Imprisonment, Moot.

[Akhenaten]

Statistics
More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, as of June 30, 2007, American prisons and jails held 2,299,116 inmates.

Normal Stuff

We appear to have this... love of throwing others into cells, however let us look at this from an objective standpoint.

We remove the 'dangerous criminals' (According to the US Department of Justice, approximately 30-40 percent of all current prison admissions involve crimes that have no direct or obvious victim other than the perpetrator ((November 21, 2007)) from the streets, and sleep better at night. We don't, however, appear to have a purpose in putting them there. Yes, they are away from others, where they can harm no one... yet like an animal at the pound, we lock them into a cage, and expect a good obedient citizen to come out of the otherside. Tell me honestly, if I lock you in a cage with monsters for two years, shall you learn obedience? Or shall you, yourself, become a monster by proxy and survival?

This is the primary issue with prisons, it is supposed to be a crime stopper, yet for some strange reason those whom get out of prison have such a bad reputation it is almost impossible to get a job... why is this? People have a tendency to come from Prison a vast deal more violent than they were before... its survival. Having spent a number of months in Iraq myself, we find that any time you lock men up together, and do not let them leave, in bad conditions... fights break out... we almost had a guy shoot his Sgt simply because he was pissed one day (he is also, now, locked in a hole)... its called Cabin Fever. Letting them go outside for Recess doesn't really account for a feeling of freedom.

We often say that the greatest thing of living in our country is our Freedom, yet for some reason that is often the first thing we take from you (Completely) any time you do something that we disagree with. When we take a closer look at the Law system currently established in the united states, we find that over 63% of the laws are ones designed to protect our opinions, and to remove the contradictory opinions of others (others, of course, includes us, as there is not one citizen that agrees with all laws). How sad is it that we are willing to throw away our own people because they don't see our perspective... talk about destroying democracy.

My generation was once called the 'Future of America' though we are ignored and told we are wrong in our ideals and beliefs. How many, truly, believed that we were the future? If you believe that children are the future, perhaps we should begin listening to the children whom have reached the age to formulate a logical argument against the actions of those whom preceed us? We were the future, until it was discovered that we disagreed, and we ceased to be the future. We are now considered, by most, to be the lesser generation because we question. That, truly, was the greatest right any of us ever had... the right to question anything we so chose. We now question your actions, and this will not go away, and yes our generation will be the future, one cannot meerly ignore and hope that over a third of our population goes away.

[Dreamshift]

This sums up my feelings on prisons, this was from another thread: Does Society Need Prisons?

We have distinctly forgotten a type of person who goes to prison: the smart, but caught. If I ran a scam business that robbed hundreds of people to the point of bancrupcy what does it matter if I get fined? Let's say I'm rich, filthy stinking I've-got-accounts-in-sweeden rich any fine, no matter the reasonable amount is not something I fear. I'm citing this because what would we do with those higher ups in ENRON who left thousands in the dumps economically? What do they care about a fine? Rob them into bancrucy it doesn't matter, they're smart people and they'll find their way back up a ladder somehow. You have to put these people in prison. THey have no mental illness but the desire to be greedy and get away with it. You can't rehbilitate the genious and greedy,you could try to make them feel guilty and regretful, but really? they rob thousands of millions of dallars and they just get to feel regretful? That's not nearly enough for what they did. REAL criminals are people who are right in the head, but for reasons of personal gain, do things that hurt others. They aren't ill, they aren't incidental in their crimes--they just got caught. You can't change them with pills or thearapy, they do know better, but their personal desires overode that knowledege. You need prision for these people, ONLY these people. Yeah, a flasher doesn't really need a prison sentnce (and doesn't), nor does a mentally handicapped person who kills some one because they were angry (and they don't go to prison either). And yeah, unidentified illnesses in a person can cause them to do things, and yes the shouldn't go to prison. But for those who are mentally healthy and commit crimes for selfgain do deserve to go to prison.

A colombian drug lord might have his share of mental baggage, but he desrves to go to prison for the countless people he had to scilence to make his buck.

An Enron CEO could have been poor and distitute in his childhood, and made him work super hard to get there, and it could have made him feel ok when he smashed peoples faces as he climbed over them on the ladder. (I'm not rolling in it, and so I don't think that being poor makes you do bad things, Good people can be poor too--ruthless people as well) They deserve to go to prison

You can't just fine a company or treat the CEOs of that company when they do something illgal. If you fine them, then its just a math game. If their lawyers tell them that the maximum fine for dumping chemicals into a lake is X amount of dollars, but to dispose of the chemicals is >X amount of dollars, then they'll risk the fine to get away with poisoning an entire ecosystem. You have to do something to them that is more than money or a slap on the wrist that won't cure them of being greedy: prison sentences.

[Belinda]

I agree that imprisoning people does not in itself turn them into good citizens, and usually makes them worse than when they went inside.

The answer my friend is reducing the poverty and meaninglessness that is the root cause of most crime.

(I'm not rolling in it, and so I don't think that being poor makes you do bad things

(Dreamshift)

Right, Dreamshift.( I dont have much money either) However being poor is significantly often a necessary condition though not a sufficient condition for becoming a criminal.


for those who are in prison for the protection of the majority they should ,especially the young, be rehabilitated to such effect so that on release they will be successful in not re-offending.

You can't rehbilitate the genious and greedy,you could try to make them feel guilty and regretful, but really?

(Dreamshift)

I agree you cannot rehabilitate some psychopaths.These have to be locked up permanently for the protection of the majority, with many safeguards such as testimony from psychiatrists. Problem is that imprisonment on psychiatric grounds has been misused as in the old USSR.The authorities simply shifted the goal posts.Is the answer increasing deterrents to corporate crime, as well as the state employing experts who are able to detect when corporate crimes are taking place?


Many people cannot understand why our government here in the UK has not effected this . We have a Financial Services Authority, a non-governmental organisation with a remit to protect consumers and examine the financial affairs of businesses ,which obviously has failed to protect customers against the risky and possibly criminal activities of some bankers.