Your ideas on prisons?

[Deleted]

Prisons should be somewhere which criminal have a complete and utter fear about going to.
16 hours locked up in a window-less cell measuring 10ft long, by 8ft wide, 7 and half hours is done as hard labour.
They are given 3 square meals, which are served in the cell. they allowed 30 mins exercise in a sports hall. Under no circumstances do they get to see outside. they do however get access to newspapers which are a couple of weeks out of date and have been censored for all names and dates.
Depending on behavior they get privileges such as watching TV for an hour a night, But its not turned on. its just left in front of the cell so they can watch it.

As a victim of burglary I want to see the guilty repeat offenders punished, and punished to such an extent that they are scared shitless about going back to prision and will not re-offend. yes first time offenders should be given the opportunity to be rehabilitated. but repeat offenders should get the book thrown at them hard.

---------- Post added 2012-07-24 at 02:31 AM ----------

This is slightly going away from the main topic but I found it quite interesting

Basic back story : in the UK many years ago two young boys kidnapped a toddler and murdered him. It was a very notorious incident that shocked the nation. Now recently one of them had been released under a new identity and has re-offended and this segment of question time deals with peoples opinions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5StCxzD-jQ

Jesus, I remember the Bulger case. those where some sick bastards. they should have been locked up in a mental hospital for the rest of the lives.

[Austilias]

Modern society is a very strange place. The criminals are the victims. If someone defends themselves, they're a criminal.

[Tinykong]

And with your system, nobody would confess.

So, you're saying people would be afraid of prison then? If so, then it worked.

[caractacus]

Jesus, I remember the Bulger case. those where some sick bastards. they should have been locked up in a mental hospital for the rest of the lives.

I am not sure if I agree with you. I kind of agree with what Will Self is saying in that vid about what it means to be evil and can a 10 year old boy really be super evil? When I was about 4 years old at Nursery I had an argument with another kid there and I picked up a metal toy car and smacked him around the head with it. I got an almighty telling off for it that I will never forget. Luckily It never caused any damage but in all reality it could have killed him. But if it had killed him should I have been locked in a mental institute for the rest of my life or would it have been just a horrible accident.

[Bosen]

I think that once you serve your time, you should be able to get on with your life. That isn't the case today.

The way the legal system is structured in America, is that once you're convicted, they want to house you for life. They want to set you up to become a career criminal by ruining you.

You can no longer pass a background check, lots of luck finding a job,you aren't bondable and are considered a liability and they make you pay fines and pay for classes relating to your crime. You also have a parole officer to meet with at any given time. If you do not fufil their requirements of parole, you go back into the system and the cycle begins again.

Any felony might as well be a life sentence. Even if you get your record "Expunged", it does not wipe it clean and it shows up in background checks, except now you have a note next to it saying it was expunged. So that's like putting a cherry on a pile of shit.

The prisons are packed because people eventually give up and go to the only place where they "belong".
You're Blackballed, buddy. Ruined.

And society love to say "if you don't like it, don't go to prison". It can happen to anyone.

[Adam Jensen]

A prison serves two purposes, to keep scum away from law abiding citizens, and to rehabilitate them back into society. Prison should be a punishment, but at the same time a rehabilitation. However, some cannot be rehabilitated, and those should be simply locked up. Those who commit lesser crimes, who show remorse, who might change, can perhaps be rehabilitated and released into society on good conduct once their time is up.

But again, though I feel prison should rehabilitate, it is also a punishment. They should not get many creature comforts or freedoms. Prisons should not be country clubs or resorts.

[oplawlz]

I think prisons are overused, especially in the U.S. A lot of crimes simply don't fit the punishment . . . theft, possession of drugs, etc. I feel like only violent crimes should result in prison time, and the prisoners should be kept completely isolated from each other and rehabilitated through whatever means a trained psychologist with a specialty in criminal behavior proscribes. The non violent offenders should get fined, and if unable to pay forced to work in a job best suited to their talents at subsistence wages until the debt is paid. I feel that sub-dermal electronic tracking would be the most effective way to enforce this sentence . . . not confinement.

