How to reduce both the prison population and costs of confinement?

Question

Heres my suggestions, what are your views?
1. Legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana, prostitution and gaming
2. Set maxium sentences at 5 years,during which the convict is participating in a work release or if vilent a work inside program where 50% of their wages are taken for cost of confinement, another 25% is placed in a fund which reemburses victims of crime, 10% is place into an intrest bearing savings for their release and the rest they can spend at the canteen.
A. studies show that after 5 yeaars one becomes institutionalized.
B. For violent crime s such as murder , first degree assult, rape, child molestation , and other horrid crimes give the death penality
3. All death sentences are allowed one appeal within 90 days and all death warrants are to be carried out by day 100.
4. Corperal punishment for some offeneces, ie; 40 lashes for simple assult

Spirit wwalker- I dont smoke pot, I have done so in the 60-70s and used in a medicianl way in the 90s, but i am far from a pleasure smoker. Also spel check only works for the first part of the question, so sorry about the typos

Answer 1

These are all great ideas my libertarian brother.

I would also add a mandatory 2 years of military service for everyone at age 18 unless he/she is in college, in vocational training, or fully employed.

And James W. your statement that the death penalty has statically been proven to not be a deterrent of violent crime is simply false.

Logically, you cannot prove or disprove the death penalty deters violent crime.

The only way you can do this is by measuring one and only one variable (having the death penalty) in relation to the overall equation during the same period of time in the same place. However, this is impossible because you cannot simultaneously measure the violent crime rate with a possible death penalty and without a possible death penalty during the same time period in the same place.

Even if you measured the violent crimes rates back to back in a given place say Texas during 1973-1976 when the US did not have the death penalty against the time period of 1977-1980, the first four years after the death penalty was reinstated you cannot prove or disprove the death penalty as an effective deterrent. There are too many other variables that cannot be accounted for in the overall analysis, which distinguish the two time periods that could affect people's behavior when committing crimes.

James W. if you are morally opposed to the death penalty just say that rather than state a fact as true that can never ever be proved or disproved.

And I really hope that James W. is not yet another new account for the infamous Jim W.

Answer 2

I do agree with most of what you say except the death penalty, how can any one who has any compassion or sense of fairness ever think of the death penalty being good or useful , first it has no deterrent on crime or murder, and statistics have proven this out many times, but, in view of what happened in Illinois and LosAngles the Rampart deal .where thousands of cases have got to be retried because of false evidence etc, where are your peoples common sense , also , consider if some one is accused of any thing especially a Major crime , unless you have deep pockets as O,J, did at least $100,000 in your pocket you can not buy justice, and you will be appointed a public defender ( better known as public pretenders )who will do as their employer "the state " tells them to, and that is to get you
convicted, don't forget this contry has a 98.8 %conviction ratio.
sohow in hell could any one get a fair trial, when it is proven so many times that the cops and the prosecutors lie like a rug,

Answer 3

The only thing I disagree with is your use of the death penalty. Murder is murder, no matter if the government pulls the trigger.

Chainsaw: They've been arresting and punishing cannabis users in the US since the 1930s, and it hasn't ended demand at all. "Stay the course, damn logic and reason" is a failed attitude. Prohibition failed miserably, so why do you think beating a dead horse a few dozen more times is going to fix things? Decriminalization in Holland has the numbers to prove it. The overall rate of cannabis consumption went DOWN after they decriminalized it. Also, would you rather have the gangs continue their turf wars over who can sell drugs in certain neighborhoods? Do you want to continue letting them prey on kids, taking their money and profiting from something relatively harmless? Prohibition creates a black market, and that black market puts profits in the hands of criminals, instead of in the hands of the People, where it should be. If you want to keep beating your head against a wall over a harmless plant, then move to Iran.

