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Constitutional concerns aside, prison authorities are often the ones who lobby for limited entertainment and privileges in prison, or at least the right to earn them and lose them by misconduct. A prisoner with absolutely nothing to hope for and no end in sight is a very dangerous person to be around. OTOH, a person who can earn the right to buy things in the commissary, take classes, have visitors, etc. has something to live for and a reason to follow prison rules.
In Texas, prison authorities lobbied against having sentences of life with no chance of parole for that very reason. I'm not positive, but I still don't think Texas has such a sentence. I believe a prisoner has to serve 35 years of flat time before being eligible for parole and prisoners serving life sentences are rarely release on parole their first time up.
In a perfect world that might work, but in the real world of prison's it doesn't. Prisons are controlled by gangs, who are able to prosper with the aid of corrupt corrections officers. What you need to do is make prison the most horrible experience of thier lives. Work them so hard they won't have the energy to fight or rape one another. Feed them just enough to survive. They won't be so dangerous when they are down to 95 pounds and too tired to walk. This may sound cruel and like a violation of civil rights, but so far, nothing else is working. The average guy who goes to prison without any gang ties or street cred gets eaten alive unless he can adapt quickly. Even that comes at a price. Prisons are predatory, and much of that behavior and mentality carries over into the street when these thugs get out.
Stick back on chain gangs and work their asses to the bone. Feed them rice and beans and warm water. Let them shower once a week with cold water. I doubt you'll see too many repeat offenders if life in prison was more like Papillon rather than Oz.
In a perfect world that might work, but in the real world of prison's it doesn't. Prisons are controlled by gangs, who are able to prosper with the aid of corrupt corrections officers. What you need to do is make prison the most horrible experience of thier lives. Work them so hard they won't have the energy to fight or rape one another. Feed them just enough to survive. They won't be so dangerous when they are down to 95 pounds and too tired to walk. This may sound cruel and like a violation of civil rights, but so far, nothing else is working. The average guy who goes to prison without any gang ties or street cred gets eaten alive unless he can adapt quickly. Even that comes at a price. Prisons are predatory, and much of that behavior and mentality carries over into the street when these thugs get out.
Stick back on chain gangs and work their asses to the bone. Feed them rice and beans and warm water. Let them shower once a week with cold water. I doubt you'll see too many repeat offenders if life in prison was more like Papillon rather than Oz.
What are you referring to that might work but doesn't? I'm not understanding you.
I am somewhat familiar with the Texas prison system. It is not luxurious by any means. The prisons are not air-conditioned and prisoners are not allowed to use tobacco products. They have a very limited diet--not starvation, but not abundant either. I've seen many inmates and I've never seen a fat one. (Guards? Now that's another story.) Most prisoners work. They tend vegetable fields, work in the kitchen and laundry, etc.
They earn privileges over time--the right to go to the commissary (if someone sends money to their accounts), the right to have recreation time, the right to have visitors, the right to earn "good time" in addition to their flat time, etc. Those privileges are taken away for disciplinary infractions.
I understand and agree that no one wants to see prisoners coddled. But not everyone is in prison for life. If an 18-year-old goes to prison on a drug offense and is brutalized for 3 or 4 years, there will be no chance of any kind of rehabilitation. He and society are doomed to his committing another crime and spending the rest of his life in prison. If he has a chance to earn a GED and be rewarded for following the rules, he'll have a better chance of staying out of prison once he's released.
The problem with the death penalty is that often, the inmate gets to appeal his case endlessly, and he'll remain on death row for 15 years or more before they carry out the execution. If it were more cut and dry, say, you get two trials within 30 days, if found guilty they take you out back and shoot you in the head, I think that would serve as a deterrent. Not the disgraceful system we have today.
I read a TC book on a serial killer in Nevada who ended up on Death Row.
He wanted to be executed ASAP, no appeals whatsoever.
Well, well! Once you get on Death Row, if you want to be executed ASAP, the others on Death Row will make your life a living hell, along with the prison guards. Rather than face all that, you cave in, and do the like the rest:
delay your execution with endless appeals.
In China, they shoot drug dealers on the spot. Oh, how they must laugh at us! I'm surprised they don't threaten not to buy anymore of our Government T-bills in protest over these long lengthy appeals on Death Row.
I read a TC book on a serial killer in Nevada who ended up on Death Row.
He wanted to be executed ASAP, no appeals whatsoever.
Well, well! Once you get on Death Row, if you want to be executed ASAP, the others on Death Row will make your life a living hell, along with the prison guards. Rather than face all that, you cave in, and do the like the rest:
delay your execution with endless appeals.
In China, they shoot drug dealers on the spot. Oh, how they must laugh at us! I'm surprised they don't threaten not to buy anymore of our Government T-bills in protest over these long lengthy appeals on Death Row.
What are you referring to that might work but doesn't? I'm not understanding you.
I am somewhat familiar with the Texas prison system. It is not luxurious by any means. The prisons are not air-conditioned and prisoners are not allowed to use tobacco products. They have a very limited diet--not starvation, but not abundant either. I've seen many inmates and I've never seen a fat one. (Guards? Now that's another story.) Most prisoners work. They tend vegetable fields, work in the kitchen and laundry, etc.
They earn privileges over time--the right to go to the commissary (if someone sends money to their accounts), the right to have recreation time, the right to have visitors, the right to earn "good time" in addition to their flat time, etc. Those privileges are taken away for disciplinary infractions.
