I'm really enjoying this series, but it has left me utterly confused about how our prison system really works (which I guess isn't good since this is supposed to be investigative journalism, you'd hope it would supply some answers).
So far I'm left with two main questions.
1) They keep saying the over-riding problem in prison is drugs, booze and gang activity.
THESE PEOPLE ARE IN PRISON! How can we not stop them from being involved with ANY of the above three?
2) Most prison violence, including the deaths of guards, is caused by mini-riots when two or three convicts get together and start problems.
Is there a reason we let these murders and rapists have human interaction in things like lunch rooms and showers? I know here in Wisconsin our "supermax" prison constantly had bleeding heart liberals outside protesting because it was "inhumane".
To these people "inhumane" was simply the fact prisoners were kept isolated at all times and allowed only a few hours of free time per week.
Why on God's green earth would someone take up the cause of the scum of the earth?
Why weren't they out there protesting the inhumane treatment these slimballs inflicted on decent people via their crimes?
Wow, are you fired up! You're probably not going to like me for this, but you can write me up as a bleeding heart liberal. I don't think isolation is the answer, nor an acceptable quality of life for any person, no matter what they have done. Nor do I believe any person is a hopeless cause. That is not to say I don't think they deserve punishment for their crimes, or that I do not take up the causes and welfare of the innocent. I just believe it is not a solution or a moral action for our system to exact such treatment.
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-- Heather: "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
Oh yeah, never worry about that with me. SERIOUSLY! I love to talk or debate anything, but I never let it change my friendship with someone. Ask JD, we have red-faced heated debates all the time with the mic's off, but when it's done we drink a beer and talk Brewers
There's only one topic that I can't discuss without it changing my view of the person, but I know this so I don't discuss it in public unless it's with someone I already know is in agreement.
So always feel free to chat it up with me!
I don't know what the other series is, but I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
As usual, I'm stuck in the middle. I think the punishment should reflect the severity of the crime. Violent crimes may warrant more isolation, both as punishment, and as protection to guards and other prisoners.
And to me, it's not necessarily someone's particular view on a topic as the way they handle it. Sometimes you have to agree to disagree, and sometimes there's even some topics that two people who don't agree just need to avoid.
I think we may be in partial agreement there. Crimes of great violence or harm do deserve some different consideration for the welfare of society, guard and other prison staff, and other prisoners. I still do not believe in isolation treatment, but I do think that there has to be a better way to manage violent crime and have the punishment reflect the severity of it. The duration of the prison sentence isn't cutting it, and many other practices have been ineffectual.
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-- Heather: "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"
Yeah, people who commit violent crimes obviously are not mentally healthy. It seems like just locking them up isn't sufficient, and it's a waste of time, space and money. But I'm also skeptical that counseling is really enough. Will they even take medication, if that would even be an option? And then, at what point are we mimicking A Clockwork Orange? At what point are we playing god? I don't have a good solution, but I do think that step one would be to get them out of society and away from others.
