Do you think that prisons should be more of a punishment?

Question

Why should inmates have all the luxuries in prison, such as TV, exercise area, etc? Do you think that if prison was harder, it would be more of a deterrant for people to commit crimes? Why should our tax dollars pay for all the "extras?"

I did a college paper that showed Ohio spends an average $67/day per inmate and LESS than $4/day per child for Early Childhood Education. One prison in Ohio spent over $800/day per inmate...come on!! Who of us makes $800/day!

lawdawg...I have heard of Sheriff Joe!!! Yes, more should be like him!!

No, eizus, it was not a "rich persons" prison. It was a mental prison.

Sugarbear...I am a teacher. I meant how many of us, the backbone of society, makes $800/day? Really? You make $800/day as a registered nurse?

Believe me, I DID do my homework on this, as I am active in the fight for prison reform.

Answer 1

YES!! It is ridiculous the luxuries the most prisons afford inmates. Every state and the federal goverment should take a page out of the book of Sheriff Joe in AZ. His inmates are required to work 16 hour days. The eat hot dags and pb & j everyday. He had taken away T.V. until he was told that it was federally mandated that he must provided select cable channels for the inmates, so they get the disney chanel and the weather chanel so they knew how hot it is going to be the next day for work.

Answer 2

I agree that prisons should not be considered hotels. Prisoners should be put back on the "chain-gang" concept. They should be forced to work prison farms in which vegetables are grown to be provided to low income families and homeless shelters.
Many prisoners that are currently serving time are doing so because they know no other life. Many were mental patients and were put out onto the streets when the states cut funding to mental institutes.
Many are there because they have no place else to be and it is the easy way to get shelter and three square meals a day, free medical coverage and an education that costs them nothing. Quite a few people in this country don't want to work for anything. That is the leading
Prisons should be made so bad that people do not want to return to them and are willing to get a job to support themselves.
But on the other side of the coin its better that we pay for them to be in prison than on the streets and stealing the things that hard working people own.

Answer 3

,A prison is an institution,it can be a penitentiary,rehabilitation or a correctional facilities.The people get in prison to pay for the crime that they committed,and they were deprived of their personal freedom.
But the case that you have in Ohio,I wonder why there are some people wants to commit crime so that they will be in prison and have a shelter and a luxury of having a 3x a day meal,education/technical trainings,a recreation area and a daily earnings form the taxpayers pocket.WOW,that's why they cut the sentence for Paris Hilton because the prison/correctional are overcrowding

Answer 4

I'm sure that quoted prices for everything divided up per inmate like the whole cost of the prison, but yeah it does suck that for some reason people think these criminals get all these "extras", but that is the way it is. What is even worse to realize is because of all the appeals and how long it takes and such it costs more to give them the death sentence then it does to keep them in jail for life.

Answer 5

Absolutely. Prison seems like it's 'society's wastebasket', instead of a place to really teach criminals a lesson. I'm sure the TVs and gyms are there to keep them quiet (not that it works, but...)

I say, bring back the chain gangs. If they're going to be punished, they need to be put to use in society. It keeps them used to working (so they won't be parasites if they are released), punishes them (hard labor), and benefits society as a whole (saving money - not paying for the labor). I'd much rather see prisoners laying brick than see Bubba jacking off on the prison sofa while watching Jerry Springer.

This will also deter any potential criminals.

Answer 6

Since it has been shown that they are all but useless as a rehabilitation tool and in fact are a school to learn how to be a better criminal, yes.

Here a tidbit you might enjoy. After one of the past rounds of base closings, a former barracks on the former Air Force base was proposed to be used as a minimum security prison. They had to drop the idea because the rooms were smaller then what was allowed for prisoners.

Answer 7

prisons are a very difficult place to live and survive. the constant assaults and fights ran by gangs.other than that the prisons have been made to easy for the criminals.if you make the prisons to where the inmates dislike the place then they will stop getting in trouble so much.now they do not mind going cause the place is easy.

25 year retired deputy sheriff

Answer 8

Yes. And teachers should make at least as much as prison guards.

Prisoners families should not be able to give them anything until the prisoner makes adequate restitution. Let them spend time on an exercycle making electricity at 10 cents a kilowatt. In their cell. You can't earn enough, you don't get out. Not enough electricity, no heat in the kitchen, or the prison.

The prisoners are a financial drain on society. But construction firms make money building them.

Answer 9

The reason these are provided in prisons, most inmates would lose their sanity without certain things like TV and book, and to keep inmate violence to a mininum.. Yes would you really want a criminal to lose their sanity while in Prison, then when they get out they commit even more crimes and now have an excuse.

Answer 10

Yes, I do... I have a Masters in CJ and I have completed extensive reseach and cost analysis on how much it cost to operate both adult and juvenile prisons. The inmates have a better life than most of us... Free meals, a job, a place to sleep.... Yes it should be tougher and less pleasant for them. Most criminals don't believe the " Hedonic Calculus" theory by Jeremy Bentham....