We could go even further than that. One of the guys I used to work with years ago was of Mexican descent. He often claimed that he was the black sheep of his family."Guest of the state" is fantastic, that got me.
Happy feedback as always Good News Bear.
Never let a fact get in the way of a good narrative.
They aren't "convicts" until they've been convicted, so you need some other name while they're being held pre-trial.
I like to call them "criminals". The chance of an "innocent" person being locked up is excruciatingly low. Of course that statistic won't matter to the one or two innocent ones being locked up but they'll probably just have to take one for the team in the name of science.
People get detained in local jails for months before trial and potential conviction. They are, at worst, alleged criminals. You're talking about assuming guilt, which is an attitude we need less of both in this context and in our daily human interactions.
The way we speak of and think about individuals is important, especially in environments where people are dehumanized and downtrodden. Prison is one such environment so I can see why this is a good thing, even though the discussion here spins it as an out-of-touch measure with no real effect.
My guess is that the law mainly applies to official documents, records, and bills prepared by the State. I don’t believe an off-the-cuff word choice made by a low-level officer would be applicable, but I could be wrong. If it were, that would be an excellent thing to be taken up by the courts.
Prior to conviction people are generally referred to as "the accused"
The idea is to be clear and accurate with the dictionary definition, sensitive with connotation, and convenient to say/write. “Incarcerated person” hits all those, I see no reason to resort to this kind of mocking unless your intent is to mock or show contempt to a valid idea.
It was a joke. Welcome to my ignore list!
Those without a sense of humor will always be at the mercy of those that have a sense of humor.
Thomas Jefferson said he would rather a thousand guilty men go free than one innocent man be locked up.
In what universe is "Incarcerated person" convenient to say or write?
Please keep us abreast of any developments in that effort.
It’s not perfect but it’s not deliberately terrible. I don’t suppose you’ve got anything that’s legitimately better?
..."Inmate."
