We Need More Rights For Prisoners
DS1119
Posts: 33,497
Frankly I don't think they get enough. Instead of just TV I think they should have satellite and DVR service. Instead of just food, I think they should have full catered buffets and room service available. Instead of just free education I think they should all have their own private tutors. Instead of just job training I think they should all be given well paying government subsidized employment when they get out. I think prisoners should be also be compensated for their time behind bars and lost income potential as well. Conjugal visits...don't stop there. Twice a week we bring in professionals to service the inmates needs.
It's painfully obvious that we right now are just too hard on criminals. We need to ease the poor condidiotns they live in so the great "rehabilitation process and plan" can work. It's our responsibilities to coddle these people even more so they can leave prison healthy and productive citizens.
It's painfully obvious that we right now are just too hard on criminals. We need to ease the poor condidiotns they live in so the great "rehabilitation process and plan" can work. It's our responsibilities to coddle these people even more so they can leave prison healthy and productive citizens.
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As to the post itself...while I don't think prison conditions should be something out of Midnight Express, I find it odd that many institutions do offer cable tv, conjugal visits, pen pal programs, inmates working phones/computers for retailers (and, I may be wrong, but also provided access to credit card information).
Sure some could and do benefit from rehabilitation programs, but for the monstrous pieces of steaming shit in there? My sympathy for them is checked at the door.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
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no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
ding ding ding... Someone can make some good points, but when many of their posts/threads are trollish in nature, their credibility goes completely out the window and no one takes them seriously.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
By John Dewar Gleissner, Esq
Published: 05/23/2011
The public expects life in prison to be worse than life for the lowest class of free individuals, for otherwise prison is not fully considered punishment. Any amenities enjoyed by prisoners are swiftly condemned by free people who disdain prisoners or do not have those same advantages.
Federal prisons have historically been more pleasant than state prisons. Some street people intentionally commit federal crimes to obtain the easier conditions in the federal prison system. The Zimmer Amendment was passed in 1996 after disclosure of a federal penitentiary with an all-channel cable TV, movies seven days a week, pool tables, handball, tennis and miniature golf; a federal prison camp providing a movie theater, musical instruments, a softball field, and game rooms; a federal Correctional Institution with "dormitories" with cathedral ceilings, carpeting, skylights, built-in checker and chess tables, and handball courts; and a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa. offering HBO and Cinemax to its resident drug dealers and killers. The Zimmer Amendment made sure federal inmates were not allowed things like weight-lifting equipment, R-rated movies or musical instruments. This was in accordance with the punitive model and accurately reflects the public's views. But federal institutions hold a small minority of America's prisoners. In state prisons and local jails, conditions are rougher than in the federal system.
Many Americans want prison to be a miserable experience for inmates, even if it conflicts with rehabilitation efforts. They think prison life is not all bad, that prisoners have it too easy. This is based largely upon the old public perception of a few federal prisons. The public does not view the insides of state penitentiaries much. Many bad things happen in state prisons and local jails that are never reported to the outside world. Out of sight, out of mind. Television coverage of crime skews the public's perception. Crime is decreasing nationwide, yet a large percent of the public believe it is on the increase. Probation and parole are considered slaps on the wrist. Public anger rises when a probationer or parolee commits a serious crime.
Reality differs from public perception. Most members of the public will never visit a prison or talk to anyone who has experienced life behind bars. Prison takes offenders away from their families, marriages, jobs, friends, communities and churches and puts them in an extremely bad moral environment for years at a time. Social organization in prison revolves around vicious prison gangs, motivated by racism, hate, satanic influences and violence. Life among these mostly uneducated felons, including opposing gang members, the insane and the diseased, is generally unpleasant. Overcrowding makes it all worse in most prisons today. Many prisoners are beaten, raped, brutalized or live in fear. Deviant and forced sex increases because members of the opposite sex are unavailable. Guards can be unpleasant and brutal. Annoying noises and bad odors are everywhere; sunlight and fresh air are limited. In most prisons today, overcrowding makes everything worse. Bland and unappealing food, clothing and extremely confining shelter are the norm. Freedom is gone. Some 16% of prisoners are mentally ill, and high percentages suffer from communicable diseases, including HIV-AIDS, hepatitis C, staph infections and tuberculosis. Families and friends often stop communicating with incarcerated family members. Boredom and inactivity take their toll. Depression is common. Suicide is 5 to 15 times greater than in the U.S. generally.
