Just in time for Video Friday comes the RNC’s latest Guantanamo Bay video, outlining the very serious position that all but six members of the United States Senate have taken with regard to prisoner detention. [Balloon Juice]

Hmm, don’t recall many Democratic Leaders complaining during the 2008 campaign about Barack Obama’s explicit plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay, the obvious implication being that those with viable charges would be transferred to American (and a few European) prisons to face trial, while others with no charges would be released (and tracked!) in order to restore Law, which no one ever said would be easy but hey, free society, deal with it. We even recall these Democratic Leaders clapping and agreeing! They clapped and agreed again on Obama’s second day in office, too, when he signed an executive order to shut it down! So why did the Senate vote 90-6 today “to prohibit funding to transfer, release, or incarcerate detainees detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to or within the United States,” like a bunch of sallies? MORE »

Well, it would be nice if these guys ever went to jail for anything, but it seems unlikely that they will go to jail for this. A grand jury in South Texas handed down indictments against various current and former public officials connected with wrongdoing in private prisons — including, most notably, Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales. The prison company, The GEO Group, was charged with three counts of murder and manslaughter. This is an ugly, complicated story, so let’s cut to the chase: how many South Texas prisoners has Dick Cheney had shipped up to his basement dungeon in the Naval Observatory for experiments? MORE »

So let’s say you’re running a state, California let’s say, and you have a bit of a budget shortfall to the tune of $14 billion dollars. For the hell of it, let’s also say that you’re prison system is totally fucked, packed to the brim, bursting at the seams, etc, and also costing the state a pretty penny. You’re an innovative governor, an actor or something instead of a career politician, so you’re into finding innovative solutions that work for the average Californian. Is there some solution you can come up with to ease the prison burden and also save the state some cash? Hey, wait! Why not just let the prisoners out of prison? MORE »

Arthur Bremer — the would-be assassin who shot Alabama’s racist (depending on the time of day) Gov. George Wallace in 1972 — was released from a Maryland prison this morning after 35 years of doing time. But he can’t go gallivanting all willy-nilly like anytime soon! According to the terms of his release, “Bremer must stay away from any local, state, federal or foreign elected officials and any current candidates.” He is welcome to shoot anyone else, though. MORE »

I’m sure it seemed like a good — or at least sexy — idea at the time, but eight Florida prison officers found out yesterday that, um, staging a lesbo marriage for two of the prisoners? Maybe not such a good idea! MORE »