America’s real prison problem

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America is incarcerating more people than ever, and more states are turning to private prisons to lock them up. Trying to figure out whether these private facilities are worth it raises a more fundamental question for Andrew Price: “What is the service that prisons are supposed to deliver?” he wonders at Good. Is it merely incarceration to keep offenders away from the public, or is it more about rehabilitation, or is it pure punishment?

“Most people probably have a vague mix of ideas swimming in their head about what prisons should deliver,” Price writes, and those ideas are often contradictory. “The result is that as a society we have no clear mandate for our prisons: we expect next to nothing, and they deliver.” This “total lack of clarity … combined with the twisted economic incentives of guards’ unions and the opportunistic fearmongering of politicians, has created a system of punishment that’s totally divorced from the public interest. It’s a problem for public and private prisons alike.”

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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13 years ago

Don’t need needles for Ganja.

Stella by Starlight
Reply to  Jodie Fozdyke
13 years ago

Of course, you’re right, Jodie. I believe in legalizing ALL recreational drugs, not just ganga, which I believe would make drug use more of a victimless crime… although not completely. @Joe… yes, legalizing drugs is a win-win for everyone. Corporations would make money, the tax base would expand, addicts would have a safe, clean place to us and help halt the spread of AIDS because safe houses would provide clean needles. Of course, legalized drugs would alleviate a huge percentage of overcrowding prisons. I don’t get it… if people, corporations, and government would all profit, what’s the problem?

Jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
13 years ago

Jess specifically, is canvassing for prop 19, she supports it so much. There are some who will forget to vote for it though.

http://www.cracked.com/funny-6319-prop-19/

Stella by Starlight
Reply to  Professor Mike
13 years ago

On my way to your new post on Prop 19. Boxer and Brown need a lot of support. If witless and fartorita win in November, I think California may really fall into thw ocean. It,s getting insanely conservative here. As No. 44 writes, “Fed up (I am).”

13 years ago

If they can even afford leagl drugs they can certainly afford needles.

Great tax income generator.

Stella by Starlight
13 years ago

Just legalize drugs, I guess we would lose half our prison population and have almost no drug smuggling problems. With the enormous amount of money we’d save, we could set up safe havens for the addicted who would be free to get help or recieve clean needles. There are people who deserve incarceration, but I think the prison industrial complex would do better and still profit fromwith rehabilitation. Of course, for some inmates, that is an impossible task. I know it’s a too simplistic solution. Oh well, perhaps in another world… there is an organization called LEAP (Law Enforcement Officers Against Prohibition). Perhaps they know something the general publc does not. Ya think? Ironic: we don’t indict war profiteers or most of the profiteers that get rich by stealing from the rapidly diminishing middle class.

Jess
Reply to  Stella by Starlight
13 years ago

Crazy talk you are talking here. This would make entirely too much sense, so it is therefore not a good plan to give money to the big corporations.

Joe (Jesus) Hagstrom
13 years ago

The cops in the States don’t like it when we stab criminals with French stuff either 4D.

We can shoot them though. That gets a big testamonial dinner and picture of Charlton Heston.

13 years ago

Only ever had one burglar…tried to break into my garden shed and my daughter woke me.

He threw a crow bar at me when I opened the kitchen door and ran for the 6 foot gate.

I helped him over by stabbing his ass with a French Epee bayonet – and got told off by the police for doing it!!!!

13 years ago

Good point Greenlight. Hadn’t thought it through clearly.

Perhaps first time offenders stay out on community service?

Has to depend on whether violence was used I suppose.

Maybe three times and you’re out…or rather in for good? Then there’s the expense…oh I dunno…find some island in the middle of nowhere and dump em there or something.

I know! Third time offenders get to clear old minefields in Iraq saving the lives of all the donkeys and sheep that have been used for that purpose!

I think I’m turning slightly odd…..

Jess
13 years ago

Hey, all you people talking about the incarceration rates. We’re number 1 in the world for that dammit. You should be proud. Why just yesterday, I saw a story about a motorcyclist possibly getting a 16 yr sentence because he embarrassed a plain clothes officer, putting his speed exhibition video and his arrest for the exhibition on You Tube. We need to be number one at something now, why not this. NOW, If I have to do a disclaimer right here, I may need to rethink some people’s level of intelligence. Don’t make me do it 🙂

13 years ago

Some liberal politicians over here are suggesting we shouldn’t lock up all criminals as some would benefit more from ‘community service’ sentences rather than custodial.

Garbage. It’s already proven that, for example, a burglar will almost certainly re-offend whilst serving a community service sentence.

Couldn’t give a monkeys what’s beneficial to them. Lock ’em up and throw away the key. I guarentee a burglar won’t re-offend from his cell.

There are some that needn’t be locked away mind – so called ‘white collar’ crime. Defrauding a company and such like. They haven’t harmed the ‘little people’ like us yet, as they’ve hurt powerful business they get longer inside than a murderer!

Reply to  fourdinners
13 years ago

Incarcerated burglars are guaranteed not to reoffend until they are released, at which point their family ties are weakened and their employment prospects are even worse than they were prior to incarceration, which doesn’t bode well for public safety. To truly “lock ’em up and throw away the key” would be quite an expensive prospect, and begs the question of where we draw the line–would any criminal offender be subject to life in prison? After all, we wouldn’t want to take any chances…

The U.S. continues to have some of the highest violent crime rates in the Western world, despite incarcerating far more of its populace. See page 2 – http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_comparative_intl.pdf

It would be unfortunate if others looked to us as an example for how to best address crime. There has got to be a better way.

13 years ago

The US incarceration rate is the highest in the world, and 90% of inmates are high school drop outs. Big clue there.

Reply to  Holte Ender
13 years ago

A clue? I do love a good mystery. Might it have something to do with us spending more money on criminal justice than on education?

A sad commentary on our priorities.

Jess
Reply to  Holte Ender
13 years ago

Hmm, more building of high schools within prison walls maybe.

13 years ago

The tradionalist-conservatives among us believe in the punitive aspect of incarceration. Corporatist profit from Incarceration, Inc. IMHO prison should only be for the hopelessly violent. But if that were to happen, profits would suffer hugely, and shareholders would be pissed.

Reply to  C.H. McDermott
13 years ago

Collin, you do know they have ‘revealed’ this side of AZ’s SB 1070 law, don’t you? Seems the Gov has fiscal ties to the pvt prison systems being subsidized in AZ and the types of facilities they will be building and using are going to house “illegals” awaiting deportation… you probably understand how long that can take… very lucrative. Eh?

A good topic post!

13 years ago

Lately, the expected “product” of prisons has been incapacitation, which they have been delivering…until the offender’s release date. It’s funny that experts have only recently thought to explore the issue of reentry among offenders who have not received many (if any) substantive services behind bars.

Of course, we have more than 4 million people on probation, which really hasn’t done much for incapacitation, rehabilitation, or any other -itation… But nobody seems to be talking about that:

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/corr2.cfm

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