Offenders take on sick institutional values, procedures and thoughts. Prisonization or institutionalization often makes prisoners worse. While people on the outside are making money, having fun and learning things, the social contacts and skills, sanity, vocational prospects and remaining wealth of convicts decline. When released, many are branded for life as "felons." Yes, their food, clothing, shelter and most healthcare needs are met, but most everything that makes life enjoyable disappears while they rot in prison. It's pure myth that prisoners have it easy.
Editor's note: Corrections.com author John Dewar Gleissner, Esq. graduated from Auburn University (B.A. with Honor, 1973) and Vanderbilt University School of Law (1977), where he won the Editor's Award and participated in the Men's Penitentiary Project. In addition to practicing law in Alabama for the last 33 years, Mr. Gleissner is the author of the new book "Prison and Slavery - A Surprising Comparison"
Reprinted with permission from ezinearticles.com.
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ever been to a prison? ever visited one for an extended period of time, or just on exposes on "tv"? personally, I'd rather fend for myself on the street than in that hell.
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So do most federal pens aside from the two mentioned still provide similar amenities, and only got rid of R-rated films and exercise equipment? I wasn't sure what the end result was based on the description. And who decides what types of criminals serve in federal vs state institutions?
And as to most of the fourth paragraph, well...that's the price paid. Annoying noises, no freedom, bland food and clothing? I'm sorry but I shed no tears for scumbag murderers and child molesters living in those conditions. I don't fear for the welfare of some shitbag gang member coming across a rival in prison.
I realize it sounds harsh - I feel harshly about it - but I'm not boo-hooing for many doing their time within those walls.
(edit - nevermind my third question; I would assume federal crimes warrant sentences in federal prisons :oops: )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlPQJ7qIyyQ
it doesn't sound harsh. I shed no tears either. that's the point. they don't have it like a hotel. it sucks, but that's prison. it ain't lobster meals and HBO, as many paint it out to be, with absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
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Actully I have never been to prison other than visiting my mom who worked at one for over 20 years as a registered nurse. Have you ever been to prison Dillon? They get shit that people on the outside would be blown away about. If youre interested in the prison my mom worked at it's actually being featured this evening on television. Here's the link.
http://www.aetv.com/beyond-scared-strai ... y-ny-31#31
Right next to it is the Marcy Correctional Facility. She worked there for about 7 or 8 years.
I don't need to pull up random links, articles, watch tv or be a prisoner to know what happens in prison. It's not the most pleasant experience but it's also not the hell hole many people want the general public to believe.
I kind of take exception to this comment. I used 'steak and lobster' to exaggerate conditions within prisons, but I don't back down a minute from my position that many prisons have it too easy considering what they are designed for. And, I do have an idea of what I'm talking about.
Some prisons have perks that seem 'excessive' to me: cable television, 3 square meals, leisure programs, and full medical and dental to name a few. Albeit not a maximum security prison, our regional correction center purchased 8 X-Box units for the inmates. Many law abiding citizens do not have such items- why the fuck do inmates? A few years back, Kamloops Regional Correctional Center endured a riot because their pancakes were too thin. If this constitutes a riot... I'd hate to surmise what 'harsh conditions' might bring. A google search offers the story if you care to read it:
http://www.corrections.com/articles/6227
I'll also admit that prisons are scary places. I read a statistic from somewhere that 70% of inmates are assaulted at some point in their sentence. I'll freely admit that being sent to prison might just have me take a bath with a toaster before being admitted.
But the bottom line is this: prisons are penal institutions. They are not designed for comfort. Keep your nose clean and you'll never have to worry. If you end up in one... well... you made your bed: go lie in it.
Unless the incarcerated in question is a sociopath, they do have the capability to care.
And, isn't the goal to make sure no other people are not harmed whether they be in prison or common civilians? Hoping that every person serving time is going through a living hell is just vindictiveness and revenge. I don't understand how people who hope these things think they're any better than the criminals.
My cousin did a couple of years in Walla Walla for not following up on small time tickets. He's no angel, but I would never say he was due to get his ass raped for stealing a few valuables from my aunt. Not to imply that he was assaulted in any way while he was there. I don't know. I haven't asked him. I think it would be rude.
