When a Cartoonist Landed in L.A. County Jail, She Drew What She Saw

http://www.laweekly.com/publicspectacle/2014/12/31/when-a-cartoonist-landed-in-la-county-jail-she-drew-what-she-saw-using-only-a-golf-pencil?showFullText=true

by Mz • 12 years ago

186 66 12 years ago

laweekly.com

trhway2• 12 years ago

But because I had no money and an overworked public defender, I knew I’d have to serve time for my violation.

an animator in LA can't pay for a lawyer to fight 2 month of jail (i.e. supposedly something relatively minor). Are animators there doing that bad? (i'd expect it to be more like programmers in SV)

optimusclimb• 12 years ago

"Animator" could have lots of interpretations/types of jobs, and many people that have pursued careers in the arts may have spent money on special purpose art colleges that cost a lot, but definitely don't always translate to high paying jobs.

Also, anecdotal evidence from friends in the digital animation field (think Pixar, Dreamworks, etc) is that even those jobs can be relatively low paying for years because they are dream jobs, hence high supply of workers.

Without knowing socio-economic background and life history, I could easily see a creative type in LA choosing a short jail term over the financial hit.

waterlesscloud• 12 years ago

Yep, low-level animator is a relatively low-paying job, and you're lucky to get it.

rtpg3• 12 years ago

Pretty sure that animators are paid more in line with musicians than programmers.

Also, think about going to jail for 2 months. 2 months where you're locked up and have absolutely no liberty. If this thing was minor, there's still 2 months you'll never get back. Not to mention the job you probably lose during this stint. I don't wish prison sentences to anybody, not even my worst enemies.

I wouldn't feel as bad that we feel so strongly about locking people up if the conditions weren't so absolutely awful. I'm sure there's a way to make prisons more survivable without sacrificing the "making sure people are inside the box"-ness.

trhway2• 12 years ago

If this thing was minor, there's still 2 months you'll never get back.

There is no argument what jail time is bad. It is the offense that seems to be minor (and thus easy to fight for a lawyer) - while IANAL, my understanding from what i see and hear around, misdemeanor resulting in 2 months of county jail without a lawyer is really not that big a deal, on par with second DUI, something what with a lawyer can be on the scale of like a month or two of community service, etc...

After googling around, i even more convinced that not having a lawyer (whether by choice or due to not being able to afford it) was her great misfortune as while legally she seems to be a violator, personally i got the impression that at the social level she was kind of a victim, or more precisely she happened to be too weak for (and was broken by) the relationships and the people (much higher-ups in her professional and social hierarchy) she allowed herself to be involved with. Basically she needs counseling, and instead the society comes with all the power of law upon her and throws her in jail (the events do seems to had gotten somewhat out of hands, so something needed to be done, the issue here is what should have been done - the good lawyer would probably was able to turn it into correctional/rehabilitation/treatment direction instead of the pure punitive).

egypturnash• 12 years ago

There are a lot more people who want to be animators than there are jobs for animators in LA. I used to be one of them.

A lot of the work is seasonal at best; you're hired for the duration of one production, and let go when it's over. If the show gets renewed and the folks running it like you you may get offered your job back next year.

You can make a decent living but not working for Bakshi or Kricfalusi; you work for those two because you want the prestige of Having Worked Under A Legend. Or because you worked with them back in the day, have a decent amount of money to fall back on, and they've approached you with a new project that will give you a lot of creative freedom because they trust your sensibility.

(I mostly worked for John K when I was hanging around the industry, so I saw this first-hand.)

Zaephyr• 12 years ago

From her tweets and other posts it sounds like she was broke with no place live. A difficult situation even before getting into legal trouble.

fsloth• 12 years ago

From my understanding animators are more or less in the lower rungs of the income ladder. Like most creative professionals.

valar_m• 12 years ago

Red State recently featured an article calling for prison reform, which I thought was an encouraging development[0]. Conservatives, historically, have taken a hard line against criminal justice reform in any way that might appear soft on crime[1]. For a prominent conservative site to come out in favor of reform is a step in the right direction.

Reading the Red State article, I get a sense that the author is walking a tightrope to frame the argument in terms that conservatives would favor:

I have relatively little sympathy for violent criminal offenders in terms of the punishments they receive.
However, all these efforts are opposed by powerful interest groups that give almost invariably to Democrats – including police and jailer unions who want to protect the jobs of their members.
I am not advocating for free HBO for all prisoners and for government sponsored gender reassignment surgery or anything of the like

And so forth. He pretty much covers all the bases. I think that shows a high level of awareness. I also think that going to such lengths suggests a strong desire for reform to actually occur (disclaimer: I had never heard of the author before reading the article).

I feel like I should add, conservatives are in no way unique in demanding that scary ideas come with a popsicle. I personally prefer cherry.

[0] http://www.redstate.com/2014/12/18/americas-desperate-need-p...

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio#Pink_underwear

Shivetya• 12 years ago

Being a Conservative, albeit a Libertarian, I am all for punishment, provided it fits the crime. I and I am sure many others like me do not believe in exploiting prisoners or such, but I also do not believe in coddling them either.

Right now we have another government regulated and implemented disaster. People bitch and moan over the issues the VA has and that institution is supposed to HELP people, yet they don't want to look at the penal system which is supposed to help society. Both are examples of a government to big to be held responsible. Both are just minor examples of government regulation permitting abuse and neglect.