Answer 4

1. Cut the cable cord-most prisons and jails have cable TV piped in for the inmates, so they have something to do in between the 3 meals a day, the sleeping, the workouts at the gym and the showers.
2. Charge the inmates for phone time (no matter the local/longdistance rate-no pay no talk.
3. Charge the inmates to watch TV, work out at the gym. Any felon not behaving has no privilage to even pay to play.
4. All outdoor prison yard time is on a pay as you go-in the yard for 30 minutes-$3.00
OK people, at some point this ridiculousness must come to an end. If you think treating a person like less than an animal is good for society, think again. At some point, these people get out and live amongst us. Do you want that person to come out more hardened, less educated, and so full of rage that instead of just holding up the local gas station, they go on a killing spree at your kids school? No, probably not. I understand the sentiment that people who misbehave and do inappropiate things need to be punished, but when you realize what is going on with these people, the dysfunctional families they have come from and the lives that have been wasted already, you start to see a very viscious cycle. These people have children, who may grow up to repeat the same things, many of those in the prison populations are mentally ill, drug addicted, and coming from foster homes because their own homes were brutally inadequate for them to be brought up in, and even those "saved" from this, don't really feel saved, because even a neglectful, abusive, sorry excuse for a parent is forgiven every transgression. Thats the reality. The best you can hope for is an enlightened view of there is ALWAYS going to a be a certain segment of the population that will be offenders on some level, whether for drugs, because of drug addiction, pedophiles, thieves, murderers, rapists and so on. The smart money is saving them BEFORE they become institutionalized and used to penal life. I would say investing more into foster care, incorrigible children services, such as counseling, mental health, juvenile justice and health services might produce a lower number of kids becoming criminals headed for longer and longer prison stays. Maybe decriminalizing drug use, if simple drug possession, drug treatment programs to pull more people out of the downward spiral before they resort to crime to pay for their habits. These include prostitution, drug paraphinalia, simple drug possession, and simple drug dealing. When you look at who is clogging up the system, those associated with drugs are particularly high. Those in for pedophilia, well, the stats are against them being rehabilitated, they simply need to be kept away from polite society, there is little hope for them to be recovered into mainstream society. Rapist too, little stats to support that money will do much more than house them until they die. Nonetheless, society needs to be protected from those types of predators. A murderer has a better chance of being released and doing well if dealt with in prison, unless they are a serial killer, in which case they fall into the rapist and pedophile pool of being unable or unwilling to do anything but fall back on their crimes again and again, just more and more sneaky and cunning. Some people need to stay incarcerated. Frankly, sending some 26 year old to prison for 20-25 years for trafficing in drugs is not only pointless, but wasteful of money. That person can be rehabilitated and a useful member of society if properly handled. A pedophile, serial killer and rapist are likely to NEVER be rehabilitated, but much more likely to be back on the street before the drug courier. Where's your money being best spent for this? On rehabs, on counseling, on good foster care fore at risk children, at good juvenile justice that doesn't just show them how to become a better burgler, thief or victim. Think about it.......BTW......EXCELLENT QUESTION!

Answer 5

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that a study was done recently that showed the majority of people incarcerated tended to have very poor speaking habits, and were not able to express themselves any way other than violently. I really think in this country, if we don't support social programs that focus on education and economic empowerment for all classes, we are doomed to one day exist in a severe "penal colony" environment, where the majority of young men (of all races) are locked away, drug addicted, or emotionally damaged. If that sounds negative, think about this when it is time to elect the officials that make the decisions about what happens in your community. We have to work to insure that people don't get locked up in the first place. However, I do think the person that asked the question has some very sound ideas.....

Answer 6

i agree with decriminalizing marijuana, but not outright legalizing it. we just dont need to waste prison space on potheads...its not worth it. i dont think you should set a maximum sentence because criminal justice history has proven that rehabilitation doesnt work, so we need to punish them. i agree the death warrants take too long, but the criminal justice system doesnt work fast enough to take care of something that important in only 100 days. it takes about 60 days for a misdemeanor to get a court date! but i say one year should be ample time, but no more than 18 months.

Answer 7

I agree with #1, #2 but not the death penalty so I don't agree with #3 and #4 is stupid. No changed will likely ever be made though because the government is afraid of change. Politicians don't want to admit mistakes therefore they never fix them.

Answer 8

quit making victimless crime laws based on faith and religion.
and no people who are saddened, because they don't like the way you are living your life, is not a victim.
first thing i suggest is remove any tax exempt status on any religious organization that acts as a political machine.

you can say death penalty, for drug dealers, and what not but that has proved only to increase the value of the drugs allowing the dealers who do slip through the cracks able to afford to buy congressmen rather than just police officers.

But for some reason politicians think the only way to do it, is privatize prisons so people who buy them, can have slave labor, therefore increasing the need for victimless crime laws, down the road.

Answer 9

Sounds good to me , specially 3 . I read (long ago) that the cost of keeping one inmate on death row was $80,000.00 per year. Of course that figure has gone up considerably since then.

Answer 10

An interesting and obviously thought-out posting.

Obviously, the Netherlands is on board with suggestion #1 and it works for them.