Lets make criminals work more?

Question

I say if you have committed a bad crime you should become pretty much a free labor slave to society. Why do we pay all this money to house criminals when they are owing us?

Answer 1

How many raincoats can I make in one day?

Answer 2

While living in Alabama I nosed around to see how hard it was for a person incarcerated. Come to find out, they have: air-condition-cable-clothing- balanced meals - warm in the winter and -access to phones and the Internet. They have a yard to play with their inmates and socialize. Not only that they get a certain amount of dollars for being there and they don't have to pay taxes, support their selves, they get free housing and medical. What's wrong with this picture? I thought if they committed a crime, they are to be punished.

I spoke with one person that had a brother that had just been released and he had went to the nearest store. While in the store he told the clerk to give him all of his money. The clerk did, the robber then told him to call the police, that he would be waiting right outside. I ask why did he do this. The robber said: I can't deal with the outside, everything has changed and I'm not able to work, I have no money, no place to live, and I have no friends, worse yet, I don't like my family. He said he wanted to go home and that's where he went when the police came. The next time he got out, he tried to rob again and was murdered.

A prisoner has more rights than a hard working citizen. A citizen has to, work, pay taxes, support himself and his family. We have no say so and get billed for everything plus keep up all prisoners, military, political rich people, plus the people who are sucking all they can get for free. Somewhere along the line I never learned how to suck for government aid as in food stamps, free medical, or any other thing. I either worked or I went hungry and I did several times. So what can we do to make prisoners be punished instead of being rewarded for their crimes? Not a thing!

As for myself, I have never been arrested, not even a moving violation ticket,,,,,I feel as if I am the one being punished, not the criminals.

Answer 3

Because slavery devalues Labor. That's why the Antebellum South had a few rich folks and a lot of poor ones. And, thanks to the downward pressure on wages caused by Chinese Slave Labor and Indian Child Labor, the majority of people using government Social Serivces work full time without making ends meet--making Welfare the biggest Corporate giveaway going. Bringing back slavery in the US would just make the situation worse.

But we already make criminals work more through Drug Laws. It's been known for more than 40 years that half of all Street Crime, is the result of the artificially high prices the government sets for illegal drugs. Another quarter is committed by career criminals who could be put away for keeps if we had the resources to prosecute them effectively and the prison beds to keep them for long sentences.

Thus, a rational Drug policy that emphasized maintenance and Rehabilitation could cut street crime by 75% Substantially reduce Drug Law related crime and the rest of it gets a lot cheaper and easier to handle. Plus, the gangs wouldn't be so well funded.

What we're really paying for is the triumph of "Morality" and Authoritarianism over sound policy and Common Sense.

Answer 4

Clearly, you are uninformed about the corrections system in America. Virtually all state systems and the federal system require inmates to either participate in education programs (GED, ESL, etc) and/or to work at some job while incarcerated. The jobs can range from orderly (janitor) cleaning up the prison buildings to cafeteria worker to worker in a prison industries program. Lower custody inmates can be released to work cadres where they work outside the prison. My state building, for example, is cleaned by an inmate work cadre every day. The prison industries program makes furniture for state offices on state contract. While prisoners do earn money for the work they do, it is a pittance in comparison to what an outside worker would make, which therefore limits the type of work they can perform so as not to interfere with free trade and commerce with the advantage they have. But, most inmates DO work, at least in some capacity.

Answer 5

I don't know about "free slave labor"...but I do think prisoners should be put to work instead of being allowed to watch tv or hang out in their cells all day.

Answer 6

I agree, use them for the agriculture industry to take over the illegals jobs and other industries of labor. That way they get skills and have a sense of rehabilitation and worth instead of sittin around watchin satellite tv. I say especially the drug convictions would be the most beneficial from this, and fraud convictions and drunk driving convictions ........any non violent offense.

Answer 7

There is a program here in Colorado in which they are using inmates to work in the fields instead of illegals. We need more of that kind of thinking.

Answer 8

Works for me, I miss the old chain gang days!