American Prison systems

[medjay]

Basically, Australia?

Yep. That project seemed to work out pretty well, didn't it?

 

[GirlMidnite]

Yep. That project seemed to work out pretty well, didn't it?

Well, excluding the pov of the much trodden on Aborigines, I suppose it did.

 

[medjay]

Well, excluding the pov of the much trodden on Aborigines, I suppose it did.

I envision the penal colony being somewhere even less hospitable with no indiginous people: Antarctica. Nowadays many criminals aren't intimidated by the current jail system. The prospect of three hots and a cot doesn't necessarily strike fear into the heart of the average felon. But confront them with the threat of spending the rest of their lives at the South Pole and I bet they straighten up quick.

 

[Lasher]

-Why?

Because he's parroting Alberto Gonzales.

 

[GirlMidnite]

I envision the penal colony being somewhere even less hospitable with no indiginous people: Antarctica. Nowadays many criminals aren't intimidated by the current jail system. The prospect of three hots and a cot doesn't necessarily strike fear into the heart of the average felon. But confront them with the threat of spending the rest of their lives at the South Pole and I bet they straighten up quick.

I'm not sure, give a man a cozy penguin and polar mama bear and he has all the rough loving he needs.

 

[rosco rathbone]

. However, prisons were first established with the primary intention of rehabilitation- to make society safe by neutralising the 'badness' of the prisoners.

Go reread your Foucault.

 

[GirlMidnite]

Go reread your Foucault.

haha, ouch.

Okay, it wasn't the primary intention, but it was one of three R's.

The problem is that rehabilitation has been routed out of the US prison system, but with a large prison population and a stagnating economy, it needs to be routed back in.

 

[Wrong Element]

haha, ouch.

Okay, it wasn't the primary intention, but it was one of three R's.

The problem is that rehabilitation has been routed out of the US prison system, but with a large prison population and a stagnating economy, it needs to be routed back in.

This is true. No one ever lost an election in the U.S. by promising to "get tougher" on prison inmates. The problem is that even though America has both a high crime rate and a prison system that pays lip service to rehabilitation, most voters don't see those facts as interrelated. A concern with rehabilitation can easily be painted as "bleeding heart".

 

[medjay]

The first step in overhauling the American penal system would be to release all the non-violent drug offenders. Half the prisons in the country would shut down if they did that.

 

[landslider]

Over a lifetime, some friend or family member will become a crime victim.

If your daughter is raped, and the convicted rapist escapes, should your daughter have a federal right to be notified?

These are matters of simple justice, and many Dems and Repubs concur.

In the future, we will give these federal rights to crime victims:

notice of proceedings;
right not to be excluded from the trial and other proceedings;
right to be heard before release of the offender;
right to be informed of the release of the offender;
right to speak before acceptance of a plea bargain;
right to speak before sentencing;
right to be informed of convict's escape;
freedom from unreasonable delay in the trial;
an order of restitution from the convicted offender;
right to have victim's own safety considered in determining a release from custody;
notice of above rights.

 

[GirlMidnite]

This is true. No one ever lost an election in the U.S. by promising to "get tougher" on prison inmates. The problem is that even though America has both a high crime rate and a prison system that pays lip service to rehabilitation, most voters don't see those facts as interrelated. A concern with rehabilitation can easily be painted as "bleeding heart".

Yes, this is true, and it's a shame. However, with the new pressure from Amnesty International, it will have to change if the US wants to preserve it's reputation as having an exemplary record for human rights and human freedoms.

 

[GirlMidnite]

The first step in overhauling the American penal system would be to release all the non-violent drug offenders. Half the prisons in the country would shut down if they did that.

Yes, also, people who have committed petty theft should go through rehabilitation first (esp. occupational rehabilitation) before being thrown into the slammer.

 

[catfish]

I agree with some of the posters on here that US jails are overcrowded with people charged with drug offenses that should not be punishable by jail. I alsos have a problem with automatic sentencing and not giving judges lee way in sentencing someone who has been convicted of a crime.
However, when you rob a Zippy Mart with a gun or steal a car, you should know that it is illegal and there is a chance you are going to get arrested and sent to prison. Blaming it on society or upbringing is a copout. And nobody give me the " he only commited crime because he couldn't find a job or his daddy wasn't around" those might be factors in the decision but they do not relieve you of common sense or of the duty to obey the law.