The prison system in the US, anyway, is a mess.

What's the purpose of sending someone to prison?

Justice, deterrence, and rehabilitation.  Right now, I'm not sure it does any of those very well.

But, yes, they should work, and work as hard as anybody on the outside. For one thing, they are fed, housed and clothed, things which the rest of us need to worry about every day.  I'm not talking slave labor, but a good 8 hours time a day doing something useful.  Maybe teach them some useful skill in the process, which they can use on the outside.

Here's one idea.  Right now all sorts of the trivial things we buy,  like kids' Christmas toys, seem to be made in China. Why can't we set up prison shops to make some of these? Undersell the Chinese and help defer the prisoners' room and board. It's not like we'd be  throwing Americans out of work by doing this. And you could teach all sorts of useful business skills in the process.

Jun 6, 2009 -- 11:34AM, religionfree wrote:

Jun 6, 2009 -- 10:11AM, Tmarie64 wrote:

Much as I dislike Texas, I have to say the way they handle death row is something that every state should look at.  Limited appeals, when your appeals run out you go to the head of the line.

That being said... I don't want ANYONE capable of committing a death row crime walking on the side of the road.  I want them locked up in a cell 23 hours a day, thinking about their upcoming demise.  I want live 24 hour feed into a monitor in their cell featuring the deaths of other death row convicts.  Film it, then pipe it into all death row cells all over the country.

Don't let them out.

 

 

Pretty harsh, TMarie. 

We all have to remember that a good percentage of those in prison, in solitary confinement, on death row, on chain-gangs, are absolutely innocent of the crime.  What if one of these is your best friend, husband, child?  Would you feel the same way?

This article more than demonstrates what I am stating.  This was a study done that comes to very surprising conclusions.

 

Study Suspects Thousand of False Convictions

by Adam Liptak
TNYT on the web
April 19, 2004

A comprehensive study of 328 criminal cases over the last 15 years in which the convicted person was exonerated suggests that there are thousands of innocent people in prison today.

Almost all the exonerations were in murder and rape cases, and that implies, according to the study, that many innocent people have been convicted of less serious crimes. But the study says they benefited neither from the intense scrutiny that murder cases tend to receive nor from the DNA evidence that can categorically establish the innocence of people convicted of rape.

"Every time an innocent person is convicted," Mr. Scheck said, "it means there are more guilty people out there who are still committing crimes."

Yes, but that's a different issue for another thread.

Strangely enough, in some instances the prisoners on DR are isolated from the general prison population to make sure they stay alive long enough to be executed.

Those whose crimes involved sexual abuse of very small children who died from internal injuries wouldn't have much of a life expectancy among the general prison population. Too many victims of childhood abuse end up in prison. Jeffrey Dahmer got killed even though he was supposed to be under 23 hour lockdown himself.

I don't think that anybody on DR should be executed without all the crucial evidence like DNA being run again since so much has been learned in the past years. I'd go so far as to run a lie detector test run--even though it iisn't allowed in court; same with hypnosis or "truth" serum. The inmate could refuse, of course-- but if it was my life on the line and I was innocent I'd jump at the chance to clear myself and get set free.

One of the programs that seems to be helping get prisoners eased back toward life after they get released is working with animals. Some prisons have set up programs where the inmates train service dogs for the blind and handicapped. some may go on to be "visitors" in children's hospitals or nursing homes. Others have them training and rehabilitating dogs from shelters so that they can become family pets instead of being put to sleep. The structure and discipline they teach the dogs becomes part of them as well; and having some unconditional love never hurt anyone..

I remember years ago when the whole "Son of Sam"  when the parents of one of the victims  was so bitter about the fact that their tax money was going towards the upkeep of the man who killed their only daughter. They wanted a tax credit for whatever their share of of their money was being used on him. At least all the squacking by the parents accomplished a law that prevents the criminals from getting any money from selling books, magazine articles or movie rights from their stories about their crimes.

Even ones you don't want outside could maintain the prison's janitorial needs, take care of gardens, chickens, etc to grow their own food and lower the cost to the rest of us. I like the wiring the school--great use of getting something done for the community--road repair, etc, upkeep on the schools when there is no one else in the building.

We need to change what we are doing because as you've all said, we want inmates to leave with legal skills instead of taking Advanced Burglery.