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Whoever did it is going to have a LOT of friends once he gets out.
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He'd never pay for another beer again.
Whoever did it is going to have a LOT of friends once he gets out.
He'd never pay for another beer again.
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The article states that no one can confirm if he was beaten or not. I would say more research needs to be done on the story before conclusions can be jumped to. But it would be nice to see him get smacked around a bit. Seems a bit of a non-story.
Don't disemvowel me for the \"non-story\" thing, please.
Madoff denied it because if he snitches he'll be labeled a snitch and will get beat up all the time.
Prison code of conduct.
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Snitches get stitches and end up in ditches.
I hear they make great bit*hes too!
/No offense to the ladies
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1523965-100x100.png\")
None taken. The bitches, however....
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The bitches? Bitches love me 'cause they know that I can rock.
See my post below for a caption from the WSJ article.
Madoff denied it because if he snitches he'll be labeled a snitch and will get beat up all the time.
Prison code of conduct.
So instead of PMITA prison, it's PMAOMFB prison
Pound Me All Over My Effing Body
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1533077-100x100.png\")
But was he PITA?
I would hope so. I can't imagine that there's a line forming to make Bernie into the cell block's Brittany.
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Yeah, Bernie squandered a lot of money. That doesn't mean he deserved this.
It's so nice to see compassion alive and well in the world. Madoff is an old man paying his debt to society. That and whatever restitution is available is all the justice demands.
Not trying to sound all Fight Club but pretty much everyone walking around deserves to get the shit kicked out of them for something.
Wow. I mean, you're totally right. These other posters, it seems like, would support lynch mobs to deal with crime. Our justice system prescribes a punishment for people convicted of crimes; in this case, imprisonment. There is no crime in the US for which the penalty is a vicious beating. Madoff committed a really bad crime, but let's try not to behave like savages, mmkay?
Typically, I'd agree with you. $50B? How many lives did he destroy? This wasn't a few thousand dollars each, it was 'all' of the life savings of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I don't have a vigilante approach, but do I resent my tax dollars going to house and feed him? You bet. Someone shanks him, I'm not going to laugh, but I won't cry either.
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Yeah, Bernie squandered a lot of money. That doesn't mean he deserved this.
Yes it does, and a thousand times more. Fuck Bernie, he deserves every ass whuppin' he gets.
hahahaha, as they say, \"Karma's a Bitch, aint it?\"
Hey Mr. Nice guy over here, if you had your family's life savings, investments etc. in a bag in your house, and Madoff came in, picked up the bag, gave you the finger, blew you a kiss, smiled, and said \"you cant get me, na na na na na na, and this is a nonviolent crime,\" and walked away slowly.
you would just say, \"Mr. Madoff, justice will get you, I have faith in the system? WHat if the typical white collar crimes judgements occured, and he barely got any time in prison, or went to a happy white collar crime prison, with nice tv's and fridges? You would just say, \"darn it, oh well, thats the system\" ???
I am very interested in your moral dignity. I hope you don't ever do anything slightly illegal, like download music or walk across the street when theres no walk sign. Don't speed or run a red light, Justice might get you.
Sometimes, people just need to get the sh*t to be beaten out of them. That's justice.
Don't talk about castle doctrine please or being robbed in your house. I could make another example outside the house.
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I sure wouldn't beat the crap out of him.
But your example is flawed. It's not someone that didn't anything beating the crap out of a theif.
It's someone that is in prison for a reason, saying, hey, what I did it was ok for me to just be in prison, but you deserve to have the crap beat out of you. It doesn't really work that way. One criminal doesn't get to decide what happens to another criminal.
actually he did get to decide and we don't know why the other guy is there or if he got the same treatment.
I understand your point, but if this prevents just one other person from leading the path of the white collar criminal like Madoff then it will benefit society overall more than it will hurt it.
Do we lose points as a society for lacking compassion within a justice system which is supposed to be fair and free of things like this? We sure do. Do we gain far more points as a society by demonstrating what could happen to you should you damage so many people's lives the way that Madoff did? You betcha.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-413611-100x100.png\")
You do realize that had Bernie pointed a gun at a liquor store clerk, much less pulled the trigger, his sentence would have outweighed what most white collar criminals get. The irony is that the hood in the liquor store threatened a handful of people in his crime, while the white collar crook threatens thousands (if not more) with their crime.
If anything, we should stop treating white collar crime like it is non-violent. White collar crime is just as violent, only the perp isn't standing over the victim. How many people lost their lives to suicide, elements, medical conditions, et al, all catalyzed by this event?
While I agree with you that what Madoff did was horribly wrong, that the consequences were often tragic, and that white collar crime is often treated with far more leniency than other crime, it still doesn't make it okay for someone to be beaten or raped in prison. We have a system which turns a blind eye to the abuses of prisoners, whether by guards or by other inmates; when you think about it, it really is sad that we treat prison rape as the punchline of jokes.
By definition, what Madoff did was not violent; it was a despicable act of fraud. But the fact that he used deception instead of fists or a gun doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable for the harm he did. But while it's hard to generate sympathy for him, remember that this is not justice, but an indication of how violent and badly managed our prisons are. The same thing could happen to someone who is found guilty of a consensual crime, like gambling, or of breaking one of the obscure, complex law hidden among the millions of laws we have in this country.
In Dante's Inferno, fraud is a worse circle of hell than violence... Food for thought.
Good thing \"The Inferno\" is fictional then.
