How 'bout this question, it's basic, but very important to have a firm conception of if you're going to discuss anything about prison; what is the purpose of prison in the first place?
I personally believe we should send men to prison with one or both of two goals only. In the case of murder, attempted murder (attempted murder get's the same treatment in my book, you don't get off easier for being incompetent) and rape, the goal is to seperate that person from society and prevent them from doing further harm. Life in prison with no possibility of parole, because people who commit those crimes are not worth the risk of being let back out into the population. For lesser crimes, the goal of prison should be rehabilitation.
Punishment, in my opinion, does not enter into the equation. I don't support state-sponsored revenge, which is exactly what it is to send people to prison for "punishment." What are the reasons for such punishment? As has been pointed out, this kind of treatment often ends up with more dangerous characters leaving prison than going in. Why would we take someone off the street, treat them horribly for several years, and expect them to be more upstanding when we let them out? Every study I've seen says that nothing short of swift execution (swift meaning nearly immediate, sentence is passed, walk the guy down the courtroom steps to the gallows. no appeal) acts as a deterrent. How many people in the history of murder do you think have paused with that knife raised and thought "I could go to jail for this"? It simply does not happen.
Don't get me wrong, prison should suck ass (not in the literal salad tossing sense though). But the ass-suckingness of prison should be a means to an end, not the goal itself.
I personally believe we should send men to prison with one or both of two goals only. In the case of murder, attempted murder (attempted murder get's the same treatment in my book, you don't get off easier for being incompetent) and rape, the goal is to seperate that person from society and prevent them from doing further harm. Life in prison with no possibility of parole, because people who commit those crimes are not worth the risk of being let back out into the population. For lesser crimes, the goal of prison should be rehabilitation.
Punishment, in my opinion, does not enter into the equation. I don't support state-sponsored revenge, which is exactly what it is to send people to prison for "punishment." What are the reasons for such punishment? As has been pointed out, this kind of treatment often ends up with more dangerous characters leaving prison than going in. Why would we take someone off the street, treat them horribly for several years, and expect them to be more upstanding when we let them out? Every study I've seen says that nothing short of swift execution (swift meaning nearly immediate, sentence is passed, walk the guy down the courtroom steps to the gallows. no appeal) acts as a deterrent. How many people in the history of murder do you think have paused with that knife raised and thought "I could go to jail for this"? It simply does not happen.
Don't get me wrong, prison should suck ass (not in the literal salad tossing sense though). But the ass-suckingness of prison should be a means to an end, not the goal itself.
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