Cost of Prisons

http://www.prisoners.com/prison$.html
This website is clear about the cost of prisons.
It is our tax dollars that house and feed the criminals. Why not put them to work to pay off their debt to society?
If a sentence included a debt to be repaid, calculated on the cost of housing the criminal, it would be a greater deterrent than three square meals a day, with bed and recreation. I believe that some criminals live better than many homeless in our society that we deny help.
Put the criminals to work. Let them earn credits to pay off their sentence. The sentence could be shortened based on the credits they earn. Guards would not be required to watch the prisoners. If a prisoner attempted escape or succeeded, the cost of recapture would be added to his sentence.
We don't need more prisons, we need more sense with sentencing.
Example: A person found guilty of rape would be castrated. Citizens who believe in the death sentence should not have a problem with that. A castrated person would not need to be confined.

I am all for changing the penal system. It is barbaric and archaic. It is an institution with a bureaucracy that perpetuates itself.

I think Abe's idea of prisoner's paying for their stay by working and having the opportunity to shorten their stay by their productivity is a great idea.

I am not certain about extreme measures for extreme crimes since a significant number of rapists have been found wrongly accused; I also have the same fear about capital punishment.

I believe incarceration should be unnecessary in most cases where working off the debt is required; their financial contributions and activities would need to be monitored.

Those who are a danger to themselves and society that must be incarcerated should be protected from gangs and murderers. It is not right to put a person in prison for tax evasion who is murdered by criminals already there or driven to protect himself from sexual violation and commits a crime increasing his own sentence.

Prisons at all should be on a smaller scale and no one should be in a cage.

Fear of prison does not prevent criminals from committing crimes. Prison does not rehabilitate criminals. Just check the return stats.

Once a person "adjusts" to prison, it is better than the streets for many. Once out, they can't get a job and end up homeless or continue crime.

What would employing the criminals do for our unemployment difficulties?

1/13/2011

Prisoners have it made, they get fed, they watch TV, they have
visits in some prisons for their girlfriends or wives to have sex !
The should be put to work in a chain gang, cleaning up highways.
Here in Santa Fe for the first time 11 years ago I saw these guys
dressed in orange outfits, I didn't know who they were a friend who
was with me explained those who aren't hardened criminals are put
to work to pay off their debt to society. Great idea. Oh yes they
were cleaning up the roadways ...And they had a guard...

Rapists- should never be let out of prison

Murders- should never be let out of prison

Pedophiles - Should never be let out of prison

These three mentioned always commit the same crimes over
and over , a danger to society.

Cheers..Joe

Put the criminals to work where no one else wants to - picking vegetables, plucking chickens, making sausages.

Put the criminals to work building canals, levees, bridges, roads, trains.

Have the criminals clean canals, clean highways, clean gutters, clear brush from forests, build Habitat for Humanity housing.

Prison industries already include call centers, furniture manufacture, etc.; it's just not handled as Abe recommended.

1/13/2011



DK...





Cheers..Joe

Aren't there work programs already in place for prisoners who choose to participate? I think that "making" all prisoners work for their housing is unrealistic (impossible?) because the characteristics that put them in prison in the first place are characteristics that don't lend themselves to working cooperatively and productively.

From what I see of the criminal mind, it works very well with other criminals in gangs and organized crime. I do agree that getting "honest" work may be challenging in addition to the supervision required. The English had the right idea when they sent their criminals to Australia - they sure made that place sing!

The Russians weren't all wrong when they sent criminals to Siberia - the conditions were horrid, but the weather provided the supervision and work was done.

Don't we have unpopulated parts of the U.S. where they could do some good? Alaska? Montana? the desert?

It's all brain storming in my mind; I certainly have no research to back up my thoughts. I am convinced however that what we have is at an exorbitant cost to taxpayers and to humanity with zero return on the investment. It must change. I wonder if any other developed country has a pay as you go penal system in place and how it works.

dkchristi

Quote :

I think Abe's idea of prisoner's paying for their stay by working and having the opportunity to shorten their stay by their productivity is a great idea.

James) The college I taught at had an extension facility at the local state prison. I taught there for many years. The prison made auto license plates, had farms, and a small mining operation.

These activities did nothing to help the inmates, as only the ones that are in for a minor offense are trusted outside the walls.

Private industry provides the jobs that our young attend school to be prepared for (K1 - K12 and beyond). Start there - schools need improving

James
/

1/14/2011

About 20 years or so ago Jack Kemp suggested they build
prisons in the tundra of Alaska and the deserts of Arizona
build the biggest system, empty all the other prisons and
pay guards triple the pay......


Cheers..Joe

I don't agree about prison warehouses for human beings; but I do think putting prisoners to work building infrastructure in out of the way places is a good idea.

It's a good idea in theory, but it really sells the skills needed to do this short. "Building infrastructure" is a skill set, and not one that the average person on the street has, much less the average person in prison (I believe that generally speaking, prisoners have much poorer language, math, trade, and every other kind of skill). If you're suggesting a program of education for them as part of rehabilitation, that has merit, but again, I wonder how many would really be equipped to take advantage of it. Probably just "the cream of the crop" of that population, and they're probably already in some sort of work program.

You are correct that education will be needed; however, much of infrastructure improvement is manul labor. The prisoners don't have to be willing - they are incarcerated to remove their will.

The old WPA projects used the skills measured to create museums, theaters, parks, roads, bridges, etc. The had to measure the skills and assign tasks accordingly.

There's a lot of wasted humanity at war in prisons. the current work projects are miniscule in compariston to the prison populations.

I also taught in the prisons; the students were eager to learn.

There is no simple solution, but doing nothing, changes nothing.
I agree with DK. Prisoners would not take jobs away, just give them the jobs others don't want. It might help solve the problem of migrant workers.

Keeping them in cages is not rehabilitation. If they are ever to return to society, they need to prove themselves capable of making a living. Living cost-free, even with restrictions, may contribute to an attitude of taking - not giving.
Whatever happened to the code? "He who doesn't work, doesn't eat."
Eating is a big deal in our society. A selection of food for the productive worker could differ from that of the unproductive person.
Incentives can have a great impact, and the stomach may be a good place to start.

joefrank wrote:

1/14/2011

About 20 years or so ago Jack Kemp suggested they build
prisons in the tundra of Alaska and the deserts of Arizona
build the biggest system, empty all the other prisons and
pay guards triple the pay......


Cheers..Joe

I saw a film, back during the 80's that espoused a similar idea, only the prison was New York City. It was called Escape from New York. We would just have to figure out which places are truly destitute.

Guess that would depend on ones point of view.

Ann

Might be easier to put the good folks in a safe, free place, give them good jobs and let the criminals forage for themselves outside.

I say this tongue in cheek, of course, but some folks only behave when incarcerated. Child molestors can never be let loose, because they are impossible to rehabilitate.

Rape is a hate crime and can be accomplished without the necessary apparatus. I don't like the system either--don't know what to do.

The work idea is perfect for non-violent criminals and should be implemented immediately, if not sooner.