contrast, can be moved most anywhere via wire transfer and can be used to purchase what ever is required.

        But, what ever the good they do, we should remember that they are still a business with all the institutional, and bureaucratic imperatives that go with that.

        1. bfm – and the Red Cross has high priced executives who cannot be paid in canned goods and sweaters.

  6. Here is a link to an interesting 1992 law review article entitled, “”Protection” of Volunteers Under Federal Employment Law: Discouraging Voluntarism.”

    http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3015&context=flr

    =====
    In September 1990, the Department of Labor informed the Salvation Army that the participants in its down-and-out work-therapy program’ were not “volunteers,” but rather “employees” subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping provisions. The Salvation Army, an employer of over 40,000 regular employees, commenced a federal lawsuit to enjoin the Labor Department’s proposed action–an action that would have required the Salvation Army to pay standard wages to an estimated 70,000 participants who are enrolled in its work-therapy programs. The Labor Department, subjected to political pressure for singling out the reputable charity, abandoned its plan to sue, and consequently the Salvation Army’s action was dismissed.

    1. The work-therapy participants, many of whom are homeless persons, alcoholics, or drug addicts, help to sort donated items and, in turn, “receive food, shelter, counseling and a weekly stipend of $5 to $20 for personal items.”
    =====

  7. max, I wonder what they said for NYS. I just got a copy of mine (keep forgetting how old I am 🙂 ) for $5. It may be dependent on the location within the state. I did have to drive about 3 hours rt though which easily put the total cost over the $7.

    1. BettyKath – Sadly, I don’t know the answer to your question. The GAO report, at least the portion I saw, didn’t do within states breakdowns, but rather did a broad listing by state. I do know that in Georgia that travel costs CAN be a factor. Much of the state business is only done in Atlanta, the capital, which puts a strain on those living in Macon or points south.

  9. Paul, “bettykath, who has roundly condemned me, would have called other agencies to pick up the guy, but would not have picked him up herself.”

    I used to pick up hitch hikers, even people who weren’t hitchhiking but who could use a ride. I’m much older now and much more vulnerable. I’m not as strong or as agile. I’m not as good at off-the-cuff argument, my chief method of self-defense. I sometimes lose words and it takes awhile for them to return. Not good when it’s really important to keep someone’s attention when they want to hurt you. (I once changed the mind of a rapist. There was no rape and no violence. And a guy who grabbed me on the street. I used some very bad language, very loudly. He took off running.) I still give rides to strangers but I’m very particular.

    Darren, I like your approach.

    1. @bettykath

      I don’t think there is anything sexist about recognizing that at times women are targeted more than men. And I don’t think there is anything hypocritical in recognizing that fact and taking reasonable measures to adjust for that additional risk.

      The last time I picked up a guy I had the feeling he wasn’t going to get out till I took him exactly where he wanted to go – which I did. The last time I picked up a woman with a baby, LE pulled me over and threatened to give me a ticket for transporting a child without a safety seat.

      Now I jump start people, change tires, and contribute engine coolant or oil. But I rarely pick up people who are walking – unless it is very dark, cold, wet or uninhabited.

      I do admire those of you who lend a helping hand and give rides to those who need them.

  10. davidm2575 and Nick:

    Impressive stories from both of you.

    David, if you program is easily available on the internet why not let us know were we can see it?

    1. bfm, the only program I mentioned was the Sally’s, not mine. I am just an individual who engages with the poor and helps out as I can as an individual. From a moral standpoint, I think others should do the same. People should not use fear as an excuse not to help strangers IMO, and they should not trust government or organizations to do what they can do themselves. Darren’s example here is a good model for how we all should be “Good Samaritans.”

      The interesting thing about the Good Samaritan story is that Samaritans were not looked upon very well by the upper echelons of society. The Jews called Jesus a Samaritan who had a devil. Samaritan was a term of derision. In the story Jesus told, the priest and the Levite (respected members of society) avoided the injured person, but the Samaritan was the one who helped. It is often that way in society today. You are more likely to find the poor helping the poor than the rich helping them. Stick out your thumb to hitchhike, and you will more likely be picked up by someone of lower economic status than by a wealthy person. The moral of the story that Jesus told was simply that we should act as the Samaritan and be a good neighbor. Darren illustrates this behavior in his story. We should all do like him.

  11. david, Wow! I have never heard of people who had problems w/ the Salvation Army. I don’t doubt your experience in Tampa, I trust you implicitly. Let me give you my personal experiences in different venues.

