Most of a nation on probation?

[Aimee Farr]

 Faustine wrote:

> You know as well as I do that labeling someone "potentially violent" is a
> quick and easy way to take away their rights. For that reason alone, not
> caring about the rights of "violent offenders" seems like the first step
> along a slippery slope into full-blown authoritarianism.

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/07/01/stinwenws01028.html
July 1 2001 BRITAIN
New police unit will spy on would-be killers

> It is easy to see the spectacular punishments of old described by
> Foucault
> in the beginning of this section as a means of persuasion. The
> emphasis on
> publicity and on visibility shows clearly that the goal of
> punishment is to
> persuade society through spectacle. Modern forms of punishment still
> function persuasively, but somewhat differently, as the spectacle has
> disappeared from public view, and punishment has become a more pervasive
> and less overtly performative affair.

We have moved beyond surveillance as a criminal deterrent to surveillance as
punishment. The Yoke in the Ye Ole' Commons. Sexual offender registration,
et. al. A private company has started an email service to notify you when an
offender moves into your area.

In contrast to your author, I think you would agree that we are
incorporating the criminal "spectacle," and an "overtly performative affair"
in various contexts. Many of these designs go beyond the necessities of
criminal monitoring and restraint.

See also: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001230213,00.html
WEDNESDAY JULY 04 2001
Frenzied mob hacks 300 'witches' to death ("June is sorcerer elimination
month.")

> What is punished in the 19th century is not the body but the soul.
> A "substitution of objects" takes place - the idea of crime has changed
> fundamentally. Crime, the object of concern in the penal system, has
> profoundly changed in quality. We no longer punish criminal activity. We
> now punish criminal personalities and souls rather than behavior.

Tim's comment about facial recognition ("Smart CCTV" on the signage) being a
social mindgame does bring to mind predictions of a surveillance caste
system and real-space criminal "blocks" or enclaves (i.e. Escape From New
York). "We're watching you" = "Don't come here," pragmatically forcing
undesirables outside legitimate transactional and social systems.

~Aimee