Arthur Magazine columnist Dave Reeves jailed in "free" world's biggest prison
 

figured i'd repost this email:

After a series of bizarro events and idiocies that were farcical at first but now seem almost tragic, Arthur Magazine's anti-authoritarian "Do the Math" columnist Dave Reeves has been sentenced to 23 days in County by the city of Burbank. He turned himself in on Friday, January 4 at 830am, in accordance with court order. He is currently in MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL which, according to the LACSD website, "houses the majority of Los Angeles County's high risk, high security inmates, and ranks as the largest jail in the free world." We don't know when he'll get out, although his current projected release date is January 15.

Here's what happened: Dave Reeves was convicted of not reporting a traffic accident. The other driver was an SUV on his cel phone who inadvertently hit Reeves (who was driving a weak motorcycle) and knocked him over; the driver then swore and gestured aggressively at Dave. Dave got up and drove away with crazy SUV guy charging/yelling after him, trying to run him over. Finally Dave loses him. Dave doesn't call it in because there's no damage to his bike, he was the one who was hit, there were no witnesses, and he didn't have license plate, year or make of the other driver. And also you don't call in stuff like this from where he comes from (Echo Park--it's a gang area where LAPD response time is slow to never, and bothering cops with trifling matters like this is a bad-to-stupid thing to do). Anyways other dude calls Burbank PD and says HE has been victim of hit and run. Etc etc. Actually goes to trial, prosecuted by the City of Burbank, even though there are no witnesses. Damage to guy's SUV is a pencil mark-sized scratch on front of SUV guy's mirror, obviously caused by the SUV's forward motion against Dave's motorcycle. $200 in "repair." Jury can't believe this is a trial. Reeves admits he didn't call Burbank PD. Jury has to convict, given judge's instructions. Judge gives max sentence. Reeves gets 30 days of community service which is 240 hours of picking up trash and abating graf. Reeves did 7 days by the deadline to complete the service. The judge has now sentenced him to jail for the remainder of his sentence.

Dave Reeves should not be in high-security jail with high-risk inmates for this trifling offense--and nor should anyone else.

You can follow Dave's blissful journey of joy through L.A. County's correctional facilities by going to the LASD Inmate Information Center:

http://app4.lasd.org/iic/ajis_search.cfm

and entering
LAST NAME: Reeves
FIRST NAME: David

Then, click on the booking number: 1118810. Voila! It's almost like you're there with him. Okay, not really. Last we checked he'd been moved to the MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL at 441 BAUCHET STREET, which, according to the LACSD website, "currently houses the majority of Los Angeles County's high risk, high security inmates, and ranks as the largest jail in the free world. The average housing cost per inmate is $53.45 per day."

Dave Reeves needs money to pay all the exorbitant fines and make up for lost work hours fighting this Burstank crap for the last 15 (!) months. If you're able, buy stuff from him at defendbrooklyn.com. And remember: when you defend Dave Reeves, you defend yourself.

Updates on Dave Reeves' situation will be posted on the Arthur website, here:
http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=2526

ARTHUR MAGAZINE ARTICLES & COLUMNS BY DAVE REEVES AVAILABLE ONLINE:

"Blank in the Fill": how to make a suicide bomber (Arthur No. 26/Sept 2007)

"The Blaster of Choice" (Arthur 25/Dec 02006)

"Mission Creeps: One of Us Is Not as Dumb as All of Us" (Arthur 24/Sept 02006)

"Trigger Hippies" (Arthur 23/July 02006)

"Close the Borders" (Arthur 22/May 02006)

"Trust the Government" (Arthur 21/March 2006)

"Man Roots Culture": Dave Reeves on the power of raw ginseng root (Arthur 19/Nov 02005)

"Siphon Your Way to Financial Freedom": Dave Reeves on a different way to deal with high gas prices (Arthur 17/July 2005)

$53.45 a day,

The Arthur Magazine Family
Burstank, California

Placing intelligent people in jails, let alone prisons, for scant offences such as this is unconstitutional. It is cruel and inhumane punishment. The same case can be made for many intelligent citizens that get caught up in the system due to consensual crimes like minor drug possession.

Even though this is yeah, a trifle, the writer should, however, be given a stiff penalty because he disrespected the justice system by not showing up; he should have gotten a probationary sentence though. I wonder if he has a record, (for instance, maybe he's been on probation before) and that's one of the reasons why he was given time.

oh who gives a shit! is this really worth discussing? If people picked there battles better the world would have a lot less problems. Americans funnel all this time and effort into bullshit political movements that serve more to keep them sedated than anything else. If this is the case that gets you pissed off at the American justice system then all the better, but at the same time, maybe you should examine crime statistics and look into the real problems that plague this country; you'll note this isn't the first time this shit has happened and definitely tends to happen to certain groups of people more than others and far more heinously at that. Do some research and edit your thread into something beneficial so that we can have a real discussion about the shortcomings of the legal system.

who are you addressing in your post, cockbags?

anyway, appreciate your ass bumping this thread.

When I read the account I thought to myself (as I am guessing jonathan might have), "Gee, if I were in trouble nobody would care like they do about this writer guy." To me it seems like that might be the whole point of view he's really coming from. Then again, like jonathan writes, there certainly are bigger issues.

But !@#$%! clearly writes that he's just reposting an e-mail he received.

As for the staff of Arthur, yeah, they're making a big deal of it, but as they do so they are also pointing to a larger issue. And after all, Dan Reeves is one of their own. It's kind of heartening to see a business stand behind its employee like that. Although, the business is (entertainment) journalism and the story is news, which is unlike many other businesses which naturally care more about the bottom line than anything.

At any rate, I'm rambling...

This just gives more credence to the saying that if you hit someone and no one sees it, back up and make sure they're dead.

Does Arthur post the information for the SUV driver? Its all public info.

Sounds like a day in the life of the American justice system.

for what, being a hippie?

ahh, i see. that sucks. dude can (in theory) countersue for mistrial, making a political sentence over a monetary matter.

that guy is actually really funny, that column he did about hipsters learning to use weapons is a good read.

That's a really good point.

The Cali prison system is fucked, the media has been running articles on how Arnold may early release a bunch of cons to save money (like Reagan did, ushering in an era of horrible street crime in the 70's and subsequent Cali security paranoia)...if this is all he did and there were no injuries it doesn't seem reasonable.

but like Phil Dick says, the important thing is to not get their attention.

help out dave reeves

buy your girl some panties



http://www.defendbrooklyn.com/store.php

Wha wha wha!?

That sucks. I was just at a debate tournament, and I quoted some Dave Reeves (Blank in the Fill) on a topic about cops. I got 2nd place too.