Fraud has a flip side. Greed. It's on both sides of the equation here. To what degree are Madoff's victims to blame for what happened to them? We can't say what due diligence they performed before they made their investments, and while Madoff deserves the lion's share of the blame his victims can't be completely absolved of their own culpability. And before anyone says I'm blaming the victim in defense of the true criminal, I'm really not. Balancing the scales of Justice in this case will never be as simple as beating up or killing Madoff. Vengeance is perhaps the most fleeting satisfaction of all. In the end the defrauded will still be without their money and Madoff will still not have his freedom.
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Compassion? Consumerist does not want.
No, I understand. But, Paladin_11 should recognize the cathartic nature of laughing at the thought of this guy being beaten. However, I usually try to frame it as a joke so it's clear I'm not really condoning beating people. I object to the torture of terror suspects, so I can object to people cracking Madoff's ribs. Still makes me smile though, that primitive part of the brain is amused.
I recognize the cathartic nature of laughter. It's not always appropriate though. I don't think it is in this case but different people will undoubtedly draw the line for themselves elsewhere.
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There are people without jobs, without retirement, without medical treatment, without homes while he has 3 squares, stipends, free medical, and a roof over his head.
If I stole as a little kid, I'd be getting a switch to the behind. Just because he's a big kid, doesn't mean that a little corporal punishment isn't deserved.
He may be \"paying his debt to society\", but that doesn't pay the debt of those who lost billions from him.
Basically you have been taught (like most people in prison) that might makes right. itting a child under any circumstances is child abuse plain and simple. If you are comfortable with announcing to the world that your parents were child abusers that is your cross to bear. See the rest of us live in a civilized society. No matter what somebody has done, we do not allow vigilante justice. If we go to that, we are the same as the Taliban and Iran, who kill people for violating the law. Women who disobey their husbands are murdered, homosexuals are hanged,
To this day, I remember 2 of the 3 times my father used the leather belt on my rear end. Unfortunately that 3rd has escaped my memory 20+ years after the incident. I'm better off for those spankings, as will be my children, if they earn them.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1524268-100x100.png\")
Btw, I disagree that hitting a child is child abuse. This is why we end up with a bunch of spoiled brats like Bernie Madoff in the first place. I see it each day with my 2 step brothers (ages 5 and 6). Both are very spoiled, whiny, and violent. The reason? Their step mom believes in \"time outs\" and whatnot. My dad (who raised my brother and myself, 2 fine and upstanding citizens), believes in a whipping every now and then when people get too big for their britches. But step mom won't let him do any of that, so we end up with what we have now.
It's not abuse if it's done with an open hand. Come on, now, we all know that!
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Wow, pious much?
It's nice how you go from trying to compare the physical dicipline (yes, to some people it's that and not child abuse) of a child to hate crime, death, and it sounds like maybe rape.
You just lost some credibility. Keep reaching!
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what the...? It's not child abuse, it's called learning your fuckin' lesson. this dude never learned his lesson, and as a result, he got the crap kicked out of him as an adult. oh won't someone think of the children? you're blowing it way out of proportion. spanking a child is not child abuse. period. end of discussion.
What the hell do you mean, \"We live in a civilized society\"? I'm not sure if your aware of this but most all countries use some form of capital punishment for lawbreakers. Anyway, thanks for speaking for everyone on the internet.
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\"I'm not sure if your aware of this but most all countries use some form of capital punishment for lawbreakers. \"
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but a modicum of research can help you make sure that you're not trying to support your arguments with hyperbole.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty
Im not ashamed to be labeled a barbarian, he didn't get what he deserved as he is still breathing.
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Normally I'd agree with you. But this isn't just alot of money. It's an insane amount of money. It's the kind of money where you've annihilated the life's work of tens of thousands of people. Take a moderate-sized town, and now make everyone in it completely and totally dirt poor without a dollar to their names. Raze their homes and businesses. That's approximately the damage Madoff did.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-6798-100x100.png\")
The problem is that \"paying his debt to society\" doesn't actually mitigate all the harm that he did. Look, I'm not saying what happened to him was right, or appropriate, or just, except perhaps in the sense of poetic justice. But I can see how people might think he deserves it.
Nice to see another rational voice on here.
Hey everybody, I found the rational ones. Let's get 'em!
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i'd laugh but that's waay too close to how the real world operates :\\
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As soon as they publish the name of the man who beat-down Bernie, his canteen account will fill up as quickly as Madoff's previous Ponzi-fueled accound did. I didn't lose any money to Madoff, but I'd still give the \"beefy\" guy $20 for every broken bone.
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Bernie Madoff is and always will be my hero. He single-handedly removed $60 billion worth of zionist influence. He has made the world a safer place.
I think it's pretty sad that people take pleasure in a violent act directed toward a non-violent criminal. What Madoff did was despicable, but he doesn't deserve to be physically assaulted for it. He's doing his time in prison, that's sufficient. I think the desire of so many to use violence as an initial reaction is disturbing. Even on here commenters frequently state that they would quickly resort to violence when they are wronged or disrespected. A recent example was the \"Quiznos was mean to my grandma\" thread. Pretty sad state of affairs in this country that we haven't evolved past the need to \"kick some ass\" when we are wronged.
Commenter24, I agree with you completely. From what I've read, this propensity for violence is directly related to the epidemic of narcissism that has overtaken America. 1 in 4 Americans now suffer from npd (narcissistic personality disorder), and one of the signs is a lack of empathy for others. Why this epidemic? Parents telling their children that they're special -- and advertisers happy to reinforce the delusion -- plus all the \"me me me\" focus in our culture. It's sad, and until people wake up to the situation, it will only get worse...