No matter what, I think my cousin deserved to be treated as a human being while he was there. I don't think that he deserved to fear his environment.
Yes. More compassion for criminals. It's working so well now.
Is it compassion we're showing when we hope criminals go through a living hell? Why isn't it enough to keep them from interacting with regular haven't-been-convicted-of-a-crime citizens?
Simple. It's supposed to be a deterrent. If it's not a living hell what's the point then :?
Keeping the general public safer, perhaps.
Living hell is relative. I feel that convicted criminals have a right to food, shelter and clothing. IMO, they should not have to live in fear of the other convicted criminals. If each individual is doing the time to fit the crime, I think that someone who has failed to pay fines for petty theft should be kept safe from people who will use them as trophy kills. And, would be trophy killers should be presented with an environment where that is not possible.
And criminals in the US get food, shelter, and clothing. Much more than our homeless actually. They also get access to heat, television, schooling, and medical care too. If someone doesn't want to live amongst the other criminals the answer is quite easy....don't be a criminal.
when I made that comment, i wasn't talking about a petty thief. I was referring to child rapists and murderers.
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I agree. if prisons are getting x boxes, that IS disgusting. this isn't supposed to be going back to living in your parents basement. and if that's happening, it needs to be changed. but a lot of people have the idea that going to prison is some sort of utopia of great food and fancy couches and superchannel. which, in most cases, it isn't.
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where do you live where people who are behind on parking tickets get sent to the same prison as violent criminals?
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Then again I have read those reports too about how if you make prison conditions better (like in some Scandinavian countries) ex-cons are much less likely to reoffend and in the long run it costs society less.
Plus there is the aspect of guard and worker safety too that you have to think about. I mean if the cost of a couple of X-boxes means that the likelihood of a guard getting stabbed decreases then maybe it is worth it.
Plus there are some pretty messed up prisons and jails out there. My wife likes to watch those prison/jail documentaries on the National Geographic channel and some of them are messed up and I am not sure anyone deserves to be sent to them. Statesville prison in Illinois was built in the 20's with a roundhouse style design for one of its cell blocks. The whole thing looks like something out of Mad Max or something:
http://capucinegros.files.wordpress.com ... orview.jpg
Another one she saw was the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona where since the Jail is full they just set up a bunch of tents outside and prisoners sleep in there. That doens't sound so bad except that during the day temperatures in the tents get up to 150 degrees F. That same jail cut back on costs by switching to 2 meals a day. I can't remember how they got the food, but it was surplus stuff that cost like $5 per person per day (it worked out to be less than what they would spend on dog food for sheriff's department dogs). These kinds of treatments seem like they would just make the inmates more dangerous both when they are in prison and once they get out.
They had air conditioning when I couldn't afford.
They had TV with Cable I couldn't afford.
They get 3 meals every day when I work 50 hours a week and go to college full time.
Some days I get one meal.. I BUY.
But my tax money pays for them... awe
not sorry
FICA's fault?
Punishment isn't the most effective way to change behavior and reduce the recidivism rate. All I'm saying is that you should do your research before taking a stance on the issue.
edit: also been homeless and hungry, would choose that any day
and you are the one,that can tell us the truth...
do time in prison,people think is a walk in the beach..well its not..
im tired that bullshit of people put numbers and links behind how a human should treat or fell..
i respect your opinion alot in this and i like you have balls to share with us..
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
And at the risk of sounding insensitive (which I suppose I am, in this regard), I don't give two fucks about how a piece of shit child killer, rapist or murderer feels.
DO YOU SEE THIS POST DS?
Fargo 2003
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To borrow from another thread, I thought you believed that the recidivism rate of DWI offenders who go to jail vs. the recidivism rate of DWI offenders who get on some sort of intensive supervision program (i.e. ignition interlock breath testing etc) would have "very little difference if any at all."
Very, very curious that you would look at the high recidivism rate for jail and conclude that it's because "jail is pleasant" and not "jail isn't working as a deterrent." I can point to numbers that show jail coupled with alternative programming often reduces recidivism drastically.
You can point to numbers that show people who go to jail come back to jail. Curious indeed.
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