justice statistics criminal activity usually drops half. the answer to this growing trend in reducing resitivism is the recovery center. here they get a very intense, very emotional, very personal contact. and we stress accountability in everything they do here. often referred to as camp hug-a-thug, the recovery center encompasses a drug abuse program and a batterer program for men convicted of a domestic violent crime. it s generally set up for someone to a low to a medium security inmate. we look for someone who s feeling that they want to show a commitment to a program, they want to see it through. upon entry to the recovery center, inmates are greeted by an elaborate koi fish pond and waterfall, with housing units equipped with clean carpets, air-conditioning, and lots of windows for sunshine. the only physical remnants of jail is the perimeter fence and razor wire. to just be a happier person.
where were they when the taxpayer dollars through the endowment of the arts put a crucifix of jesus in a jar of urine and called it heart? where were they when another taxpayer-funded project showed mother mary surrounded by pornography and elephant dung? now they want to rethink the first amendment? now they don t want to offend muslims? and to shut us up, they say the cartoon contest is inspiring isis to commit mass murder. really? was anyone drawing a cartoon of muhammad when they hit us at the world trade center? they hate us. they don t need a reason to kill us. look, we need to stop blaming the victim and start killing the murderers. a simple example. you don t protect the batterer or the abuser by telling the victim, don t get him upset, don t provoke him and you ll be
but they can control the pain and the damage they do to themselves. and for some reason, they say it makes them feel good. keeping moving them anyway. okay? i know you re not having trouble, but we have to get that blood flow going. is that where i nipped you right there? you nipped me. so you ll come out there and sign a contract if i talk to your officer. put those down. all of them. come on. i already got the box. you get to know their issues and you know what they respond to. that s why i was kind of playing around with him. jacob, come on, put it down. i went and reached for them because i knew he was not going to do anything whatsoever. i m just messing with you. now, if it was another kid that is a batterer, i wouldn t have been nearly as familiar with him. he signed a contract with me that he would behave and he would stay out of trouble and
judge lance ito s courtroom was now part of our popular culture. o.j. l.a. o.j. l.a. it was o.j. every day. products. pundits. and a whole new class of tv shows that yammered about everything that happened that day in court. hi, everyone, i am geraldo riviera. the face of a batterer, an abuser, a controller, the face of ron and nicole s murderer. if the audience loved it. 12 jurors didn t see it. because they were sequestered, confined to this high-rise hotel a few blocks from the courthouse. one of the jurors who actually decided the case. for 265 days, more than eight months, their lives were limited to a courtroom and a hotel room. if you are not in any common
batterer, we get to see all kinds of things on the internal part of his life and i m wondering if it actually generates a hunger then. because our world now is knowing all the dirt, knowing all of the everything of one another. do you think, clearly it follows the o.j. case but is it causal? maybe so. i continue to cover trials around the country for 19 years after that trial, and i did see changes in the courtroom. first of all, cameras didn t cause the spectacle. it was who o.j. was. we got a little bit jaded as americans, got a little more used to the justice system. while there was always an appetite to see a trial unfolding it was never the same. maybe when michael jackson was tried for child molestation there was a zoo outside the courtroom, tent city, but no cameras in the courtroom. so i did see more sophistication among viewers, cynicism also about the system, but cameras did not cause that. let me ask, because i like this idea.