Please release me!

[Mensa]

We've all heard the arguments against "old-style" zoos. You know, how locking up animals, who were meant to roam free, inside cages is cruel and inhumane. They have a valid point. No modern zoo would ever be built following such an outdated pattern. Animals must have room to move in order to keep their sanity.

But what about people? If it is cruel, inhumane, and totally unthinkable to lock up an animal in a cage, is it not at least equally wrong to do it to a human being? I'm referring to our jails, prisons, and penitentiaries. We lock up sentient beings in places we would never use to hold animals, and never even think about it. Usually when we do let it enter our consciousness, we dismiss it as a fitting punishment for those most deserving. But is it?

If it was reserved for the truly heinous, maybe our sense of outrage could make it seem justifiable. But we put everyone in such places, not just hardened criminals. Drunk drivers, for example. Medical evidence has proved alcoholism is a disease, yet we lock such people up. Would you incarcerate a schizophrenic, a manic-depressive? These are also mental illnesses. We did once, in asylums and " mad houses", but supposedly we are more enlightened now. We put in fathers who don't pay their child support. How they are supposed to cough up the cash while inside is another question. We put in those guilty of non-violent crimes such as counterfeiting. Imagine being locked in a cage for mis-using a photo-copier. We can all think of a number of crimes for which people are cast in to such places which it seems that social restitution rather than incarceration would seem the wiser road to take.

My question is: Is it time to radically rethink our penal policies? Should we be putting so many in jail rather than have them repay their debt to society in a more enlightened form? Which crimes demand jail and which probably don't? Should we abandon our present style of confinement and adopt a more humane one in it's place? Or are things just fine the way they are?

 

[Savage Kitten]

complete overhaul

this topic very much hits home with me since it is my profession.

At the present time, in most cases, we do "lock them away and throw away the key". I have seen the results of men who have done 5, 10, 15, 20yrs. NOwhere have I seen any results of rehabilitation. Most of these men are 'institutionalized', not capable of functioning successfully in society.

Am I suggesting lighter sentencing? Less time served? Time off for good behavior? HELL NO!!! If they think they are man enough to do the crime they should be man enough to do the time. BUT, during this time, there should be educational and psychological programs that make these inmates better people, that prepare them for their release, that gives them a means to be productive once they are out.

Are there any easy or simple solutions? no -- It would be very difficult to offer these men (women) these opportunities with out seemingly making crime pay. As it is now, in most institutions, inmates have more rights (and liberties) than the officers.