I agree to, but I can't help but take enjoyment that he got his come-uppance while thousands of people lost their retirement money. Also instead of teaching our kids \"you are special\" it should be \"you are special, just like everyone else\".
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\"I think it's pretty sad that people take pleasure in a violent act directed toward a non-violent criminal.\"
So you would be ok if people took pleasure in a violent act directed at a violent criminal? Very old testament of you.
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What's interesting is that sometimes, murder may be justifiable (self-defense, etc), but isn't seen that way by the so-called \"objective\" justice system.
Let's say you're in the bar with your significant other. You're having a good time, a couple of drinks, some hot wings, a lot of laughs - you excuse yourself from the bar to go outside for a smoke. When you return, your significant other is being hassled by some drunk idiot. The idiot has his hands all over him / her. You ask him to stop and leave, and he takes a swing at you. You attempt to defend both yourself and your significant other, but accidentally knock the aggressor off the stool, where he hits his head on the bar, cracks his skull and dies.
The \"objective\" justice system puts you in jail, even though your actions are morally justified - some might say, your actions were an obligation. Yeah, you took the life of another human being - but a wretched, violent, aggressive human who was threatening you and your loved one. For some people, though, \"killing\" another is black and white, and you end up incarcerated.
On the other hand, there is never a moral justification for swindling millions of dollars from people. Never. Madoff is a vile excuse for a human; one reaps what ones sows. He deserves whatever is dealt to him
There are, in fact, times when the use of lethal force in self defense is indeed legal.
Really? This fall into my \"in general\" acceptance of the justice system, but if one is found to have accidentially knocked them off their chair does that still result in jail time, or is it only if one intentionally knocks the agressor off the chair but did not intend to kill them.
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Well, we're talking about Americans - where the government still kills people via capital punishment - and people support it.
China, Iran, USA, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have the most people executed. We fit right in that group, if you ask me.
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I fully support the ultimate penalty, as long as we're judicious in its use and we're sure of the convicted person's guilt. You kill someone, you should forfeit your right to see another day go by. I'm not squeamish in my support of it - hand me the button, I'll push it.
I had someone ask me once if I would still support the death penalty if it was my child on the table or in the chair. I had to think about it but finally decided that if it was fully proven that my kid pulled such a heinous crime as to warrant the death penalty, I'd have no choice but to accept the punishment being meted out. Would I be absolutely devastated at losing my child? You betcha. I'd be a basket case. But do they need to pay for their crime? Yes.
Just my $.02 worth.
There's a way to have it both way you know.
I don't want to support death-row inmates with my taxes. You don't want executions.
Simple solution is to set up a kitty for each inmate. You (and your like-minded compatriots) can donate freely to the \"keep alive\" campaign. Once the funds run out due to lack of interest or compassion, it's time to bring out ol' sparky.
Another added benefit of this is that inmates will compete with each other to gain financial support, so it may improve behavior in the prison system.
In the words of Hedley Lamar...\"Oooo. Kinky\"
Love it.
I don't think it's funny, but I'm not going to cry for him. He should have thought about how much prison sucked before he stole millions from charities, schools, and hospitals.
Maybe you should ask some of the people that lost their entire life savings if Madoff deserves a beating?
This is why we have an objective justice system, instead of letting people determine what level of revenge to enact on whoever wrongs them.
Well as objective as we, may be in Canada but have dual citizenship and in general believe in the justice system, can make it. I personally don't think that anything involving humans can be fully objective, but that's just me picking nits.
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Let's not forget, this guy ruined the lives of many. many, many people. People who trusted him with their entire life's savings. I'm talking about how he stole money that meant health care, homes, college tuition, retirement funds, everything. If a pickpocket grabbed your wallet and took of down the street, wouldn't you give chase and fight for your wallet back?
He deserves worse.
And if you catch the pickpocket later, after he's spent all your money, do you then beat him? How much do you beat him? How much damage is each dollar worth? It's one thing to chase a thief down and recover your property (though most people won't do that because they're afraid they'll get hurt), but it's another to chase someone down to exact revenge. We do have a system that's supposed to take care of meting out justice, and when you go outside or beyond that, you're acting as a vigilante.
And if you catch the pickpocket later, after he's spent all your money, do you then beat him?
If that pickpocket had stolen every single penny I own and destroyed my life? Hell yeah, the beatdown is a-comin! This man destroyed thousands of lives, far more than any gunman in a 7-11 - while The Law may be satisfied, Justice has not been.
The issue I find with your post is the specification of non violent. Is that to say that a violent criminal should get attacked? Why should it matter if the crime was violent or not, a ruined life is still a ruined life no matter the means to make it such. (I'm not commenting on whether or not people praising this are right, or wrong just on the separation of violent and non-violent in your post)
(Sorry if this a double post was having issues with the site)
I suppose I was trying to separate from capital punishment. I support the death penalty, so that's why I made the distinction. I don't think anyone deserves a beating, but I do feel like there is at least SOME justification for \"an eye for an eye\" attitude. But here, Madoff was 100% non-violent.
Your understanding of \"non-violent\" leaves much to be desired. Here's a less charitable interpretation: your understanding is stupid. Thousands of people losing their homes, retirements, families, and futures constitutes a \"non-violent\" crime? I'd rather be assaulted and mugged than have my financial future obliterated.
