Man who got 4 years for stealing 4 $15 phone chargers was beaten to death in prison by a CO.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

Christopher Howell was less than halfway into a four-year sentence at Lake Correctional Institution, a men’s prison near Orlando, when he died. He was serving time for stealing four phone chargers from a West Palm Beach Target.

He did not die of old age, by suicide or of COVID-19, a disease that has taken the lives of 19 inmates across the Florida prison system.

Howell, 51, was killed at the hands of a corrections officer, who beat him while the inmate’s hands were cuffed, multiple prison sources said.

The brutal beating happened Thursday. The Florida Department of Corrections says he was pronounced dead Friday at an area hospital.

https://apple.news/A2axoXdRQSzy4OL9ILt7wng

[soothsayer]

1. Jesus

[malaise]

2. Get thee to the greatest page

for visibility

Criminals are in charge

[uponit7771]

3. More American law enforcement wanting us to believe they're the good guys

[BComplex]

23. The whole system needs to be totally cleaned out, and these thugs put in prison themselves.

It's way past due.

[Celerity]

24. +100000

[FM123]

4. Such a horrible way to die, beaten by an officer after spending years in jail for shoplifting.

[Newest Reality]

7. That's

That's capitalism. It demands its own kind justice. It resorts to extreme violence when it can, and we have seen that historically. And yet, it remains a shibboleth in our culure.

It has a strong dislike for democracy. You could say they are actually enemies and you either get one of the other, or at least that's what it comes down to eventually.

[lonely bird]

11. Re: Capitalism and Democracy

Capitalism prefers democracy at the start so private property laws can be written. It is much easier, imo, to view the relationship between capital and democracy as that of regulatory/legislative capture. Once Capitalism is in place it favors autocracy. Timothy Snyder talks of the politics of inevitability some of which means, as I understand it, that certain theological philosophies regarding political economy are deemed as “the only way”. It is also called T.I.N.A., There Is No Alternative. This is what we have been operating under since the election of Reagan. Btw, I used the term “theological” deliberately. Economists suffer from Physics envy. Econ9mists hold onto their philosophies as though pronouncements from deity.

[Newest Reality]

13. Thank you!

I am a bit too tired to go into detail much about the subject, so thank you for that clear and concise overview. It hits the spot.

We really need to go into the depth of our systemic issues more and maybe DU is a good place to do that. It is highly topical and the critical nature of it is now more evident.

Appreciated. I hope people get to read that.

[c-rational]

26. Your post makes me think of late stage capitalism, The Shock Doctrine and neoliberalism. All

poor ways to run a just society.

[underpants]

5. My god.

The whole thing seems like a nightmare.

I’m guessing Howell had some priors or something. Still, 4 years? This guard sounds like an enforcer and the guard culture must be out of control.

[Lancero]

12. He also stole a knife, and mentioned it when stealing the chargers.

So that bumped petty theft up to aggravated assault. Didn't use it on anyone.

Meanwhile the officer who beat him to death had a history of use of force complaints, but threats on part of other officers working with him kept them from going anywhere so he was allowed to stay on the job.

Honestly, the wrong person was behind bars. Given the reports coming out of that prison, this officer wasn't the only one.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Abolish it all.

[Stuart G]

8. k and r...no text

[safeinOhio]

9. Guards vs prisioners

Only difference is what they wear.

[Alacritous Crier]

10. K&R

Outrageous and unacceptable!

[JI7]

14. his prison time was because he threatened someone with a knife when asked to return

the things he stole.

But this is still wrong and fucked up. the story also mentioned at least one other officer that witnessed the beating but did nothing. this person should also lose their job and never work in law enforcement again.

[BusyBeingBest]

15. There are a number of corrections officers in my community

because of multiple prison facilities in a nearby town. I always wonder what sort of person is drawn to that line of work. You couldn't pay me enough to do it. But obviously it attracts some real sadists.

[SoCalNative]

21. The ones who wanted to become actual police officers

but couldn't cut it.

[murielm99]

22. There are all kinds of jobs in the prison.

They may not necessarily work as officers or guards.

I know a few who work or have worked at a nearby prison. One was a friend of the family. The job wore him down completely. He ended up with a heart problem because of the stress. He was able to retire with a full pension.

When he was on the job, he had a hard time even laughing. I showed him the website, "My cat looks like Hitler." He laughed uproariously. It was the first time I had heard him laugh like that in years. I was so glad to be able to lift his spirits.

Knowing a few of these people, I know that we have to train them and be sure that they have continuously upgraded training and dialogue about the job. We can do better.

[BusyBeingBest]

25. I worked with an old guy (over 70) who used to work

as a transport guy for corrections--drove a bus back and forth between facilities. He didn't do it very long, had some bad/scary incidents. It's probably a lot of turnover in that field I'm guessing.

[soldierant]

29. "multiple prisons in a nearby town."

And there you have it. Proximity is a big part.

So is not being able to find other work.

But each prison is different from every other prison (though there certainly arre some commonalities.) We know this prison is in Florida, And we assume it's a state prison. We don't know whether it's a public or a private prison. And I don't know whether Florida has any private prisons - nor, if they do, how conscientiously they supervise them.

In fact, the more I know about some prisons, the less I know about prisons in general.

I do know that in no prison would this behavior by the CO be justified, and that it was homicide. And I hope there will be appropriate consequences.

[Lonestarblue]

16. Last Sunday, 60 Minutes had a segment on drug addiction.

They interviewed a man whose father was sentenced to 60 years in prison (!) for drug possession because of the third-strike law. His son described him as not violent in any way, just addicted to drugs. The War on Drugs as practiced in the US has been an enormous waste of money and it needs to be dismantled as a total overhaul of our criminal justice system. Drug addiction is a health issue that if treated early and effectively need not lead to criminal actions by addicts. And while we’re at it, let’s get rid of private prisons and retool prisons with rehabilitation programs that help all but the most violent and mentally ill return to society without the enormous recidivism that our prisons encourage.

[iluvtennis]

17. In prison for stealing four $15 phone chargers - ugh. he is the type of person who should have been

when the Covid outbreak started.

[ooky]

18. This is so fucked up and SCREAMS prison reform.

The prison conditions in this country almost assure that any sentence for any crime could be a potential death sentence once you get to the prison. A society that calls itself civilized can't sentence people to prison if they can't protect their lives when they get there. This should make every decent human being want to vomit.

[calimary]

19. Dear God...

[warmfeet]

27. This is real.

Not a test.

Outrageous, amiright?

Complacency, it's what got us here.

To be blunt, we are going to have to fight like hell - not just for our rights, but for our very lives.

Don't think so? Give it a little time.

[relayerbob]

28. This crap has got to stop

I hope the CO is convicted of murder and has to live in that very prison

[SunSeeker]

30. Unbelievable barbarism.

Christopher Howell looks like the poster child for someone who needed social services, not jail. But Florida sent him to jail over $60. How can that even be Constitutional? Isn't that cruel and unusual punishment considering the minor offense?