Prisoners with perks?

Do you guys feel that our prison system allows for too many perks concerning people who are repeat offenders for serious crimes? I mean, I realize you can't just stick them in a hole if you plan on letting them out one day, but what about those on death row already? Should they too be given the chance for improvement?

Do you think isolation could make an individual MORE dangerous than before they got locked up?

How much is too much? Cable, fitness, oatmeal cookies? Should prisoners who killed and raped children still be allowed a certain standard or quality of life?

I feel for those who are not on death row and who will be let back into society one day, that these things are imperative to their mind being stable when they get out. If you take a person with only petty crimes and isolate them, they become animals. Our prison system seems to make people worse than they were before they went in..how is this a justifiable cause for our tax dollars and to society as a whole?

I feel if they are going to let these people back in the world, that rehabilitation is essential to them succeeding after their time is served. Do you feel they warrant that, or should they just be forgotten for the mistakes they made?

I guess the major question I want to explore is if our Govt. actually fks us up more within the prison system.

Anyone?

WOW!!! London, I think you should have posted this in the Sandbox or someplace other than D&T.

Having said that, you've asked a very complicated question that is never as cut and dried as it seems.

I guess part of it comes down to what you believe should be done with criminals. Do you believe they should just do their time? Or do you believe efforts should be made to rehab them?

Now a couple of people who have made prison ministry a cornerstone are Chaplain Ray and Charles Colson (http://www.chaplainray.com/ and https://www.prisonfellowship.org/why...s-pf-exist/297). That's if you believe in the "Christian" or "spiritual." Or, if you believe in rehab.

But, if you approach it from a gross perspective, the question may become one of whether or not the rewards of rehabbing the few justifies the expenses on the many. In other words, is it better to save one wo/man than to lose them all?

Bottom line, and since I'm a "bleeding heart" liberal: I think it is better to save than to lose them all.

I since I know from you're posts (I think) that you're somewhat religious, I'd point you to Jesus' parable of the 1 and 99 sheep.

JMHO.

Texas stopped that crazy "last meal" perk after the last execution. From now on they just get what everyone else is having.

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-prisons-...195102056.html

It's still the "last supper." Just not the wishlist.

Judge William Wayne Justice forced the TX prison system to give the inmates all kinds of goodies plus the prison system had to build and build due to overcrowding.

Thanks Charles, but I posted this here because I knew I would get more intelligent responses lol. You guys proved me right! Yes, I do believe in Jesus to the highest extent, and I also believe that is the ONLY way for anyone to be truly changed...from the inside out. Many people in the prison system run to God because there is no other way they could deal with living in isolation. It has been proven theraputic and that reading his word, actually gives you the same feeling as some drugs. You have a sense of peace that passes understanding no matter what the circumstances are around you.

I just wonder if too many people are being lost and made even worse whilst inside of a jail cell. If the desire is to truly rehabilitate these people so they can function in normal society, there should be some guidelines as to how that is accomplished. I have heard so many horror stories about what inmates have to go through for crimes that are nowhere near those of others they bunk with.

As for saving that one sheep...I sincerely agree Charles. If a person has truly repented and is aware and sorry of the crimes they have done, I feel they should be given a second chance...even if God is the only one who can do that. I would feel a lot better funding such an organization like one of those you linked, than just giving that same money to a Govt. that couldn't care less.

The US has the largest prison population in the world. Pedophiles can never be rehabilitated ever IMHO. They continue to be sick in the head after they are released into society. Also, if you have a rap sheet or even bad credit, you have a hard time getting a job that doesn't involve fast food. I blame the parents for babysitting their kids in front of the tv. Americans watch the most tv out of all countries including the UK. Everything on tv is crap, including the news, but that's a different rant.

I would be curious to see what the stats are. I think fitness would serve as a healthy improvement tool. Cable...not so much. I am not against TV, in general, but they are there to serve a punishment for a crime.

I am for anything that would help them be productive citizens. Working, learning, with rewards or perks for "good behavior".

