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Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,381,135 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goinback2011
Fat chance. They don't pay for anything they advocate.
Of course they do! It's just difficult having anything left after paying for the malfeasance of conservatives and financing their useless nation building projects and blind obeisance to the MIC.
Hope the prisons are sued. We can't let the uncivilized rubes of America take over. They're the same types who cheer at the idea of letting people die on the street if they don't have health insurance. Barbarians, basically.
I tried to feel a little compassion for the convicts, but then I thought about all the compassion those same convicts had for their victims. WE have people in this country truly deserving of compassion and who need our help a lot more than the scum behind bars.
As far as truly violent criminals, I agree to an extent. But remember there are non-violent drug offenders and other non-violent criminals incarcerated as well.
The Hutchins Unit, which the chart shown is for, is a state jail. State jails are specifically for low-level, non-violent felons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake
There are honest, working people that can't afford air conditioning. I know you may not comprehend this, but there are actually people that WORK in such "horrible" conditions. Why should we treat our most vile criminal element better than the public at large?
Being uncomfortable might just be a deterrent to crime. Don't like conditions in the prisons? Don't do something that gets you put there.
That's true, but the vast, vast majority of even the poor in TX have air conditioning. Also, if you didn't have it at your home or place of work, you could always go to somewhere with AC for a while to cool off.
I consider this a non-issue. The comparison to pig farms is silly and a red herring. If the article did not cite pigs, would this thread even been started?
Texas will not, at least in the foreseeable future, air-condition its prisons (some of which, like Huntsville, date back to pre Civil War days).
One issue is simply the cost. Very expensive proposition. Note that the prison hospitals are air-conditioned (all prisons, I believe, have some type of heating system).
Second is simply this: lots of people living in Texas do not have air conditioning. If we are to provide AC for prisoners, then are we obligated to provide AC for the poor who have no AC?
Note that prisoners are allowed to purchase fans. Indeed, one may donate fans to prisoners, if one so desires. Or donate the money for a prisoner to puchase a fan (around $22.00).
I do not believe that the 'cruel and unusual' punishment clause has any bearing. Prisons, historically, did not have AC. Jails back in the days of the Framers of the Constitution certainly did not have AC, and that continued to be the case for most of our history. Even Judge William Wayne Justice did not ever claim that the lack of AC in Texas prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishment. I do not know of any Texas politician, Democrat or Republican, who is likely to run for office on the "make prisoners comfortable' platform.
I consider this a non-issue. The comparison to pig farms is silly and a red herring. If the article did not cite pigs, would this thread even been started?
Texas will not, at least in the foreseeable future, air-condition its prisons (some of which, like Huntsville, date back to pre Civil War days).
One issue is simply the cost. Very expensive proposition. Note that the prison hospitals are air-conditioned (all prisons, I believe, have some type of heating system).
Second is simply this: lots of people living in Texas do not have air conditioning. If we are to provide AC for prisoners, then are we obligated to provide AC for the poor who have no AC?
Note that prisoners are allowed to purchase fans. Indeed, one may donate fans to prisoners, if one so desires. Or donate the money for a prisoner to puchase a fan (around $22.00).
I do not believe that the 'cruel and unusual' punishment clause has any bearing. Prisons, historically, did not have AC. Jails back in the days of the Framers of the Constitution certainly did not have AC, and that continued to be the case for most of our history. Even Judge William Wayne Justice did not ever claim that the lack of AC in Texas prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishment. I do not know of any Texas politician, Democrat or Republican, who is likely to run for office on the "make prisoners comfortable' platform.
Drug offenders going to prison is cruel and unusual punishment.
Second is simply this: lots of people living in Texas do not have air conditioning. If we are to provide AC for prisoners, then are we obligated to provide AC for the poor who have no AC?
Were not obligated to provide food or water to the poor; does that mean prisoners should no longer be provided food and water? Prisoners are in the care of the state and their welfare is the state's responsibility, like it or not. Moreover, as I said earlier, there are places the poor can go where there is AC. Also, very few poor people in TX don't have at least a window unit or something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by legalsea
I do not know of any Texas politician, Democrat or Republican, who is likely to run for office on the "make prisoners comfortable' platform.
It's not about making them comfortable, it's about not killing them. Set the AC to 85 degrees, but don't let the temperatures climb to close to 150.
Maybe they could streamline the process and use ovens, eh?
If you are so concerned then why dont you take in the criminals and house them? Otherwise get over it.
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