Let's be clear here: like the poster above mentioned, Madoff's crime is--if anything--significantly more violent than the robbery or assault of a single person. Violence is not just physical. Does it deserve a physical beating in prison? If you're arguing it doesn't, you'd better be consistent and claim that no violent criminal deserves a beating. Or be honest and admit that is a rapist \"deserves\" to get his ass kicked at least once in prison, then so should someone who ruined the lives of thousands. If you don't think that's violent, I hope it happens to you so you can figure it out on your own.
And what do you take if that person has no eye's left to take? For most people, they would expect it to be replaced with something else. For Bernie, he took the life of most people. Not in the sense that people are dead, but that they have absolutely nothing except the fact that their alive. They have no more home, no more savings for their childs education. And, as some have pointed out, no money for health care - so some have, or may begin to, lose their physical health.
The justice system took him away from everything that was his life, sub his physical health. If the story is accurately true, then this inmate took just that.
Not saying it was the best means to the end, but I feel it was a deserved end none-the-less.
Ehhh, I would still say that if one is for the death penalty there shouldn't be a separation, if someone commits a crime on level with one that would get the death penalty but in a non violent way then that person should receive the same penalty. This clearly would be hard to do, but it is how I feel.
The problem with that reasoning is that, at least in the U.S., pretty much the only crime that would get you the death penalty is murder, which is pretty hard to pull off \"non-violently\", unless you count hiring someone else to do it--which still involves violence, just by proxy.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-143317-100x100.png\")
According to the legal system, callous indifference =/= murder, so if someone dies because you stole from them and they can no longer afford insurance, medication or other care, or said theft ruins thei lives so badly that they commit suicide, have a stress heart-attack a few years down the line, it's somehow not the same, though the effect is.
People have lost their homes and everything they owned, yet his punishment does not equal that of, say, a serial arsonist. That said, Bernie deserves whatever hell is unleashed on him in lockup. Sometimes prison justice is the only justice.
Anyhow, with how flawed our legal system is, I just can not support the death penalty, even in the rare 100% clear cut cases out of principal. If there is absolutely any chance of executing an innocent person, then we've lost any morally defensible reason to put anyone to death.
Damn. Sucks to be him I guess.
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Madoff is in his 70s. An old man viciously beaten in prison is funny?
This is the United States. We are supposed to have a ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
That's right, we should have respect for this scum that, with callous indifference, stole every last penny from thousands of retirement funds and non-profit organizations that support the poor. How many people will die once they lost every last penny to this scumbag and end up homeless? Who is going to be without shelter because of Madoff?
I'm sorry but if someone takes away my food, clothes, shelter and threatens my life, I would likely go to prison for beating him into puree.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1527484-100x100.png\")
That's right, we should respect our money-thieving elders!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-140069-100x100.png\")
Yes.
Which is why everyone laughs at prison rape jokes.
Prison isn't funny.
Rape isn't funny.
Yet our culture seems to deem it acceptable that prison rape is somehow hilarious.
I laughed. Then again, I'm a huge George Carlin fan.
RIP GC
Why should it matter if he is 70 or 30, yes he may be more likely to get a serrious injury but I think that if someone is attacked, because of something they did not because they were an easier target, it should not matter what age they are. He would not deserve the beating any more or less if he were younger.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1411577-100x100.png\")
Yes, punching babies is the exact same thing as punching pro-wrestlers.
That would be why I specified because of something they've done. Yes granted I supose someone could punch a pro-wrestler for shitting their pants and then do the same to a baby in a diaper, buuuuut I hope my point gets across. No I don't think Madoff should have been attacked in prison, but I don't think it would be any worse if he were younger.
Errr any less bad. Not worse.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-349596-100x100.png\")
I died a little inside when I saw that picture.... died laughing, that is. The guy lived the high life for how many years... time to pay up!
So you're saying it's ok to beat you up for breaking the law? I doubt it. You only think it's ok because it happened to someone else. I have tons of speeding tickets. But never been in a wreck so never hurt anyone. Does that mean that next time I break the law and speed I should get the crap beat out of me?
Or rather, let's put it this way. If your (or your friends) grandpa broke the law, does he deserve to get the crap beat out of him?
FTA
\"Mr. Madoff was treated for a broken nose, fractured ribs and cuts to his head and face, according to a felon currently at Butner serving time on drug charges who was familiar with his condition at the time. The details of the injuries couldn't be independently verified.\"
1. It could not be independently verified.
2. The gentleman spoken to about the incident was not in prison for singing too loud at church. Perhaps he was lying, or has ulterior motives to make up such a story.
I would hardly call this confirmed.
Really? I don't find anything funny or satisfying about this. No prisoner deserves to be beaten, no matter what crimes he committed. Is our concept of justice really so warped that we are willing to condone such violence?
Rest assured that if it's happening to Madoff, it's happening to prisoners all over the country, too. Do they also deserve it? What about prison rape - I suppose they deserve that too?
The apathy toward prisoners in this country really disturbs me. Granted, prisoners may be justly deprived of certain rights as part of their punishment, but as human beings, they should never be deprived the right to protection from violence. If you wouldn't kick a dog, you shouldn't condone prison violence. No matter what they have done, prisoners are human beings.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-35381-100x100.png\")
People find it easy to dehumanize criminals though. He stole a whole shitload of money. But I bet there are a lot of people who would have done the same thing Madoff would have done if they were able to.