You perves! Don't take that out of context. I know how your dirty minds work.

I must agree, but I do know of child rapists who are now rehabilitated. Would I let them babysit my kid? Fk no, but I don't think crimes like those are done when a person is of a sound mind. There is a lot to be said for what a person is capable of when their mind goes wacko. I didn't think I was capable of a few things, and was proven wrong. We all have different things that evil can tempt us with...only weaknesses that are exclusive to us. For instance, I am never tempted to go out and rob the local gas station, so that's not something I can be tempted with...others may very well be.

I don't believe any crime is worth another person being able to pull the plug. Don't get me wrong..many crimes are WORTHY of death, but I don't think some judge banging hookers and getting loaded every weekend should be the one to decide their fate. Eye for an eye is just fine, when God is the judge. The government should not have that authority, but without total anarchy I guess we are stuck with it.

Hey, LR,

Did I read somewhere that you are making a trip to TEXAS?!?!!! To see us dumb-ass Texans? WHAAAAAAT?

Cumandgitit loves ya, babe!!

xoxo

Judge William Wayne Justice forced the TX prison system to give the inmates all kinds of goodies plus the prison system had to build and build due to overcrowding. Originally Posted by pyramider

Why don't you take a gander at the actual opinion that Judge Justice wrote after the actual trial in the Ruiz case and see if you still think that the case is about "goodies."

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_ca...3010845862856&

If you're too lazy to read the entire 120+ pages, which incidentally summarizes a 179 day trial, here's the short version, which admits that

It is impossible to capture in this brief summary the full scope of . . . horror; but many of his specific findings are so shockingly barbarous that they chill to the bone.

http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/13/1320.html

As for TV, the reason that they give TV to inmates is that it makes them much more docile and easy to control because it gives them something to do to pass the time. It's not for the inmates so much, it's for the guards and their safety quite frankly. Imagine one guard to about 80 inmates. Would you rather watch and be responsible for those inmates with them having nothing to do? Or with at least half of them sitting around and watching the boob tube? Sounds like a pretty easy question to me. If you think that idle hands are the devil's workshop when you're talking about kids, try 50 - 100 hardened criminals, many of whom have nothing to loose when it comes to trouble making.

I would be interested to hear more of your thoughts Hush. TV is a given in keeping them occupied, so I don't have a problem with that. I do however feel there should be more thought that goes into programs dealing with personal healing, restitution for what they have done, and how to operate in society again once they are released. I am aware that you can in fact get a college degree whilst in prison, but how many of these people are actually hired in their degreed field? Don't most employers just toss those applicants in the trash once they see "Served time?"

If that's the case, what can we do to avoid that type of discrimination in the work force? Would it not be better to have them working and progressing in a field that makes them feel accomplished, rather than having them sit at home and live off the govt.? Idle hands you know.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933722.html

@London

I think I said this elsewhere.

Years ago (about as old as you are) when I studied this stuff more diligently, the best successes were those inmates who became licensed barbers behind the walls. When they were released, they had a marketable skill. Also, the way a lot of barbershops work, they weren't on salary, but rather, kept what they cut, paying the owner rental for the chair. Made them "entrepreneurs."
Income and success seems to be the trick. Plus a barbershop is a very social place. They can make customer/friends.

I have always been intrigued by the case of Emmett Dalton. If ever a man should have been hanged, it was him for his association with the Dalton Gang which maimed three citizens, killed three others and the city marshal in Coffeeville, Ks, in October, 1892. But the judge and jury saw otherwise. Emmett went to prison and had served fourteen years of his life sentence time when he was pardoned. He went on to be an actor. Some people just can’t be reformed! Just kidding – LOL. Actually, he went straight and became a contributing member to society as an actor, author and real estate agent. Reform is possible.

And TTH is right. Certain things do make guarding the inmates easier. A couple of extra rolls of toilet paper and showers per month might have prevented the Attica_Prison Riot in 1971. However, it’s still irksome to know that judges have entitled convicted inmates more “personal space” than that allowed shipboard sailors.