Should people in prison loose all their rights and be forced to do manual labor?

Answer 1

I agree with the first answer that yes, they should be used for manual labor. They could help any number of projects. Have the low flight risk prisoners build houses for the homeless, or have them clean up the parks in their areas. They should find something productive for them to do. Maybe helping do something good will help them turn their life around.

Answer 2

"Should people in prison loose all their rights and be forced to do manual labor?"

The quick answer to your question is "No."

Without the guarantee of certain rights for prisoners, the effectiveness of American law enforcement, jurisprudence and the penal system would be eroded, and that deterioration would result in significant negative impact to American society.

The American penal system isn't perfect. But that said, there are actually some good reasons why prisoners get special meals, cable TV, and 'three hots and a cot.'"

What we do in America is take criminals off the streets and put them behind bars. Some of the people that end up there are violent and dangerous. Some have life sentences and will probably never be free to return to American society outside of the prison system. What does a person who has a life sentence with no parole have to lose? Nothing. What does someone being starved or tortured have to lose? Nothing-- and they might even gain some semblance of humanity by striking out against their captors under such conditions. A person who has nothing good to lose is very dangerous to prison guards, prison health care workers, other prisoners and himself.

If you're going to keep prisoners in humane conditions, then you have to provide them a place to sleep and feed them and you have to give them some basic human rights. Those aren't perks; they're necessities-- the absence of which is inhumane treatment and torture.

And, sure, prison wardens could force prisoners to work-- put them in irons and whip them or deprive them of food until they do some hard, distasteful labor. But it turns out the resources required to do that outweigh the benefits. It generally costs prisons more money to conduct forced labor programs than it's worth. It's also slavery. And that's an immoral institution that Americans rejected many years ago.

The experience gained from operating penal systems in America over the past two hundred years or so show that forced labor programs and torturous conditions generally make prisons much harder-- and more expensive-- to operate.

If you want prison guards to be able to control prison populations without even more danger than they already have, then you have to accept that prisons must be given some basic human rights and be provided with privileges like cable TV and special meals. That way, prisoners have something to lose if they fail to follow the standards of conduct and something to gain if they are well behaved.

Would you rather the U.S. was a place where people are tortured, enslaved and killed by the government because they've been convicted of a crime-- sometimes wrongly so? There are a lot of other countries where that happens. The secret torture camps for terrorists outside the U.S. should give you some pause before you suggest that's suitable for Americans within their own country. Dictators strip convicted criminals of their basic human rights, but in the U.S. the commission of a crime should not rob someone of their inherent humanity.

Answer 3

Yes, doing manual labor isn't loosing all their rights. We work our tails off to make ends meet in the real world, why should inmates be able to get 3 hot meals a day, all the exercise they want or don't want, cable tv and get to sit on their butts in an air conditioned building without lifting a finger. If they are physically capable to work , then they should be working.

Answer 4

Where have you been? People in prison have no rights beyond basic human rights. As far as forced to do manual labor, I think they have that in hand too! If you want something from the commisary it requires money- either someone from the outside puts it in for you, or you work!

Answer 5

yes, prison is prison, not a holiday camp as it is in so many of them, ie, television,recreational facillities like gyms and games rooms, free education,( some can even study for a degree ), no worrys about paying rent or any other living expenses.
it's no wonder that many young offenders go in time and time again.
if i want to go to college, or join a gym i have to pay for it, and it is not cheap, so although i work hard, i still can not afford these luxurys so i go without.
maybe if it was not so easy they would think twice
it all to often seems to me, as though the criminals welfare, rights and feelings are more important than the victims. surly this is not right.

Answer 6

didn't you know that doc inmates have lost all of there rights, and being that all of the labor that is required to keep a finely tuned prison running smoothly is performed by prisoners. ah but it doesn't end once your time is served. an ex-con never can have his debt paid in full. he has to pay over, and over again thru job opportunities not available etc. it is no wonder why there is such a high rate of revidisissim.

Answer 7

I'm telling ya, bring back the chain gangs. I don't think stamping license plates is really manual labor, I've done harder stuff than that. Basic human rights do NOT include television, cable or otherwise, weight machines, rec rooms, etc. Shelter and food, people.

Answer 8

Yes and no. Yes they should do manual labour and I think the money generated should go first to compensate victims of their crime, and/ar compensate for the costs involved in chasing, capture legal etc
And No, but a modified no. Some should lose ALL their rights, but there are others for whom some rights may be important to retain in the interests of others related to the criminal. eg parent and contact with others

Answer 9

forcing the prisoners to do labour work is not depriving them from their rights. Yes i think that they should contribute by something at least to decrease the costs of imprisonment to the tax payer.

Answer 10

YES!

They should still have the ability to appeal...although it's costly because every so often they find an innocent person. But otherwise they are in prison, it should be hard, and they should NEVER want to come back.