Some people sure, but I imagine that there are those who take the same stance that I do which is that well all die in th end anyway so the main thing is to have enough money to let us live and to have our own basic entertainments, which for me is internet costs and maybe 40 dollars a month, at most, for video games. Oh... and about 50 a month for books. Frankly if I were rich I would have no clue what to do with the money.
I wouldn't kick a dog unless he stole millions of dollars from people's savings accounts. If he did, I might stand by and chuckle as he was being kicked. If it was my savings account, my steel-toed boot would join the party as well.
Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's \"understanding.\"
i kicked a dog once, but it was trying to attack my dog. it didn't do a thing to it actually, and i had to wrestle it away before it's owner was able to come over and take control of it.
Mmm, rape joke captions. Stay classy, Consumerist.
I really wish people wouldn't assume something is \"rape\" related. That cheapens the word. Have you ever slipped on a soapy shower floor? And prisons aren't soft fiberglass like your household enclosure. So you drop the soap, slip on the soap, and get injured when you keep falling.
Yes. That's exactly what \"dropping the soap\" usually means in the context of prison.
I too object to rape being trivialized- hence my comment.
Well I don;t know what it means in your mind, but that's what it means in mine.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1523102-100x100.png\")
With regard to prisons, it means \"don't make yourself vulnerable to anal rape by bending over...don't drop the soap and you won't have to bend over.\" Just because you're not familiar with it doesn't mean that your connotation is part of the popular culture. Just because you don't know that \"eenie meenie minie mo\" had racial slurs in it a long time ago doesn't mean you get to dismiss it.
He knows, he's just playing at being stupid.
While I generally agree that prison violence is despicable, he did have an ass kicking coming.
Thank you. I think I would of smacked him around a bit if I had the chance, if I were one of the many who lost so much from his scam. And I'm the least violent person!
... because violence is *always* the answer.
No, violence is the question. The answer is yes.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-141352-100x100.png\")
No, violence is not always the answer. It's not the answer here. I won't speak for others, but it's not as if I'd vote yes on a 'should we rape and beat Bernie Madoff' ballot. It was out of my control, it happened, and while I'm not saying YES, AWESOME I'm relatively OK with a bad thing happening to a bad person.
Not always. Sometimes. This is one of those times. The world isn't painted solely in black and white, you know.
oh, and prison rape jokes are hilarious, too.
You might say they're fucking hilarious, actually.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1535056-100x100.png\")
I would happily pay for a \"Tear Bernie the Bastard to Shreds\" pay per view event, but instead of other prisoners, it should be his victims and he should be handicapped so he can't defend himself. He basically committed financial murder on all these people, an eye for an eye.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1526186-100x100.png\")
I hope the same thing happens to Roman Polanski.
Yea... what the hell is going on with that bastard? Still enjoying the high life in his villa in Switzerland when he should be rotting away in CDOC cell for raping a child (which his defenders conveniently forget was has convicted of).
I mean, I know Roman Polanski doesn't really have anything to do with consumerism per se, but it just pisses me off how he's about the same age as Madoff and he hasn't really paid for what he did. I don't understand why what I thought were intelligent people like Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman are defending him. The excuses they provided are appalling. That jerk better get his!
I'm not for violence like...at all, but look at what he's reduced too, arguing over the state of the market? NERD! GET HIM
Don't associate nerds with him. It gives us nerds a bad name.
This is disgusting. An old man got beaten up, and the Consumerist reports it with sheer
sadistic delight. Yes, he did commit a crime; and he will die in prison as a consequence.
I don't recall his sentence to include bone fractures, though. If you want the rule of law,
get used to the fact that it also protects those you don't like.
Count me in the \"disgusted\" camp.
The behavior we tolerate in our prison system is inhumane. I'm about as tough on crime as they come-- capital punishment, life sentences without parole-- but what purpose does any of this serve? Prisoners are guilty of crimes, yes, but they are to be punished by the justice system-- NOT fellow prisoners. There is no difference between this and vigilante justice. Actually, it's *worse* than vigilante justice, because prisoners are nominally under state protection and supervision.
You want revenge? Elect representatives and judges who are tough on crimes like Madoff's. But cheering on prison violence and rape?
Honestly, everyone who does that should be ashamed of themselves. ASHAMED.
In the US, part of the punishment of being sentenced to prison is becoming a victim of pedatory inmates. The hard reality is that inmates run the prisons, not the warden, not the state. Like the licensed buccaneers of the 1700's, predatory inmates are franchised by the warden to exploit their fellow inmates. In return, these predators are expected to keep their fellow inmates in line.
All of this is unofficial of course. And as long as the predators don't get too crazy, the staff turns a blind eye to whatever enterprise they are up to.
Prison is filled with prisoners. Yawn.
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Though he is a weasel I don't know if I can truly say I am happy he got the tar beat out of him. SIKE!!!!!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-793795-100x100.png\")
This kind of feels like when I had to spank one of my children. I know he deserves it but I still feel bad about it. I did'nt lose any money in his scam so nothing personal. I guess as an example to others to stay on the straight and narrow prison violence has its uses. I doubt it was a guard gladiator match so if you lie down with dogs... Drug dealers can also be nonviolent just not this one.
Hope not to offend. But I always thought truely offensive unlikeable people were put on earth as a test from a higher power.
If we wished them harm or reveled in their misfourtune then we failed.
'But I always thought truely offensive unlikeable people were put on earth as a test from a higher power.'
....why?
Would this be the \"higher power\" which drowned the entire world in a 40 day flood because people were bowing down to a cow?
Yeah, a test. That must be it.
