As for the story below--I submit Proposition 13 did it. Education and social services in California have been on a downward spiral ever since the passage of Proposition 13. Not to single out California--in Texas and other states the same anti-tax forces, though less neatly encapsulated as in Proposition 13, have been degrading the quality of life for millions ever since the so-called "Reagan Revolution" 30 years ago. It really should be called the "Reagan Restoration"--of the Gilded Era of robber barons and the other wretched excesses of the 1880's.
Not that this kind of shit wouldn't happen in even the most enlightened social arrangement anywhere, say, as in Sweden, but its incidence would be drastically reduced--reduced to the point that it is no longer a mere difference in degree, but a difference in kind.
There used to be a field called "social accounting." There probably still is--perhaps under a different name. It is/was an attempt to assess the social costs (in terms of money, mind you) of the various "externalities" of capitalism visited upon society and the environment at large, as well the costs of various government policies (or the lack thereof)...
I know these kinds of calculations are made piecemeal, routinely, here and there, by policy wonks in various fields, and in vast numbers, but I would be interested in some primary sources that could provide a general overview of the principles and resources used involved in making these sorts of calcuations.
(Parenthetically: MSNBC seems to devote most of its weekend programming to criminals, prison, the Manson family, the Green River killer, etc. & let's not even talk about Nancy Grace, the Octo-Mom, etc.
I mean, I read lots of trashy mysteries and spy thrillers, so it's not like I don't like a Good Story about Bad People, but are we so degraded that we demand to contemplate the suffering of actual people and the miserable spectacle of real (and alleged) perpetrators being subjected to the Draconian mercies of the System--I don't mean to get on a moral high horse--I watch myself sometimes, but that's why I'm trying to link the story below to a relatively abstract policy decision made some time ago. These stories that occupy so much of TV news and the newspapers crowd out policy considerations that could have made a difference in their prevention...)
The kid involved in the story was a client in the California foster care system...
R.
Indictment: Group shackled, tortured teen
* Story Highlights
* Four accused of kidnapping 16-year-old boy and torturing him for nearly a year
* Anthony Waiters, Caren Ramirez, Kelly Lau, Michael Schumacher indicted
* Documents: Teen was tortured with a bat, knife and belt
* Teen escaped in December, fled to fitness center only wearing boxers, shackle
* Next Article in Crime »
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Four Californians are accused of kidnapping a 16-year-old boy and torturing him for nearly a year before he escaped captivity wearing only boxer shorts and a shackle on his ankle, according to an indictment released Wednesday.
Anthony Vincent Waiters, 34; Caren Ramirez, 43; Kelly Layne Lau, 30; and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, were charged with a slew of offenses, including torture, aggravated mayhem, child abuse and false imprisonment by violence that allegedly occurred from January 2008 to December 2008.
Authorities said the teen was shackled in the home of Lau and Schumacher in Tracy, about 65 miles east of San Francisco. During his captivity, the teen was tortured with a bat, knife and belt, according to court documents.
The teen escaped December 1 and walked into a fitness center about 500 feet away from the home. He was bruised and battered, wearing only boxer shorts and with his bloody ankle shackled, police said.
The four also face a new charge -- assault with caustic chemicals. The indictment accused the defendants of attacking the teen with "vitriol, corrosive acid, flammable substance and caustic chemical with the intent to injure the flesh and disfigure the body of the said victim."
The 17-count indictment was handed down by a San Joaquin County grand jury on March 23. Lau and Schumacher being held on a $2.26 million bail, while Ramirez and Waiters are being held without bail, a jail official said Wednesday.
The judge has issued a gag order in the case prohibiting attorneys on either side from speaking publicly.
Lau, Ramirez and Waiters all pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Schumacher, Lau's husband, postponed entering a plea until his attorney, John Casanave, has an opportunity to review transcripts from the grand jury investigation, the San Joaquin Herald reported Wednesday.
The boy initially had been removed from his parents' custody in Sacramento, California, by social workers because of abuse and was placed with Ramirez, a family friend, police said. The teen was sent to a group home after Ramirez was charged with felony abuse against him, but he escaped the group home about 18 months ago, police said.
Authorities believe the boy at some point returned to Ramirez. It's unclear how the teen got from Ramirez's home to the home in Tracy where he was allegedly abused.
Soon after the news of the teen's escape broke, Lea Leonardo, assistant manager of the gym, told CNN the boy came into the building and begged her to hide him.
"He was very dirty. He looked very young, very skinny and was wearing nothing but men's oversized boxers," Leonardo told CNN's Nancy Grace. "He was terrified."
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