Rub it better till it bleeds

[sovay]

I'm sure everyone else heard about this weeks ago, but I am behind the times:

Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days.

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences.

A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it.

"I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ralph Anderson. "I would like to see us get enough donors that people are no longer dying."

Paging Mr. Niven . . .

Comments

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

A beneficent 180 days, 6 months off one's sentence for a kidney. Golly, I can't imagine any downside to this at all, can you?

This bothers me in so many ways, and not just the Larry Niven way, though that's bad enough -- I'm troubled because this is part of a general trend to mulct our ever-growing prison population.

[xterminal.livejournal.com]

"And now, our next item: convict wakes up in bathtub full of ice, with message in lipstick scrawled on mirror!"

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Paging Mr. Niven . . .

That's the size of it. This is deeply disturbing.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Paging Mr. Niven

Or Messrs Pohl and Kornbluth, who got in first with 'The Reefs of Space'.

Soylent Green = Ppl

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's something to which I can only adequately respond with an emoticon.

This one 0__o'

or perhaps :@

On the upside, PJ Harvey makes me happy. -er.

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

Stephen Colbert had a great bit about that a week ago. It's here (http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/the_word/index.jhtml) under the title "Pound of Flesh." He compares it to Shylock wanting a pound of flesh from Antonio in The Merchant of Venice.