Yes, the same higher power that said to smite every Canaanite, every Canaanite man, woman, and child, so that he may raise the Israelites to power. They are allowed to do that but we must treat Madoff like a wayward child.
Yep, its a test.
I believe it was the \"wickedness of man\" that caused that great flood. Alot of the idol worship stuff came later.
I don't really care for Madoff, and I think his wife was allowed to keep too much money (isn't it rumored to be $2.5 million and didn't she have the highest AMEX charges), and the Butner prison looks awfully nice in photographs. But I don't find any situation where a 70 year old guy is beaten till he has a collapsed lung amusing.
I believe he is referring to the \"higher power\" that helped give Madoff the influence to deceive thousands and rob them off all of their money and investments. The same \"higher power\" who gave us Hitler. Gee that was a fun test...
And remember in History about the Romans enslaving everyone, and Napoleon, the Black Plague, Stalin, and General Tojo. Those were wonderful tests. Ask any one that went through those tests.
Remember another of his creations, the Dinosaurs, they apparently failed their final exam!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1304928-100x100.png\")
Thats pretty good. the prison should start a program where if everyone works together to torture him while at the same time keeping him alive as long as possible (but he must be tortured at least 12 hours a day), each day that he stays alive will be a month off of everyone's prison sentence who is involved.
Wow! I think he had some ass kicking coming, but wow your extreme brother. Remind me never to get on your bad side.
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W-what... what the hell is wrong with you?
I'm stunned that Consumers Union thinks prison violence, including prison rape, is funny.
The organization will never get another cent from me.
Madoff might be old but he is a criminal and was certainly predatory enough to endanger the finances of lots of people and a number of charities. It is just a side note that he was old. The real issue is all the horrible crap he did to so many people that in the long run is probably far worse than a beating. Being old and suddenly losing everything is pretty hard to recover from. He did it to how many people?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-837501-100x100.png\")
The issue is not one of whether the scales are balanced, as it were -- the issue is that the scales cannot be balanced by beating the snot out of someone. No matter how many times someone hits Madoff, the victims will never get their money back. No matter how many ribs you crack or legs you break, their lives will never get pieced back together. Every time Bernie Madoff goes to the shower, he could be violently raped by an inmate who considers him to be his bitch, but no matter how many times Madoff pleads for mercy in a shrill, chipmunk-like voice as his anus is violated, those lost college and retirement funds will never come back.
Oh, sure, it might be funny to imagine Madoff cornered in the prison laundry and beaten with a broomstick before being forced to orally service the 7 members of a violent prison gang, their seed dribbling down lips that once were accustomed to caviar and wine -- but it is wrong, and we as a society must move beyond that to seek justice for all.
This is like Arrested Development taken to the next level.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1381426-100x100.png\")
Is on a matter of time before it gets killed by a \"acquaintance\" of someone who lost money.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1512440-100x100.png\")
It's not funny, and it's not a good thing, and it makes all of us who don't rail against it a little bit less compassionate, but something like this should probably happen to Bernie on a quarterly basis (to give him time to heal and to look forward to his next lesson)...
Sorry for that, but I'm human, and it seems that this may be the only thing that might get through to him even a little bit about how badly he hurt so many. It's pretty obvious that he has no concern for anyone else - and no conscience.
(I was not one of his direct victims.)
If we incarcerate people, we should protect them from violence while in prison. I don't care who they are.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1114821-100x100.png\")
Great. Unless you're willing to spend 4x the normal amount to keep prisoners in individual cells 23 hours per day, seven days per week, ultimately giving them confinement psychosis (a la Pelican Bay State Prison in California), this will happen time to time. Deal.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-66824-100x100.png\")
This.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-499376-100x100.png\")
The glee people are expressing here--including Ben Popken--is disgusting. Madoff is a bastard, but don't celebrate brutality, don't make glib jokes about prison rape.
Dropped the soap? Joking about Prison Rape? Consumerist, I expect better from you.
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I wonder if we're going to be hearing reports of Bernie discovering Judaism, and claiming he was a patsy for the Brits.
For British Eyes Only...
I personally didn't give one lick about the Madoff story. I am not filthy rich and never will be, so I would never be one of his customers. He got caught, he's in prison, end of story. His greed took advantage of others' greed and everyone involved paid the piper.
The legal system is supposed to be in charge of punishments; vigilante justice is not usually appropriate. People on this site seem to generally favor following the rules, so should this many people be happy about violence that serves no good and won't get anybody their money back?
Here's the consumer angle: one out of nine boys born today will become 'consumers' of the government housing program known as prison. Yes, in the \"Land of the Free\", ONE OUT OF NINE males will spend time behind bars in their lifetime.
That's what it means to live in a country where there are 2,500,000 people in jail on any given day, where about 1 in 80 males is in jail tonight, where there are more prisoners than there are active duty troops. No other country comes close to incarcerating as large a fraction of its population as America does. Most other first-world countries have incarceration rates that are 5-10 times lower than America's.
So, might I suggest that we have an interest in demanding safe and humane conditions in prison, because a lot of people around you are going to spend time there.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-37033-100x100.png\")
Hahaha! Our prisons are little pockets of hell where brutality reigns! That'll learn em! BUBBA BUBBA RAPE RAPE RAPE! USA! USA! USA!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-350811-100x100.png\")
I'm intrigued with this. In general it makes sense to me that violence needs to be purged from prison if we have any hope of rehabilitating the convicted to return as functioning members of society but prison still needs to suck enough to be punishment and not just ultra low income housing. If there is a great answer out there you know no elected government official will commit career suicide to fund it.
