Letter To Thomas L. Friedman, Author of "That Used To Be Us"
At the
outset, let me make a short
introduction. I am a lawyer in Israel
and ,inter alia, am also the vice president of the Jerusalem Great
Synagogue (which I hope you will visit on one of your next trips to this
country).
I come
to the USA frequently, I have respect to its culture, integrity, leadership and
people, although I do not always agree with its administration's policies (not
always do I agree with the policies of my government - neither do you, I know,
I do follow your articles and books), but this is the great advantage of being a citizen of and
resident in a democracy.
After
reading your latest book, That Used
To Be Us, I have decided to take the liberty and write to you, out of
respect to your vast store of knowledge, understanding and depth of your
writing.
I am
writing to you, as I earnestly believe that if you resolve to take action in the hereinafter
matter, you would be adhered.
I have
resolved to write to you as in a number of places in your book you make
reference to the proportion between budgets allocated to universities - you
point to the budget of California - 8%; and to prisons - 11%.
I had
the unfortunate experience of visiting a client who is in pre-trial custody in
California. He is charged with financial
misconduct and, I assume, because he is a flight risk, he was not allowed bail
until recently. He was moved from one
detention center to another and until 2 days
ago he was jailed for
13 months, all before trial, thus he is assumed innocent.
Naturally,
I do understand the police's need to keep an individual in custody although he is not guilty. flight risks,
severely effecting investigations, etc. But as long as he is innocent, the
restrictions on his liberty should be confined to the utmost necessities.
The
USA is fighting for liberty, democracy and human rights all over the
world. American servicemen and
servicewomen sacrificed their lives around the globe so other countries will
sanctify human rights. Forgive me, Mr. Friedman, the USA forgot its
own back yard. And as The Leader of the
free world, the USA must serve as an example to others. It embarrassingly does not.
I
notice, white crime suspects in detention centers - all before trial - are restricted humanely. They have restricted access to phone, they
are to share cells with murder suspects
or rape suspects, who rule the cells and
the white collar suspect cannot
complain, as he is endangering his life if he does, and many a times he is removed to solitary confinement. The inmate can have a shower once every three
days, he is to be dressed in the detention center's uniform and the worst of
it all, the physical conditions in many of the detention centers are appalling.
Now,
if such a man is found not guilty at the end of a trial, he had suffered human
indignities to the extreme, without cause. To be honest, listening to the descriptions of the conditions and the
environments of the detentions centers I have visited [in California] I was
thinking to myself, I would have admitted to the murder of Abraham Lincoln,
just to move to a normal prison.
Such
atmospheres are dangerous to a democracy. People who cannot challenge such conditions might admit to crimes they
did not commit. May I remind you that in
democracies, if someone signs a contract under duress he has the right to
cancel the agreement. I do not know a
more severe duress then this detention center.
There
is a reason why someone's liberty is denied before trail. Such denial should be
done in dignity and should be restricted. A
detainee should not be denied access to anything that does not compromise the real
reason for his detention. For example,
if he is allowed certain amount of calls a week, he should be allowed
unrestricted calls (in any event, all his calls are recorded). He should be in a cell with windows that bring
in lights of days, not a minor window. He should be able to shower any time he wants, not once every two or
three days. He should be allowed to have his family bring
in food, In other words, he should be treated as an innocent detainee,
not a convicted criminal.
The
detention centers are a great failure in US dignified democracy [as is handcuffing
a 85 years old man when he is taken to custody].
Now, this
is not a matter for the hard working dedicated wardens and policemen in the
detention center [whose courtesy, I have experienced, and was so impressed with]. This is a matter of policy from above. The
rules have to be changed. The rules are
that a man is innocent until he is found guilty. The rules are that a man cannot be punished until
he is found guilty.
America,
the leader of democracy, America, who lounged war against
human
rights violation in other countries, is acting in this issue like a third world
regime.
I am
not an American, but I respect the USA. My son and his friends study about the
democracy in the USA. I and they, look up to America. Alas, in that respect, "That is
us". The "ugly
us". "The failure of democratic us". In a previous book you wrote - The World Is Flat - you have
explained the ability of shifting work from the USA to other countries
[emphasizing India and China]. No, the
US human rights is not to be compared to any of these countries. However the humiliations and human
restrictions suffered – ‘irrelevantly’ so - by inmates in detention centers in the
USA, brings America one step closer to them, instead of bringing them one step
closer to America.
As a
proud American, as one of the world's leading publicists, I invite you to
consider challenging this very black spot in US democracy and call for a
change.
What
do I as an Israeli, care? America and its values are as important to me
as they are to an American.
sincerely
yours,
Zalli
Jaffe
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