US Prison Crisis Hits New High (or Low?)

[karrie]

So... we should let most out?

It is so easy to look from Canada and be uppity when you don't have near the population or problems the US has.

We have laws... if you want to break them often enough you are going to find yourself in the slammer. If you're going to murder, rob, beat, rape, and in many cases sell drugs you're going to find yourself behind bars.



I was just saying that it was funny your concern about the US having a high prison population when Canada lets guys out OR doesn't send them at all and they commit heinous crimes.

Just a matter of time until the next thread comes out to prove my point.

Until then... this is from 1 week ago... enjoy!

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/news/116278-monster-ottawa-husband-found-guilty.html

I wasn't arguing with you that it doesn't happen. I actually agreed with you a few times.

And I'm not being 'uppity'. I'm talking about an interesting article that a friend posted to fb when complaining about the high incarceration rate in her country. 1 in 28 kids with a parent in prison, that's eye opening.

As for letting them all out....lol... sure, that's what I'm saying by talking about it.

Tons of people, within the US and without, see a problem and a need for some change.

 

[EagleSmack]

From awhile back we had this conversation...

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/hot-topics/111280-ridiculous-sentencing.html

 

[karrie]

BTW, the existence of a criminal who killed his wife and was sentenced for it has me confused as to how it proves your point.

Canada has criminals too?

Feel free to explain a bit more.

 

[EagleSmack]

As for letting them all out....lol... sure, that's what I'm saying by talking about it.

If you will review... I said many. I said 'many' to avoid this type of reply. You replied in kind regardless.

Tons of people, within the US and without, see a problem and a need for some change.

Such as?

BTW, the existence of a criminal who killed his wife and was sentenced for it has me confused as to how it proves your point.

Canada has criminals too?

Feel free to explain a bit more.

You see I deleted it... you were too quick for me kid!

 

[karrie]

From awhile back we had this conversation...

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/hot-topics/111280-ridiculous-sentencing.html

*scratches head* It still doesn't have anything to do with the rate of incarceration.
You're confusing incarceration rates with sentencing

If you will review... I said many. I said 'many' to avoid this type of reply. You replied in kind regardless.



Such as?

Such as not jailing people where a breach of law doesn't present a danger to the community. It seems like these sorts of incarceration rates are arising from black and white thinking, rather than from a community safety perspective.

 

[Spade]

List of countries by incarceration rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Incarceration rates per 100 000 population
US 716
Russia 484
China 170
Canada 114
Syria 58

Ain't America grand!

 

[EagleSmack]

List of countries by incarceration rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Incarceration rates per 100 000 population
US 716
Russia 484
China 170
Canada 114
Syria 58

Ain't America grand!

Heck yeah! Lock em' up!

Tons of people, within the US and without, see a problem and a need for some change.

I am sure! Just as long as they aren't moving into their neighborhood.

 

[karrie]

I am sure! Just as long as they aren't moving into their neighborhood.

Well, since you already tacitly agreed with me that Americans are not 7 times more likely to be dangerous than Canadians (as the incarceration rates would imply), then I really can't help feeling like your comment means the prisons help maintain community standards moreso than community safety.

 

[Goober]

One reason for the high incarceration rate is the 3 strikes law. Many States are repealing this as they do not work.

 

[EagleSmack]

Well, since you already tacitly agreed with me that Americans are not 7 times more likely to be dangerous than Canadians (as the incarceration rates would imply), then I really can't help feeling like your comment means the prisons help maintain community standards moreso than community safety.

What I have been saying all along is the people in jail are being punished for crimes committed. Now lets go ahead and release all non-violent criminals and you'll see a s*** storm with regards to it being a black and white issue.

I believe a guy who embezzles money should go to jail just like a guy that robs a liquor store. Even if he is not likely to offend again he deserves to be punished. Maybe not as harsh a sentence but he committed a crime.

 

[karrie]

What I have been saying all along is the people in jail are being punished for crimes committed. Now lets go ahead and release all non-violent criminals and you'll see a s*** storm with regards to it being a black and white issue.

I believe a guy who embezzles money should go to jail just like a guy that robs a liquor store. Even if he is not likely to offend again he deserves to be punished. Maybe not as harsh a sentence but he committed a crime.

I never said 'let them out'. But seriously, look at the value of future jail sentences (and yeah, the value of certain laws). The mom who got caught turning tricks to feed her kids, or the guy who got busted with pot. I guarantee your country did NOT get to the incarceration rates it has because everyone in jail is a danger, or even has committed a heinous crime.

 

[Goober]

What I have been saying all along is the people in jail are being punished for crimes committed. Now lets go ahead and release all non-violent criminals and you'll see a s*** storm with regards to it being a black and white issue.

I believe a guy who embezzles money should go to jail just like a guy that robs a liquor store. Even if he is not likely to offend again he deserves to be punished. Maybe not as harsh a sentence but he committed a crime.

Your opinion on the 3 strikes law would be appreciated. No this is not a setup question. I would not do that. But States are seeing it does not work.
They are also realizing the high incarceration rate is not sustainable.

 

[Spade]

Too often, those in prison are the dispossessed, the underclasses, the poor, the addicted, the mentally ill, those born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and the unlucky. Prisons offer these people punishment and criminal education, rather than hope and rehabilitation,

To a foreigner like me, America's gaols are goals not last resorts.