As a conservative I am against gay sex, unless it is nonconsensual. Then I say we should build a massive institutional structure dedicated to its encouragement.
The handling of this story by Consumerist is somewhat disgusting.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-781903-100x100.png\")
Prison is the punishment... not beatings and rape. While there is nothing about him being rapes, growing up in a prison town, I always hear people joking about prison rape and I can't help but wonder what the hell is wrong with people. Prison rape is just rape, and laughing at and basically allowing beatings is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment. Yeah, this guy is a prick, which is why is in prison, but it is the loss of freedom that is the punishment. Allowing the other prisoners to punish him further and laughing about it dishonors our entire country.
Somewhat tangential, but does a man who was picked up for a simple possession deserve to be raped all of the time, beaten and perhaps given multiple STDs (he will certainly be mentally scarred for his entire life)? All I know is it is pretty damned unfunny.
Prison beatings and prison rape and prison rape jokes are just a sign of how far down the wrong path we've gone. It is not funny, not for anyone. We as Americans ought to be ashamed of the state of our prisons.
Oh and CONSUMERIST: the graphic with the line \"dropped the soap\"... hilarious. Never heard that one before. How DID you come up with that. Really, it's not an OLD canard, this one will never die!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1529339-100x100.png\")
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. He financially raped and abused hundreds or thousands of people. Sorry if I don't lose any sleep over that POS tonight.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1529988-100x100.png\")
Prison rape jokes. How classy can you get.
I wonder what you'd say if Madoff has stolen every last penny from your retirement account.
How many people posting in this thread getting a vicarious thrill from prison rape lost money to Madoff? I'll save you the trouble - it's zero.
So this guy stole millions of dollars from hard working individuals. People are seriously complaining for the treatment he is receiving in jail? It is jail, not a community club. Even if he is 70 this is what is deserved.
non-violent criminal? what a double standard. this guy only destroyed the future and security of tens of thousands of people and as punishment he gets a slap on the wrist. i guess a black criminal who steals an old ladies handbag is a much worse person.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1009064-100x100.png\")
If this is true, then I'm glad. Prison is prison and I don't believe they should have ANY rights while in there. Be a piece of shit and lose all your rights, and get the shit beat out of you everyday, maybe people would be way less keen on breaking the law?
Of Course, the government would need to remove a bunch of these dumb ass laws to make it for the people that truly deserve it go too jail.
You're forgetting that are people that are legitimately wrongly imprisoned. And it's our fault that they are there. We do have the moral obligation to protect people in prison.
How civilized are we for treating criminals poorly? It's just not acceptable. They are paying their debt be being denied many rights and being locked up. We don't get to add physical violence on top of that. We don't have the right to treat another human being like that.
(and I know they didn't either, but that's why they are there)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-570438-100x100.png\")
I love how everyone is acting like Madoff is the devil, yet turn a blind eye to the greed of the people he screwed and the complacency of the regulatory bodies who are supposed to put a stop to this kind of shit. All it took to not get ponzi'd by Madoff was a little research. If some of those brokers/investment bankers/what have you spent ten minutes researching Madoff and why his promised returns are so unbelievably fucking huge, a lot of people would still have their retirements.
Instead, all that these people saw were dollar sings, and they got screwed. Hell, Madoff practically wanted to get caught! He couldn't believe what a shitty job the regulators were doing. All was well in la la land while everyone was making money hand over fist. Once Bernie pulled the magic carpet out from under their asses, they started singing a different tune.
The people we should be really pissed at are the brokers/money managers/investment bankers who got greedy and careless with other people's money. A lot of ordinary folks who worked hard all their lives to save up a bit of cash are now broke because the people who were supposed to be looking after their cash gambled with it. Why aren't these guys in prison?
I only blame Madoff for being stupid enough to get caught. If I had his kind of money, I'd buy my own damn country and make myself king. Yet this idiot allowed himself to get caught. These scam artists never cease to surprise me. He used people's greed against them, and I guess in the end got greedy himself. I don't see that as a crime; I see it as poetic justice. Other people's greed made him, while his own greed unmade him, went full circle, and came back to bite him in the ass. Sounds like a deal to me.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1348573-100x100.png\")
if that guy who beat him up ever gets parole.... at least he'll find a job!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1534384-100x100.png\")
The State has a duty of care to its prisoners. It has obviously failed in this respect. The State should face a lawsuit and/or criminal charges for failing to protect people in its care. If this happened to orphans or mental health patients, that's what people on the Consumerist would be demanding.
Another great story by Ben. Let's encourage violence against people that commit crimes. Then any citizen that feels shafted can beat the crap out of the person that cut them off. We should break the ribs of little children that still stuff from stores! That will teach them! Give skull fractions to people that still wi-fi from their neighbors!
Ben, I think you've taken you're hatred of capitalism and large corporations a bit too far. Making light of him getting attacked. Sure he did something really bad, but that is still someone's husband, father, grandfather. If your grandpa was in jail for something and got the snot beat out of him would you make a joke about it? This is so despicable.
There's nothing good nor noble about this.
Good? No.
Noble? Heck no.
Right? Sadly, yeah. Bernie ripped off so many people, he had to expect at least one of them would be in prison waiting for him. And criminals aren't known for their ability to work out problems non-violently.
This is simply an example of decisions having consequences.
There's nothing good nor noble about this.
Yeah, but it's so damn satisfying.
^ that
My that was to the original post, not the one above mine.