I understand and agree that no one wants to see prisoners coddled. But not everyone is in prison for life. If an 18-year-old goes to prison on a drug offense and is brutalized for 3 or 4 years, there will be no chance of any kind of rehabilitation. He and society are doomed to his committing another crime and spending the rest of his life in prison. If he has a chance to earn a GED and be rewarded for following the rules, he'll have a better chance of staying out of prison once he's released.
What I'm referrring to is all of the rights that inmates have and the luxuries. That's right luxuries. The fact that a stone cold murderer gets to wake up each morning and see a new sunrise is the only luxury he should experience. No coffee, no commissary priveleges, no magazines, no cigarettes, no television or computer. You'd be amazed at how well humans can adapt to their surroundings, and those who are at the top of the food chain adapt to prison life quite nicely once they knwo that's all they'll ever have. Every breath these animals take is an insult to those who they have put in the ground and their surviving family members. For every laugh an inmate may have, there is a tear shed by a mother who lost her son or daugher to some sick lowlife. If we aren't going to line them up and shoot them, then work them to the bone. If somene gets a life sentence, he's not worth rehabilitating. Throw him a hole and let him rot. Our tax dollars are being wasted on coddling prisoners, attorneys and endless appeals, costs to sustain prisons and pay employee salaries etc. Not worth it. Build a tent city in the middle of the artic, anyone who wants to escape is free to run. He'll most likely be frozen to death within a couple of short hours. Or stick them on an island somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Of course crime is big money, and no politician wants to see crime go away. Too may jobs would be lost, and they wouldn't be able to use lowering crime stats to win votes.
What I'm referrring to is all of the rights that inmates have and the luxuries. That's right luxuries. The fact that a stone cold murderer gets to wake up each morning and see a new sunrise is the only luxury he should experience. No coffee, no commissary priveleges, no magazines, no cigarettes, no television or computer. You'd be amazed at how well humans can adapt to their surroundings, and those who are at the top of the food chain adapt to prison life quite nicely once they knwo that's all they'll ever have. Every breath these animals take is an insult to those who they have put in the ground and their surviving family members. For every laugh an inmate may have, there is a tear shed by a mother who lost her son or daugher to some sick lowlife. If we aren't going to line them up and shoot them, then work them to the bone. If somene gets a life sentence, he's not worth rehabilitating. Throw him a hole and let him rot. Our tax dollars are being wasted on coddling prisoners, attorneys and endless appeals, costs to sustain prisons and pay employee salaries etc. Not worth it. Build a tent city in the middle of the artic, anyone who wants to escape is free to run. He'll most likely be frozen to death within a couple of short hours. Or stick them on an island somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Of course crime is big money, and no politician wants to see crime go away. Too may jobs would be lost, and they wouldn't be able to use lowering crime stats to win votes.
What I'm referrring to is all of the rights that inmates have and the luxuries. That's right luxuries. The fact that a stone cold murderer gets to wake up each morning and see a new sunrise is the only luxury he should experience. No coffee, no commissary priveleges, no magazines, no cigarettes, no television or computer. You'd be amazed at how well humans can adapt to their surroundings, and those who are at the top of the food chain adapt to prison life quite nicely once they knwo that's all they'll ever have. Every breath these animals take is an insult to those who they have put in the ground and their surviving family members. For every laugh an inmate may have, there is a tear shed by a mother who lost her son or daugher to some sick lowlife. If we aren't going to line them up and shoot them, then work them to the bone. If somene gets a life sentence, he's not worth rehabilitating. Throw him a hole and let him rot. Our tax dollars are being wasted on coddling prisoners, attorneys and endless appeals, costs to sustain prisons and pay employee salaries etc. Not worth it. Build a tent city in the middle of the artic, anyone who wants to escape is free to run. He'll most likely be frozen to death within a couple of short hours. Or stick them on an island somewhere in the middle of the ocean.
Of course crime is big money, and no politician wants to see crime go away. Too may jobs would be lost, and they wouldn't be able to use lowering crime stats to win votes.
All I'm saying is that there is more to managing a criminal justice system than "Lock 'em up and throw away the key." The giving and taking away of privileges is all part of managing a dangerous poplulation.
Real prison reform would begin with liberalizing drug laws. Prison populations would drop drastically and you'd be left with a small population of violent offenders. Some of the changes you're talking about would make more sense then.
All I'm saying is that there is more to managing a criminal justice system than "Lock 'em up and throw away the key." The giving and taking away of privileges is all part of managing a dangerous poplulation.
Real prison reform would begin with liberalizing drug laws. Prison populations would drop drastically and you'd be left with a small population of violent offenders. Some of the changes you're talking about would make more sense then.
While I do agree that we need to take a hard look at our current laws and sentencing, we also need to segregate prisoners better. Tossing an 18 year in prison for having an ounce of weed in his car while serving alongside hardened criminals is indeed an outrage. A kid like that will get eaten alive or turn into an even worse criminal by the time he gets out.
I'm talking more of the murderers, rapists and worst of the worst. These are the ones we need to quit wasting time and money on trying to rehabilitate and reform. Most of them are repeat offenders and violent criminals. They will never be productive members of society. Why keep a guy like Charles Manson or some lowlife cop killer alive? They are a thorn in the tax payers side and should either be tossed in solitary for life or hung from the highest tree.
One way to lessen the prison population is to allow the right to die, assisted suicide for those that wish that.
These new Super-Max prisons are built to be suicide proof. Those hooks the inmates hang their clothes on in their cells are designed to withstand only 25 pounds of pressure, then they disconnect from the walls. Why! In one of these facilities, if the inmate wanted to save the taxpayers heaps of money over the years, he can't even hang himself! Good grief!
Oh, these prison guards unions! What they won't think up next to preserve their jobs!
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