Should Britain introduce "chain gangs" for convicts?

Question

Would this be an answer to the shambolic 'over-crowding' of our prisons. Think about it, If we have a referendum on Capital punishment and introduce nightly hard labour for the severe criminals we may have a solution. There are criminals in prison today (such as those non payers of taxes) which let's face it don't need to spend the daytime in jail. So cell sharing with serious criminals who would be smashing rocks through the night, would allow these people to remain at work yet still be punished by having to turn up at prison every evening.

I might be wrong, but should we not explore every idea, rather than simply freeing them early

Answer 1

A three tier system may work ,

cat 3 prisoners light offenders, clearing rubbish/litter from public places and verges etc under minimal supervision
if work is up to scratch, allow home for weekends

cat2 prisoners medium offenders,manual labour ditch digging road repairs graffiti cleaning etc.

cat1 prisoners lifers 30 years hard labour with the choice of lethal injection., if sex offenders no release without castration

build 1 prison of each cat in each county as a minimum

punish the guilty not the victims bring back the rope
bring back the cat
bring back public floggings
bring back ducking stools
bring back the stocks
bring back the cane
bring back free school milk
bring back free school dinners
hang every bang to rights murderer, rapist ,child molester ex labour priminster, current labour priminster, ken bates,
and any one i might have forgot

Answer 2

right you are, mate. explore every avenue available & then look some more. here in the states, we had chain gangs & know what? except for the bleeding hearts (liberals), it worked. also loaned these guys out to farmers to work their fields, etc. don't like working on these chain gangs? then...don't break the law & get arrested, dummy! we also have community service and weekend tours for offenders of minor crimes. oh & by the way, we still have chain gangs in the usa, well - kind of... they are road workers, dressed in prison greys with red strips. everyone locally knows who they are. what? miss it? how can you? you've got 10-20 men working on road clean-up or renewal and an open bed truck few feet away with a high sherrif/police person holding a rifle waist high. their orders are to shoot to kill if any bolts away but this is rare. it's the other inmates who watch out for the others. this roadside detail is coveted & a whole lot better than sitting in a small cell. so if any one of their numbers risks the detail shutting down, the high sherrif probably won't have to fire his gun. the remaining inmates would most likely beat the crap out of the escaped/captured offender for first, risking flight & second? potentially shutting down a sweet deal.

Answer 3

I don't do capital punishment but I'm all for chain gangs. Getting some productive use out of those that have violated us should be an accepted part of the penal process, instead of just having them sit around in big buildings for years.

That along with an excellent idea put forward by by another member of Yahoo Answers to reduce prison overcrowding... outsourcing to cheaper prison locations, like Turkey or Thailand.

Answer 4

Hi
It should depend on the type of crime - but in general - YES - maybe for lifers and those that are non reformable - we should have areas of the world where we send these people where they can observe just how lucky they are to live in this society and have to work pretty hard for their food and keep.
For those with shorter sentences and who are deemed reformable should be allowed to remain in the UK - but it should not be an easy ride for them - no free meals!
We have a real shortage in this country of farm labourers and people to pick crops - back breaking but useful work and maybe the farmers could pay the prison system for the upkeep of the prisoners,
There lots of thankless work - how about canal dredging - sewers need rebuilding - road sides need cleaning etc.
Essence is show them how lucky they were when they were out - and make them earn their keep.

Answer 5

Directly, no it is not a solution to overcrowding. However, it does help with true rehabilitation. People who are placed in chain gangs are less likely to return to prison because they don't want to repeat the experience.

Answer 6

Great idea - but instead of smashing rocks, set them to building more prisons to solve the overcrowding problem, teaching them constructions skills at the same time.

Answer 7

First thing needed to do is massive overhall of criminal justice system.

Second look at alternatives to prison - ie community justice, heavy financial penalties for offenders including seizure of property.

Third - castration for deviant sexual offenders, electronic monitoring, home detention.

The community needs to get more involved with 'policing' and justice issues to determine what is appropriate for what kind of crime.

Answer 8

I would suggest not smashing rocks but chain gangs working on the roads and housing them in secure tent encampments to save on building costs etc. There is a chappie in America who gets re-elected as Mayor year after year because he is so successful in this approach

Answer 9

Most deffinately yes, couldn't agree with you more.
Problem is it would never happen as it would "Breech their human rights" so all you would get would be prisoners sueing the government, forget the people whos human rights they breeched to end up in clink to begin with.

Answer 10

Only chain smoking gangs