Yet people want more regulation, more government, and such. Why should government improve when you want them to step in and do everything you don't like being done by others (internet, health, etc) We get what we deserve

chanux• 12 years ago

Probably not HN worthy but isn't it depressing to see things that are highly unlikely to ever improve?

rtpg3• 12 years ago

There are countries where not as many people are locked up, prison sentences are shorter, and as a result the people locked up are given a minimum of humanity.

By beating it into the minds of everyone (especially in more privileged classes who won't come within 500 feet of somebody who has seen the inside of a jail in their lifetime) of how absolutely dehumanising prison is, we could maybe stop demanding people be thrown into jail for 25 years.

ams61102• 12 years ago

Some people deserve to be in prison for 25 years, or the rest of their lives. This is not to discount your first point that we may well be locking too many people up.

Jtsummers• 12 years ago

After that, beyond basic bar soap, you’re on your own. You have to order supplies through the commissary system, a sort of monopoly drugstore run by the Keefe Group out of Missouri. This is where you purchase everything from hygiene supplies and chips to a Styrofoam cup. You place orders once a week, and the following week a delivery guy shows up with a cart piled high with plastic bags of stuff. If nobody on the outside puts money on your “books” (inmate account), you can order a second indigent kit. But as soon as someone sends you money, Keefe deducts that cost. And with a 20-cent pack of ramen costing $1.18, just like most monopolies throughout history, goods are sold at an inflated rate.

This is one of the parts of prisons I find particularly distressing. I'm trying to find (but can't recall the name of the company) an article, perhaps posted here a few months ago, about a company that handles inmate "bank accounts". The percentage they took was absurd. Between what the financial company took and the prisons, $100 sent to a prisoner might end up only being $50 by the time they could spend it. Paired with the high prices in the commissary they can barely afford "essentials".

EDIT: JPay. Here's an article, but not the one I was looking for:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/09/30/15761/prison-banke...

rhgraysonii• 12 years ago

I can speak to this personally.

My father is currently in a federal prison. I do not want to reveal sentencing, names, etc. but I deal with Jpay on a daily basis.

Their core currency is 'stamps' if you are technologically literate.

It is $4.50 to be able to buy 12 'stamps'

It takes one stamp to send an email, plus one stamp per attachment.

Beyond this, there are music 'credits', video call 'credits', etc.

It is a fucking racketeering ring. I literally keep a Windows laptop so that I can have video calls with my father because its incompatible with OSX and Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 in my case)

Would love to hear a way to make a difference here...I've thought of nothing.

virmundi• 12 years ago

Sadly the only way to a make a difference, presuming you're in America, is to get a movement going to reform the penal system. The reason it's sad is that for many Americans the point of prison is punishment rather than rehabilitation. So they're happy with people going through hell, 'cause you know, they deserve it.

Your best bet is to find an existing rights group to pursue the changes. It will be a hard sell since the US moved to a private system. This means that the states and fed will have less direct control of things. More red tape and contract negotiations.

vacri• 12 years ago

In addition to virmundi's suggestions, find your state and/or federal representative and talk to them about it. While it's not likely to make a big impact, these are the people who have the most sway in this regard, and you never know what might 'take' with them.

Mz• 12 years ago

I will suggest that one obvious answer is to try to develop a competitor for Jpay and see if it isn't possible to arrange for people to have another option, even if individuals in prison don't get a choice, maybe a few prisons would take the option and then at least a subset of prisoners would be less screwed over by this system.

sremani• 12 years ago

JPay et al. are the worst scum. One of the justifications though is that our dear leaders expand definition of "crime" and "criminality" but do not expand budgets for incarceration so it falls on the Jailor and/related staff to get finances. They typically bring in these JPay kind of shady dealers who promise a cut per person in jail. So JPay takes a cut but shares it with the Jail or department. To give the kind of commission promised to the Jails they rob the inmates - its that simple. So we not only hold an inmate for crime but his family for ransom. This is sad because people do not have empathy for in-mates. One of the many "criminal" faces of the Criminal Justice System.

paulhebert2• 12 years ago

Yeah it's pretty crazy. For those who want more information here's a short documentary I watched about jPay a while ago.

danboarder• 12 years ago

do you know the name of the doc or have a link?

MoOmer• 12 years ago

Heres a video that public integrity made with interviews of people hurt by the system: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/09/30/15797/time-money-w...

pdkl952• 12 years ago

When $0.20 ramen and basic hygiene products (kind of required for the sanity housing of anybody) are not provided, it kind of makes you wonder[1] where the several-hundred dollars per-day we spend to keep most people in jail[2] is actually ending up.

[1] rhetorical question; we know, more or less, where the money goes.

[2] prison is usually more expensive

nodata• 12 years ago

we know, more or less, where the money goes.

Show us? It's publically available information I guess, where can we read about it?

somberi• 12 years ago

May be its me, but her style reminds me of Asterix comics.

thret• 12 years ago

I was thinking Mad Magazine or early Disney.

ryen• 12 years ago

If you don't make it to the last page of the 6-page clickthru, there's a link to her Kickstarter campaign for her side animation project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/341471863/the-circus

kqr2• 12 years ago

For deleted scenes and outtakes, check out her blog:

http://www.elanapritchard.com/2014/12/jail-comics-deleted-sc...

spdustin• 12 years ago

It's worth mentioning that many people in jail are there waiting for adjudication. For felonies, this can take months. For misdemeanors, a day or two is common.

In other words, in accordance with basic human rights, they're innocent as their accuser has not yet proven their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

hawleyal• 12 years ago

You're being too logical about it.

When a Cartoonist Landed in L.A. County Jail, She Drew What She Saw

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