 

[karrie]

Too often, those in prison are the dispossessed, the underclasses, the poor, the addicted, the mentally ill, those born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and the unlucky. .

My comment to Eagle was an aha moment for me, and this echoes it....it's about protecting community standards rather than community safety.

 

[EagleSmack]

Too often, those in prison are the dispossessed, the underclasses, the poor, the addicted, the mentally ill, those born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and the unlucky. Prisons offer these people punishment and criminal education, rather than hope and rehabilitation,

To a foreigner like me, America's gaols are goals not last resorts.

Then let them free! We'll be soooo much better. Decriminalize prostitution, drugs, and anyone with a doctors note saying they have mental issues... let them walk. Oh... and if they're "underclass"... let them walk as well.

You folks are looking at this as if it was Canada... it isn't. Not by a long shot.

Your opinion on the 3 strikes law would be appreciated. No this is not a setup question. I would not do that. But States are seeing it does not work.
They are also realizing the high incarceration rate is not sustainable.

The 3 strikes law is so vast. It is not an I am for it or against it. The goal was to put people who are career criminals behind bars. Now these folks that are in the slammer for being habitual offenders are whining about being in prison KNOWING that it could happen.

And it is not as simple as 3 arrests or 3 convictions of any type and you're going away for life or 25 years. Go look up the 3 strike law and you'll see.

 

[Kreskin]

I'm of the opinion that Eagle should be paroled. Free EagleSmack NOW!

 

[Spade]

I'm of the opinion that Eagle should be paroled. Free EagleSmack NOW!

No, that would be a sign of weakness; the Eagle would not respect us!

 

[petros]

Free the seagull!

 

[tay]

On Wednesday, news broke that Idaho is dumping the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and searching for a new company to run the state's biggest prison. The prison is so violent that prisoners call it the "Gladiator School," and it has been the subject of both an ACLU lawsuit and an Idaho State Police investigation.

And earlier this year, CCA admitted that its employees had falsified nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records at the prison over a seven-month period, billing the state for security posts that they actually left unfilled.


The grisly records of these CCA prisons exemplify why handing control of prisons over to for-profit companies is a recipe for abuse, neglect, and misconduct. A study conducted by the Idaho Department of Corrections in 2008 found that there were four times more prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at ICC than at Idaho's other seven prisons combined. As detailed in the ACLU's 2011 report, Banking on Bondage, several studies suggest that prisoners in for-profit prisons face greater threats to their safety than those in publicly-run prisons – a possible reflection of the higher staff turnover in private prisons, which can result in inexperienced guards walking the tiers. Additionally, numerous groups have condemned the perverse incentives involved in for-profit incarceration, often emphasizing the inherent conflict between the goal of rehabilitation and the company's profit motive.

One worrisome aspect of the Idaho and Mississippi contract terminations, however, is that these prisons aren't actually being returned to state hands. In Idaho, Board of Corrections Chairperson Robin Sandy said that the state won't be allowed to take over the Gladiator School because that would amount to "expanding" state government. And in Mississippi, the state has awarded the new Wilkinson County contract to MTC – the same company that runs East Mississippi Correctional Facility (the subject of a new prison conditions lawsuit filed just last month by the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center) and the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility (which was recently found to have the highest inmate assault rate of any prison in Mississippi).

more


Corrections Corporation of America Loses Four Prison Contracts This Month | American Civil Liberties Union

 

[hunboldt]

On Wednesday, news broke that Idaho is dumping the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and searching for a new company to run the state's biggest prison. The prison is so violent that prisoners call it the "Gladiator School," and it has been the subject of both an ACLU lawsuit and an Idaho State Police investigation.

And earlier this year, CCA admitted that its employees had falsified nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records at the prison over a seven-month period, billing the state for security posts that they actually left unfilled.


The grisly records of these CCA prisons exemplify why handing control of prisons over to for-profit companies is a recipe for abuse, neglect, and misconduct. A study conducted by the Idaho Department of Corrections in 2008 found that there were four times more prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at ICC than at Idaho's other seven prisons combined. As detailed in the ACLU's 2011 report, Banking on Bondage, several studies suggest that prisoners in for-profit prisons face greater threats to their safety than those in publicly-run prisons – a possible reflection of the higher staff turnover in private prisons, which can result in inexperienced guards walking the tiers. Additionally, numerous groups have condemned the perverse incentives involved in for-profit incarceration, often emphasizing the inherent conflict between the goal of rehabilitation and the company's profit motive.

One worrisome aspect of the Idaho and Mississippi contract terminations, however, is that these prisons aren't actually being returned to state hands. In Idaho, Board of Corrections Chairperson Robin Sandy said that the state won't be allowed to take over the Gladiator School because that would amount to "expanding" state government. And in Mississippi, the state has awarded the new Wilkinson County contract to MTC – the same company that runs East Mississippi Correctional Facility (the subject of a new prison conditions lawsuit filed just last month by the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center) and the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility (which was recently found to have the highest inmate assault rate of any prison in Mississippi).

more


Corrections Corporation of America Loses Four Prison Contracts This Month | American Civil Liberties Union

thank you, Tay. an excellent post on a 'Corrections' approach gone badly wrong...