[Maleren]

My ideas on prisons?

There should be more of them. The ones who commit murder, rape, child abuse, animal abuse, they all need to be locked away forever. No contact with anyone ever again. I don't think there should even be a trial, or appeals or anything like that. These monsters need to be killed the same way they killed their victims. An eye for an eye. Find them guilty, send them out back, line up a firing squad or pull out the electric chair. Problem solved.

[Decagon]

Personally, I think the most logical way to minimize crime would be a very heavy amount of deterrence. The death penalty should be used more, so not only are we saving resources for helping society, but we also don't waste time on rehabilitation and, we get the added benefit of deterrence. Of course, there should still be a fair trial, no matter how guilty they are.

[oblivionx]

The punishment should fit the crime, but when you start going to far.. it's a violation of their rights; cruel and unusual punishment and all.

As for rehabilitation, recidivism is high but it's not the norm. Due to disclosure and background checks it's difficult for an excon to get a clean slate to start anew in society though. Some form of rehabilitation ought be offered, but the expectation of it truly rehabilitating should be tempered with the reality that people in prison did something to be in prison.

The most effective way of eliminating crime is social welfare. Crime and punishment and housing people for years on end is not it.

[muto]

You sicken me for saying that. Were you born with a brain at all? For one it's different because the murder wasn't in a moment of rage. See how there's a DIFFERENCE!? As in something that differs from one case to the other? Please remove yourself from society. If you honestly think like this then there is no place for you in society and you really shouldn't be here. I'm surprised you figured out how to use the computer because it seems to me that you're the type who would try to type on a turtles back because you can't figure out that there is a difference between a turtle and a computer.

Most people know how to control their anger, and some control it so well they never even get angry. Life is too short to live like a Grinch. You also must be like 10, because most adults can find more clever ways to insult people. There is no way I would be able to forgive someone if they killed another person through rage, because emotions are controllable, and manageable. There's also this other famous phrase called "think before you act", which means think about the consequences before you do something you might regret. Plus like I said, most people that kill through their anger, have physically attacked or hurt someone through their anger before, so it's not like they haven't had the opportunity to get help for their anger problems.

[MrWolly]

Why use prisons?

As I stated a long time ago in my high school, and as a result of it was considered ... crazy by my religion teacher:

Give all the prisoners electronic 'anklets' and 'wristbands' able to release enough electrical energy to knock someone unconscious. Then 'turn' them into slaves = make them work for the state, in people's home, as construction workers ... anything you can imagine.
Make them unable to leave a certain area, if they do, they'll be knocked unconscious.
Make the 'anklets' and wristbands activateable by voice commands incase they work in someone's home.
Make them wear the anklets and wristbands at every arm/leg ... no cutting of legs/arms allowed
Make the 'anklets' and wristbands able to detect blood pressure or any other indicator of anger, and the ability to temporarily paralyse their wearer when
their 'anger' level reaches a certain amount.

Gz, youve just gained free workers for your community that live semi-normal lives, and dont sit on their ass all day devouring taxes.

While a bit out there, this isn't a bad idea.

[Tokru]

Let more work be done in prisons. Maybe this way the cheap jobs will not all be outsourced to foreign countries. Just let prisoners do them. Of course not something like sorting knives.
Or prisoners could work on large manual work intense projects like it used to be. Helping building roads and other things. But of course only if they are able to work and not to the extent of Nazi work camps.

[Kalis]

Pretty well summed up. Criminals should pay for their crimes - it was their own choice after all. And what comes to these jerks frowning at military people - I bet most of those jackasses come from places that have never been invaded, occupied and forced to bow down to real tyranny; most likely they haven't even done a day of honest work either. You don't see much of those worthless dipshits in eastern Europe, ever wondered why...?

