is Time In Jail Too Easy

how far back are we talking?

heh... a long time ago...

Too bad we can't get just the offenders back to those times

Now that everyone knows how great the Stony Dungeon is, Goth's prisoners are gonna go on strike for their own 56" plasma TV...

Time in Canadian prisons is like a resort vacation compared to prisons in 80% of the world.

@Dead - I would have to agree....having toured prisons, mental health facilities, hospitals etc....in over 25 countries and counting....

hell we have actual resort prinsons.

Our minimum security prisons are a FREAKIN JOKE... why even put people in that kind of jail, what is the use?

GUARD! My tea is luke!

Guard!!! Where be de Zigs mon?

At Headingley, it seems like it's "Guard...drop your drawers".

So that's why they call it HEADingley.....

Very good!

I like what Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doing or was doing in Arizona with his prisoners.......for starters its pink underwear for everyone, a mandatory work program out in the desert sun, and pretty much a bread and water diet. I'd think twice before reoffending under Joe's watch!

Sheriff Joe is supposedly up for his own reality show.

Sheriff Joe should start a franchise jail system

As far as sentences and jail time, here is what I would like to see:
-higher sentences for everything, 'life' should be 50-60 years at least, no sentence should be less than 2 or 3 years or so even for relatively minor things like car theft that dont normally get any jail time. (read the next part before blasting this idea)

-Parole or early release should be earned Through courses, counselling, and work.
If you are arrested for drug trafficking you must complete addictions counseling as well as a course educating you about the effects you are having on other people's lives by providing them with drugs.
If you commit a crime while drunk then part of your parole requirement would be that you attend alcohol addictions courses. If you kill someone while driving drunk you should be made to face the victim's family and explain your actions and the reason for your decision to drink and drive, maybe talk to a class of teenagers about the mistake you made. Things like that.
A grade 12 education should also be mandatory if the person does not have it yet.

on top of the education and counselling all inmates should be working to pay off the damage they cause. There is plenty of garbage to be picked up in and around the city. Ditches to be dug, trees to be planted, graffitti to be cleaned, whatever. Inmates would earn minimum wage, BUT all the money they earn goes towards paying for damages caused by thier crime.

for example, if its a car thief that stole your car and crashed into another, then any money they earn goes to paying the insurance company back for all the damage to both your car and the other persons. Any property that is damaged is easily assigned a dollar value.

Things like murder and rape obviously is harder to assign a dollar value for, but things like counselling, funeral charges, time off work, etc. etc. should all be payed off by the inmate.

Damage costs need a set limit for different categories so as not to make it impossible for someone to work off thier 'debt'. A first time car thief who steals an old beater and has the bad luck to crash into a $100,000 porsche or something should not be in jail for the next 10 years trying to pay it off. However someone who commits first degree murder should potentially spend the next 8-10 years working off the associated costs.
If and Only IF the criminal pays off his debt to his victims then they can start banking the money they earn. Hell, i'd even support giving them a 'raise' to a few dollars above minimum wage to promote the feeling of accomplishment and show them that working hard has rewards. This money could be used to buy luxury items for thier cells like computers or tv's or radios or whatever.

No jail should have to hire cleaning staff, cooks, laundry services, etc. except maybe for instructional purposes. All of this should be done by inmates.

now of course the big question here is how to make these criminals actually DO all this stuff.
The answer to that is simple. If they dont complete the required courses and finish paying off the damages caused, they dont get out a single day early. this is where the higher sentences really comes in, using the long sentences as a deterrent to people not participating. after all, why sit in jail for 3 years when you can do some courses, do some work, and be out in 1?

They dont wanna work or attend courses? they can sit and rot for thier whole sentence.
They dont want to help in the kitchen? they eat bread and water and nothing else.
They dont want to wash clothes in the laundry area? They can wear the same dirty smelly outfit and sleep on the same dirty smelly sheets until they do.

This enforces the idea of working for rewards and to improve yourself and not relying on handouts.

If someone refuses to work or contribute, they stay in jail for a long time. If they learn to work and improve themselves in jail and contribute to making thier lives better then they more easily integrate back into the rest of society when they are released from jail, and they may be released very early if they really work hard, which is more than fair.

this system incorporates rehabilitation, counselling and education together with working and the idea of actually repaying a debt to society. An effective justice system needs all these things working together.

Wow....cool. Nicely articulated Adam

Indeed it was. Indeed.

(So...we want to pay the criminals for breaking the law...to go to school and get an education which we as taxpayers would have to pay out of our own pocket in ADDITION to our rent/mortgage/bills if we wanted to go.) AGEsAces


You do now so whats the difference.

LivingDead wrote:Time in Canadian prisons is like a resort vacation compared to prisons in 80% of the world.

Sadly very true we have spoiled them , they can't be forced to do anything and they can refuse most things . Least it is for their safety or an order of a guard . There have been some great Ideas brought up on here .

ooo hey I know.. as a start.. lets do away with mandatory release after serving 2/3 of time.,

I think that working inmates get paid 20 or 30 cents an hour! If thoas numbers are accurate then repayment for damages are out of the question.
Perhaps there could be outside companies set up to use the labour, perhaps on a commission basis, so that the inmates could earn a reasonable wage, whatever that would be? I think that some of the programs may have this, but I am not sure.
Education and/or skill learning would be appropriate for success in the free world. I bet you that this is a current thing available? Does anyone know?
A friend of mine spent a year at the pen in the cottages after being evaluated as a non risk to offend(white collar crime). Those cottages are minimun security for a reason- the inmates in there are being readied for release and are not dangerous.

"bet you that this is a current thing available? Does anyone know?"

Stay in school?

there is plenty of courses, counselling, training and education available now yes.

however, there is really no reason for most criminals to participate in any of these resources, and therein lies the problem.

so we get back to sentences being focused not only on time.. but also on completing some form of training?

yeah, thats why in my idea above, the first thing that i think needs to be done is to make sentences ridiculously long.

We can never force anyone to do anything, but we can sure make the alternatives unappealing.
so someone who was a chronic car thief could attend some courses and work to pay of their debt, get out of jail in 6 months or a year, or spend a full 3 years rotting in a cell. I doubt that you would have many choose 3 years of time for a (relatively) minor crime like that. and once they actually had to do some hard work and realize the damage they are causing, you would not see many repeat offenders either.