Summary
Allexis Ferrell, a 27-year-old Ohio woman, was sentenced to one year in prison for killing and attempting to eat a cat.
The case gained global attention after it was falsely linked to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, by Donald Trump and JD Vance, despite Ferrell being a U.S. citizen from Canton, 170 miles away.
The baseless claims were widely debunked by authorities.
Ferrell, a mother of three, was found competent to stand trial and requested treatment for substance abuse.
Judge Frank Forchione called the crime “repulsive” and sentenced her to the maximum term.
In an ideal world, prison is a place where people go to get help. It is the “department of corrections” not the “department of punishment”
In America, it’s fairly common to still find people feeling it is hilarious and/or just that men get raped in prison. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard that from people - that going to prison SHOULD involve men getting raped, because then they’ll learn. This kind of discussion even for things like possessing a joint. What someone is supposed to “learn” from rape is unclear, but this country is full of some very backward notions still.
No wonder misogyny is such a problem if some Americans think it high comedy and male “criminals” are getting their just desserts by getting raped as a method of “correction”.
I’ve often heard this from women, too. One was a former GF (we didn’t last long). I did finally ask my GF if she thought women should get raped as part of this system, too, including for nonviolent crimes. I’ve asked other women that were gleeful about the prospect of some “criminal” (in some cases, someone they personally knew) getting raped if they think it should work for female “criminals”, too. They recoiled at the question - even being asked bothered them. Those that did answer all said no, but that any men that get raped is because they deserve it, and need to “know what it is like”.
People can be weird sometimes.
We need to educate people. You shouldn’t leave elementary school without an understanding that Prisons exist to help people, and that a sentence is defined as “the amount of time that the State estimates that’s how long you need to see a professional until you’re ready to reacclimate to society without being a danger to yourself or others.”
Also, that’s a good first date question. “So, umm, what is your opinion on the gender disparity of rape in US prisoners?”
If U.S. prisons existed to help people then we wouldn’t have the death penalty/capital punishment.
Department of miserable warehousing until you make it out and are held at arm’s length by society for being an ex-con for the rest of your life.