Prison system ideas?

[Dr T]

This might sound crazy but what if we go the opposite way and let all prisons out and back onto the street well not all of them  but the ones with the lowest risk to society.  What if we only imprisoned murderers and other heinous criminals.  Then society protects themselves, kind of like marshal law sort of but the police would assist with their special weapons and tactics to make sure things are protected.  They are there and we help regulate them as citizens.  Maybe that is ridiculous but I'm wondering really.  In the olden days in the wild west it was like that with a sherif and a jail.  Hanging by judge orders.  hmmm....

[Dr T]

Bytor, 

I like the idea of boot camp where they are unable  to continue criminal behaviors.  That is what we are trying to prevent and the root of my interest.  PC gave a link with other attempts.  It list boot camps where they "viewed  no effects" but it was with multi-crime offenders.  I'm still interested to find out what it was where it didn't work.  

 

Adult Boot Camps

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Correctional boot camps (also called shock or intensive incarceration programs) are short-term residential programs that resemble military basic training and target convicted adult offenders.

 

I DO LOVE "the intact family (loving father and mother), education, structure, and accountability."  Wow, this is an interesting issue and I have a whole lot to learn about it.  

[dahlia]

Prison should leave inmates with tired backs, aching muscles, little sleep and a profound desire to never return if released.

 

This reminds me of something I heard from a Philly radio host years ago. The unions had taken over prison maintenance from the kitchen to mopping floors. It used to be that prisons had farms, shops, etc., and much of the daily  upkeep of the prison came from prisoners themselves. Nowadays they can work out, take or refuse work as they will, etc.

[SpiritDragon]

Part of the justice process is allowing the convicted to appeal their conviction and sentence. In the case of those given the death penalty, every opportunity is given to the convict to prove a judgement was either incorrect or unfair. After all, they won't get the opportunity to do this after the sentence has been carried out. It's not always about guilt or innocence - sometimes it might just be that the sentence is too harsh, and considering the circumstances should be reduced.

 

This process contributes enormously to the length of time they spend on death row. Many of the arguments can be complex and take time to consider. Any big reduction in the time spent on death row would also reduce their window of time for appeals. So you solve one problem and by doing so, create another.

 

Even if just one innocent person was saved from death row as a result of the appeals process in its current form, do you think it's worth having it?

 

I find the legal system in general to be quite possibly the bigger problem all in all. The whole concept of plea bargaining and convincing / incriminating proof that is inadmissible for various reasons, rich turds getting off free because they can afford the most connected lawyers who can buy/bribe their clients out of trouble or simply are really good at manipulating the system legitimately even when they know the client is guilty, but they have a job to do... it all is messed up. So I need to make it clear that I believe in fixing the entire system, not merely changing the punishment; although making harsher penalties really does need to be part of the solution. Prison needs to seem more like a punishment and less like a hotel stay rewarded to those who wrong others. I do think that the fear of death is a pretty big deterrent, and even if it isn't... well I guess we won't be dealing with those who it does not deter for long, because they will get swift appropriate punishment.

 

Even if one person is saved by an appeal process is it worth it? Here we enter the dilemma that this question really is best answered with another question? If we are too soft on and wrongfully release ( or allow to escape) criminals and just one gets out to kill, rape, molest, steal again is it worth it? Tragically the system I propose would inevitably have people being exonerated posthumously from time to time, but it would also solve the problem of excessive repeat offenders and would likely drastically reduce criminal behaviour by both deterring offence and eliminating offenders.

[SpiritDragon]

I see some ideas about decriminalizing drugs and or more leniency and so forth with certain offences. While I personally don't know what the best solution for this is, I'd hate to see them become any more accessible.

 

However a different area where I really do see merit in leniency is prostitution. I don't know what the current laws in the states are, but in Canada we currently really don't have anything sound so it is up for discussion... again.

 

Any way it makes sense to me to make human trafficking illegal straight up, but decriminalizing prostitution itself. Punish pimps and punish johns who would use the service, but leave the system fairly lenient for the prostitutes themselves who are largely victims of pimps and johns. If the prostitute themselves could come clean to the cops without fear of legal punishment there would be a greater opportunity to get the root of the problem dealt with. 

 

Perhaps something similar could be worked out with drugs as well, but I'm not sure what that would look like.

[prisonchaplain]

I'm "agnostic" about reducing sentencing and allowing "non-violent" criminals to serve alternatives to prison.  Perhaps doing so will relieve budgets.  Perhaps there are effective means of rehabilitation that are less restrictive.  Perhaps.  On the other hand, crime is way down right now.  Could part of the reason be that we incarcerate so many criminals, and so society is indeed safer?