    My first experience w/ the Salvation Army was in Bristol, Connecticut bars as a young man. A female Salvation Army woman would come into Men’s Bars[there were bars that did not serve women!]. She would walk around to the men @ the bar and humbly ask for donations. The reactions were varied. Most would smile and throw in some change or even folding money. A “God Bless You” was always the response. Some guys would ignore her. Once in awhile a drunk a-hole would mock this woman. They were always put in their place. We were blue collar guys having drinks after work and respected this woman coming into an environment she didn’t want to be in for a good cause.

    A few years later I was in college in Wilkes-Barre. A devastating Hurricane Agnes in 1972 completely destroyed the entire town. I was home in Ct. when it hit in June. I got a call from a local girlfriend. Her father had died 2 days after the flood. He was trying to clean out their house and his local pharmacy, he owned for decades. He had a massive heart attack. So, I quit my job in Ct. and went down to help her family. It was a family now of a mom and 3 daughters. I worked govt. cleanup crews during the day, and then helped the family in the evening. LONG DAYS! I got to know the foremen of the crews and was able to steer our crew to their house some days. Between my day work and helping the family @ night I would pass through the public square, as did all the workers. It was the focal point w/ generators and the only refrigeration for miles. The Salvation Army people would hand you an ice cream and encourage you to sit down for a moment in the shade and enjoy it. They would thank you for the work you were doing and ask if they could do anything. I told them of the family I was helping. They went there and provided them w/ food and clothing. This was every day, all summer. I lived in a dorm w/ many National Guard. The Red Cross served meals. It was spam for every meal. The Red Cross workers were like govt. employees.

    Fast forward to 1975. I am a Vista volunteer in KC working in a halfway house for released Federal prisoners. As I said previously, all it took was a call and the prisoner[they were still in Federal BOP custody] was helped. Rides, vouchers, groceries, housing.

    Here in Madison I have volunteered my services regarding thefts of kettles and phony kettles. I also have tutored kids in their homeless shelters, as has my wife. Those are my personal experiences in 4 states and 2 time zones. And, all I have ever heard is positive about the Salvation Army. Until today.

    1. Nick, thanks for the more detailed information. I will say, however, that emergency situations are a completely different situation from every day help. Expect to see all the charities responsive because that is how they establish their future donations. It is basically a big advertising gig for them. The Red Cross is setup to help ONLY in emergency situations.

      Also, 1975 is a long time ago. Pick up the phone and call the Sally. Ask them if you know someone being released from jail and that person does not have a ride home, can you turn to them to provide the ride for him. Your a PI, so don’t let them snow you with sure, just call us kind of answer. See if they are ready to do it. Say something like, can they provide one later today when I find out what time? How does it work? I am hoping for a good report, but I am not going to hold my breath. I have been told that other Salvation Armies are much better than the one in Tampa. Homeless people who have traveled around have told me this.

  13. Olly, I have been to the Lonestar State many times but didn’t know they had drive thru. I learned the hard way they have many dry counties. It seems it’s a bifurcated state, drive thru liquor, the last state to outlaw drinking while driving, and then dry counties!

  14. Is it not also judgmental to admonish someone for being judgmental. If Paul is fixed in his position then take it for what it’s worth and move along; unless of course he’s not entitled to his own opinion.

  15. BFM, I didn’t know MD. had drive thru liquor stores. PA. has drive thru beer distributors. And, if memory serves, FLA. has drive thru liquor stores? Maybe a Florida commenter could let us know.

    1. And I thought that MD were the only innovators. Good to know that Texas is also at the forefront of this important development.

      You know how trying it can be to try to walk to thru the front door of the liquor store. Why walk when you can just drive around to the side – and so much safer.

  17. I worked many death civil cases where the pedestrian victim was drunk. Several where the plaintiff was a drunk pedestrian and our insured, the defendant driver, was also drunk. One bizarre case was a drunk and drugged crack whore, running from her pimp in Milwaukee, who was hit by our drunk insured driver going 45mph. Our insured ended up going to prison, and my client, his insurance company, paid the limits of the policy, even though the plaintiff had obvious contributory negligence as well.

  18. Paul, any woman who picks up someone on the road is putting themselves into potential danger. It is foolhardy for a woman alone to do so But go ahead condemn Bettykath. You have no feelings or empathy for anyone but yourself it seems from what you post, you’re right I don’t know you but I do know what you post and your words tell me who you are.
    You are very judgmental. You still seem to want to hang onto your narrative that the man was an addict or alcoholic.
    Darren, You are a lesson to me and many others.

  19. Freakonomics showed you are more likely to be killed walking drunk, than driving drunk.

    1. @Nick

      Is that why the liquor stores in MD have the very convenient drive through windows?

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