I'd like to know your thoughts on the following reform of the prison system:
1. We gradually eliminate Canada's current prisons and replace them with two: one for men, and one for women, possibly with other means of dealing with female inmates who are pregnant or with children.
2. These two (or possibly three, as mentioned above concerning maternal inmates) prisons, would not be regular prisons, but rather prison cities.
By prison city, I don't necessarily mean a massive city, but something big enough to count as a 'city' or at least 'town' none-the-less (let's say the radius of 2 square kilometres).
Naturally, these cities would also be fortified, and possibly isolated from other population centres too. They would also be permeable at least to non-inmates of the same sex (subject to security checks to ensure identity, gender, and any concealed weapons, drugs, etc. of course). This would mean that non-inmates of the same sex could enter or leave these cities at will, though of course the inmates could not. However, only inmates would be allowed to reside within its walls, the others being strictly day visitors.
The result of such a policy is that businesses could in fact invest in these cities and establish companies there just like in regular society, and do business with the inmates. The advantages would be that inmates would still be required to work, buy their own food, pay their own rent, and also pay a prison residency tax to offset the costs of guarding them. Of course inmates suffering from illiteracy, lack of education, or some addiction that contributed to his imprisonment could still receive the necessary help to get the education or therapy he needs to ensure he comes out of prison a better man or woman. Otherwise, they'd just work in prison and live their lives more or less like we do out of prison.
Another advantage is that a prisoner, once released from prison, might be able to continue to work at the same company (though granted, once no longer a registered prisoner, he'd still have to reside off-grounds and enter only as a day-time visitor to go to work every day). Many such former prisoners could ask for transfers from their employers later to other locations, or some companies might have offices both on and off-site just outside prison walls, so that once a prisoner is released, he can be transfered to the offsite office just outside the prison walls, near where he could rent another apartment.
I believe the concept of a prison-city could make prisoners less economically dependent on the general society.
Any ideas on this?
1. We gradually eliminate Canada's current prisons and replace them with two: one for men, and one for women, possibly with other means of dealing with female inmates who are pregnant or with children.
2. These two (or possibly three, as mentioned above concerning maternal inmates) prisons, would not be regular prisons, but rather prison cities.
By prison city, I don't necessarily mean a massive city, but something big enough to count as a 'city' or at least 'town' none-the-less (let's say the radius of 2 square kilometres).
Naturally, these cities would also be fortified, and possibly isolated from other population centres too. They would also be permeable at least to non-inmates of the same sex (subject to security checks to ensure identity, gender, and any concealed weapons, drugs, etc. of course). This would mean that non-inmates of the same sex could enter or leave these cities at will, though of course the inmates could not. However, only inmates would be allowed to reside within its walls, the others being strictly day visitors.
The result of such a policy is that businesses could in fact invest in these cities and establish companies there just like in regular society, and do business with the inmates. The advantages would be that inmates would still be required to work, buy their own food, pay their own rent, and also pay a prison residency tax to offset the costs of guarding them. Of course inmates suffering from illiteracy, lack of education, or some addiction that contributed to his imprisonment could still receive the necessary help to get the education or therapy he needs to ensure he comes out of prison a better man or woman. Otherwise, they'd just work in prison and live their lives more or less like we do out of prison.
Another advantage is that a prisoner, once released from prison, might be able to continue to work at the same company (though granted, once no longer a registered prisoner, he'd still have to reside off-grounds and enter only as a day-time visitor to go to work every day). Many such former prisoners could ask for transfers from their employers later to other locations, or some companies might have offices both on and off-site just outside prison walls, so that once a prisoner is released, he can be transfered to the offsite office just outside the prison walls, near where he could rent another apartment.
I believe the concept of a prison-city could make prisoners less economically dependent on the general society.
Any ideas on this?
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