why do criminals have so many rights?

Question

what about the rights of the victims..Prisons are playgrounds, they are supposed to be a deterent to a life of crime We need prison reform all right but not the way that the liberals want it What can be done.?, or does anyone really care...?

Answer 1

Under our legal system, criminals have few rights. Those accused of crimes have a number of rights because our system includes the concept of "innocent until proven guilty."

As for prisons, most people who argue that they are "playgrounds" have never been in one or done any serious investigations into what they are like. We have humane prisons for several reasons. One, because we are a humane, civilized nation. Why do some Americans advocate having third-world or communist style prisons? Two, because people treated like humans are more likely to act like humans. Privileges are given to prisoners so they can be taken away if they misbehave. Try to imagine how many guards and taxpayer dollars it would take to set up the "prison reform" that you advocate.

Answer 2

1. People accused of crimes have constitutional and civil rights because it is better to let the guilty go free than to punish the innocent. So you have a bundle of constitutional rights designed to put the state or government to the highest standards of proof and to decide ambiguous criminal statutory language in favor of the accused whenever possible so as to avoid making criminals out of the innocent.

2. Prisons are not playgrounds. They are dangerous places where dangerous people live and prey on the weaker inmates. Prisons mean rapes, beatings, killings, and privations of all kinds. Only the strong get "privileges" because they take from the weak. Prisons are jungles.

3. Prisons are a deterrent to crime. Those who are not professional criminals are not likely to recede back into crime when they come out of prison.

4. Finally, victims have rights. The first right a victim has and should exercise even before being victimized is self-defense.

Moreover, victims have the civil system at their disposal. And they have for better or worse, the police to protect them.

However, many times the "victims" are often criminals themselves as in druggie on druggie crime, pimp and prostitute, etc.

So what to do? Reform is tough. Maybe if they taught the animals in prison to live like ordinary people in society instead of letting them get more violent, then prisons would reform recidivists.

Is there a magic bullet? No. None of the experts can agree.

Answer 3

Criminals have rights because the people who make the rules are good people who want fairness for everyone, even miscreants and malcontents. Victims should also have rights but cannot in our system because our system would not allow anyone the power to act on more base instincts-our system believes that only it should have the power over life and death, freedom and imprisonment, etc. I do care about the state of our entire system. We could use a revamp. Something with more accountability and less gibber jabber.
We need three things when a crime is done: Compensate the victim, punish the criminal and rehabilitate the criminal so that the offense is not likely to occur.
At the same time, we would have to be able to tolerate ourselves, and each other when whatever system we create fails. Christ has a cure... Peace and may the Hand of God be upon you.

Answer 4

I've never been to prison but they are no playground.

I would eliminate all weight training equipment, no tv's only radio's, eliminate lunch rooms food in cells only design prisons so they have a way to go out into the sun from their cell but no physical interaction with other people in prison so this helps security guard safety.


Stop with the stupid Liberal argument

I think the media should take a lot of the blame. They only report on the "poor" prisoners and their so called mistreatment. You never hear about the victim or their family or what we can do to help or report it from their point of view.

Example MSNBC runs programs on prison life, they glorify killers with program after program especially on the weekends, they make the killer into a celebrity.

The News whichever program you choose spend 99% of their time on reporting death, crime and negative stories because it gets ratings.

This is from a so called Liberal

Answer 5

Here's a classic example of prison time lunacy:

A 14-year-old kid (East coast transplant with issues) decides to pull off a Columbine-esque school shooting at my old high school because he was sick of being picked on. He kills two others in cold blood and injures a handful of others.

This little scumbag is not given the death penalty because at the time, he was 14 (he's probably about 20 right now). He has, I believe, a 50 yr sentence and yet, he has a CD player, TV, stereo, etc. Plus, he has all the comforts of life without having to work for them such as free health care, three squares a day, and a place to go work out.

However, I do agree with Dusty P that if you treat criminals like humans, they will tend to act like humans.

Answer 6

The basic theory is that it is better for the guilty to go free than to convict the innocent. Of course, once convicted many rights are lost. But until convicted, we are "all innocent until proven guilty".

But what rights concern you? Think about these: would you want a policeman to be able to enter your home and search it without a warrant? how about being asked a question or two and being slapped around because the cop didn't like the answer or your race or just you in general? how about being accused of a crime and not being able to question the accuser or alleged witnesses? or being tried in camera (secret for those of you from Rio Lindo).

Frankly, any other way scares me.

Answer 7

In our system of law you're not a criminal until a judge or jury finds you guilty of a crime.
As for prison life, do you really think that the fact that a convict can lift weights or watch TV makes it a pleasant experience?

Answer 8

Why do they have rights? Because the government has to cover their *** as well if they get into something.
Looking at Paris Hilton, who now gets to go home and live on "house arrest" in a mansion for 40 days. It just depends on who you are, and who you know, to be treated a certain way.

Answer 9

I care, I work in a maximum security prison and convicts hate me because i pust to the limit the liberal shitty policies to the max and the convicts even hate that, they don't know how good they have it. Bunch of coward babies.

Answer 10

For Criminals all the rights should should be curtailed & later on all rights should be stopped.