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Thank you, beefy guy, whoever you are.
Come on guys, the Lord knew this would happen. He put Bernie on earth, allowed him to steal billions, and did not interfere with the ultimate plan... Bernie getting the sh*it kicked out of him.
Praise the Lord... sorta.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-52273-100x100.png\")
Karma is a bitch. Oh yeah she's owed about 20 years interest on about $500 millions dollars. Oh yes Karma is a bitch, and she's in the collection business now Mr. Madoff.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1533603-100x100.png\")
1) Someone made a lot of money by beating the piss out of this guy.
2) I don't feel bad for him at all, he's just another predator like a lot of the guys in the joint with him. He lived the high life making money off of other people, some of whom probably had to struggle to make up for that loss. Now all that money is gone so he's paying it back the only way he can... with that ass. Some of his victims will be happy hearing about this beating, and that's the only happiness they'll get, they certainly won't be getting a cent of their cash back. Maybe if he anticipated that beating Bernie wouldn't have done the shit he did. You wanna swim with the sharks, you might get bitten.
Honestly I'm disgusted by a lot of you who are whining about this story.... direct your outrage at the fact that jail is NOT a deterrent and that for a lot of people jail is BETTER than their life outside... worry about the conditions in the world around you so that people won't see jail as a way to get 3 hots & a cot, let alone an education. Shit, a lot of these people live better than I do, and can get a degree that I can't afford.
\"The \"objective\" justice system puts you in jail, even though your actions are morally justified - some might say, your actions were an obligation. Yeah, you took the life of another human being - but a wretched, violent, aggressive human who was threatening you and your loved one. For some people, though, \"killing\" another is black and white, and you end up incarcerated.\"
Oh really? If someone swung at you and then you tried to stop them, and they, in the process, died, its doubtful you would be convicted. You might end up investigated but generally, as a rule, self-defense is allowable.
However, the bigger point is that your scenario is woefully simplistic; did you have the possibility of simply escaping? Did you push him off his chair immediately after he swung, accidentally, or after it was clear that you could get away? The biggest problem with most people is they seem to be under the mis-apprehension that self-defense includes just about anything done, at any moment, AFTER the initial assault. This is why people go to jail for shooting robbers in the back, coming back 10 minutes later to start a fight with the same person, continued use of force after the threat has ostensibly neutralized (e.g. kicking the guy once he's on the ground instead of getting out).
You're characterization of the other person is also simplistic; just because someone is loutish while drunk doesn't make them Patrick Bateman. Or deserving of being killed for a drunken brawl.
why do people hate madoff so much? sure he scammed a lot of people, but anyone who has an ounce of common sense knows you can't be guaranteed a 20%+ return every quarter of ever year. jeebus.
a fool and his money are soon parted.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-70468-100x100.png\")
I am disgusted with the level of violence that is allowed to take place in prisons: sentencing someone to prison is tantamount to torture by proxy, in many cases. Granted, preventing said violence completely is probably impossible, given the sorts of people who end up in prison, but it needs to be treated seriously, not as a joke.
Interesting. Seeing Bernie Madoff beaten up in prison is fine, but don't anyone dare to waterboard Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who actually killed people.
If you really want Bernie Madoff to serve out his sentence, i.e. spending the rest of his natural life in prison then you should not be applauding anyone beating the the crap out of him. He is an old man and will not survive another brutal assault. I say just leave him alone to do his time.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1524805-100x100.png\")
He wasnt an old man when he started his crap. Leathal injection is too nice for him.
While I'm loathe to encourage this behavior, I cannot help but think that this happening a few more times, coupled with his demise at the business end of a prison-made stabbing instrument would serve as an instructional episode to any future swindlers of Mr. Madoff's ilk.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-21380-100x100.png\")
Karma can be a bitch.
Consumerist, please read up on the real problem of prison rape. I'm at a loss as to why you would joke about it. http://www.justdetention.org/index.aspx
He actually requires the Jeffery Dahmer treatment. Place Madoff List in any search engine. Cant see any reason for anything other than that. The Ted Bundy treatment would be a sellout on Pay per View.
NO ONE WOULD LISTEN by Harry Markopolos. Bernie should be killed next week in observance of Passover. Just as bad or worse than Pharoah. He did not get what he deserved. Hundreds of Thousands cant celebrate Passover properly. The best they are doing is to sell their valuables for sustinance.
PS Thanks SEC, you could've had him 10 years ago, but Markopolos was in Boston and New York is in another SEC region. Math doesnt lie unless the figures do.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-21984-100x100.png\")
And something about the SEC employing fresh faced young lawyers who had no understanding of complex financial issues.
But they did get Martha Stewart for $50,000 in insider trading... Even though I don't like her, I would have loved to heard her ex-prisoner take on the Madoff/SEC investigations when the story broke open. \"They hammered me for $50K and they let this guy get away with billions for years!!!- Eeek let me go decorate something...\"
or similar...
I would like to volunteer to rip every remaining tooth and implant from that creeps mouth with no anesthetic and make him live on ensure for the rest of his life unless the extractions kill him. Scum of the earth as well as his family. No wonder his kids changed their names.
What! No one had a camera phone? Must have been one of Bernie's upset investors - surely some of them made it prison too.
\"On behalf of all your loyal clients around the world, who believed in and trusted you...\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1483886-100x100.png\")
PRISON BITCH!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-405274-100x100.png\")
Actually, I was kind of hoping he would get cornholed...
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-212621-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1130672-100x100.png\")
hahahaha!