Nobody was 'frowning' at the military, I simply pointed out that his posts appeared to be those of a fantasist rather than somebody who has actually seen any combat.

Phrases like "death and destruction", "I have seen things you couldn't imagine in your worst nightmares", etc. sound like they come straight out of a Rambo movie, or a cut scene from some first person shooter.

Also, he stated that he had been in the military for 4 years, yet in something he posted a few months back, he claimed to work in a shop!

[Catta]

That makes ZERO sense. The sentence for rape would NEVER dictate whether or not the perpetrator will kill his victim or not.

Makes complete sense and is also the reason why Colorado, i believe it was, decided not to put the death penalty on child molestation.

[Deleted]

Why use prisons?

As I stated a long time ago in my high school, and as a result of it was considered ... crazy by my religion teacher:

Give all the prisoners electronic 'anklets' and 'wristbands' able to release enough electrical energy to knock someone unconscious. Then 'turn' them into slaves = make them work for the state, in people's home, as construction workers ... anything you can imagine.
Make them unable to leave a certain area, if they do, they'll be knocked unconscious.
Make the 'anklets' and wristbands activateable by voice commands incase they work in someone's home.
Make them wear the anklets and wristbands at every arm/leg ... no cutting of legs/arms allowed
Make the 'anklets' and wristbands able to detect blood pressure or any other indicator of anger, and the ability to temporarily paralyse their wearer when
their 'anger' level reaches a certain amount.

Gz, youve just gained free workers for your community that live semi-normal lives, and dont sit on their ass all day devouring taxes.

While a bit out there, this isn't a bad idea.

Thank you

And I'm sure the one-time development cost and technological research would be nothing compared to the annual tax-money that is getting pumped
into prisons.

Why should they be getting degrees and free healthcare in prison anyways?
Make them work for the state, and earn their place in society through hard labour, depending on the crime off course.

[Catta]

I would not submit others to something i wouldnt be able to submit myself to, which is why i like my country's system.

[Laqweeta]

My idea on Prisons.. Well, people who are in there for 1 to 10 years.. Good, keep them in there, maybe they'll learn. But people who are in Prisons for 50 to 100 years, why not just execute them? Prisons are over-crowded and cost too much to keep these prisoners healthy, well fed and a place to sleep. :/

[lvlark]

The Nordic countries lead by miles when it comes to rehabilitation, which should be the main goal of prison.

This. I'm probably a pretty leftist liberal in the eyes of most people, but I really can't see how a criminal that's locked away for ages is better for society than one that's rehabilitated and is able to earn his own money and, idk, pay back something to society. Obviously recidivism will never be 0%, but your goal should be to get that as low as possible, while being cost-effective (not just short-term, but also in the long run).

It's probably rather Dickensian a thought, but yesterday I heard on the radio an interview with the writer of this book:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/book...-Sergeant.html
While she's getting an awful lot of attention, the lesson we can take home from this is that street gangs need a different approach than just cracking down on em and putting em away for a few years. They don't learn nought from that. And, in fact, I think such an approach is driven by primeval instincts instead of proper evaluation of the problem and the possible solutions. I mean, those kids are just taking whatever it is that they DID learn and applying that to make a respected living (respected among their peers, mind you). THAT isn't too different from what most people do, it's just that they learned the wrong things and earn respect in a wrong way. So no, they shouldn't go to prison, they should go to a place where they're nurtured and taught so that in the end they can repay their debts to society.

[Kalis]

My idea on Prisons.. Well, people who are in there for 1 to 10 years.. Good, keep them in there, maybe they'll learn. But people who are in Prisons for 50 to 100 years, why not just execute them? Prisons are over-crowded and cost too much to keep these prisoners healthy, well fed and a place to sleep. :/

The problem with executing prisoners is that you can't bring them back if you subsequently find out they didn't commit the crime.

Ian Hislop gives a good explanation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es9XrKTTc_4