Letter: Debtors prison and ‘Me Too’ articles offer food for thought

Graphic by Lori Deaton

I appreciate your articles in the Jan. 24 Xpress on the debtors prison and Asheville’s “Me Too” movement [“Debtors Prison: Low-income Defendants Jailed for Months Awaiting Trial for Misdemeanors” and “Speaking Out: Global ‘Me Too’ Movement Hits Close to Home”]. The first offers an example of how our criminal justice system is supported and sustained by the disenfranchised. Our laws encourage dependence and recidivism, not reintegration and self-reliance. They prey on the poor.

Asheville’s “Me Too” movement is one tip of a many-pronged iceberg in our oversexualized culture, which both fosters and condemns the desecration of human sexuality. Our young adults and children have been raised in a culture where sexual innuendo is woven into sitcoms and where “sexting,” internet porn and the F-word are all normalized.

On the other hand, a sexting teen can be prosecuted as a sex offender, as can an 18-year-old in a consensual relationship with a 16-year-old. No wonder we’re all confused.

No matter one’s religion or philosophy, if the notion of treating others as we would like to be treated provided the foundation for morals, values, laws and civil discourse, we might start on fresh ground.

— Lois Finelli
Asheville

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4 thoughts on “Letter: Debtors prison and ‘Me Too’ articles offer food for thought

  1. Lulz

    LOL, the MeToo movement is like the rest of the leftist lies. Telling is how a couple of teenagers are praised for organizing it. And a mayor who has never had to struggle once, is a product of the decadent west, and who is privileged like no other. Maybe these women should read about the plight of German women who are victims of leftism now. And who are treated as meat by the Islamist who they’ve imported by the millions. But of course that takes like real thinking and the ability to ask why are we pursuing the destruction of our lives and futures for the ideological gains of the insane?

    • Enlightened Enigma

      lulz, remember…liberalism is a mental disorder and you are right about our pampered maoyor ha ha!

      WHY does such a socialist city need an ‘equity manager/department’ ? I thought Asheville was the most equitable place on the planet ? With all these elected
      non leaders creating more ghettos, stealing more of our tax money without a vote , the inequities lie with the management.

  2. Don

    What I think we need are re-education camps for all Trump supporters…. round them all up…. joking…. kind of…. sigh.

  3. James L. Smith

    A North Carolina judge really believed in debtor’s prison, until she was sanctioned for ethical violations by the Judicial Standards Commission. Judge Victoria Roemer threw Frank and Stacy Hill behind bars when they got behind on their rent. The Commission ruled that Roemer had shown “failure to be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it.”

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