Do prison inmates deserve privacy? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T09:37:06Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:119874?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A120232&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI think privacy should be at…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-20:537324:Comment:1373612008-04-20T03:53:54.757ZKaryn J. Powershttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/karyning
I think privacy should be at the top of the pyramid of rewards earned by adult prisoners, and only extended once that prisoner is on short-time and headed for release. I have worked as a volunteer inside a juvenile facility and seen the angelic faces of murders who couldn't yet shave. Incarcerated children must never be unobserved. They represent an all-you-can-eat buffet of prey for preditors (inmates and guardians alike).
I think privacy should be at the top of the pyramid of rewards earned by adult prisoners, and only extended once that prisoner is on short-time and headed for release. I have worked as a volunteer inside a juvenile facility and seen the angelic faces of murders who couldn't yet shave. Incarcerated children must never be unobserved. They represent an all-you-can-eat buffet of prey for preditors (inmates and guardians alike). I believe our prison system s…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-19:537324:Comment:1372612008-04-19T00:15:42.193ZL.J. Sellershttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LJSellers
I believe our prison system should be greatly simplified. All drugs should be legal for adults, and no one should go to jail on drug charges except for giving or selling drugs to a minor. That would reduce our prison population by at least half. Next, we should separate violent offenders from nonviolent offenders. The money saved in housing fewer people could be spent on drug rehab, social skills, mental health services, avocation classes, etc. Everyone should come out of prison a better person…
I believe our prison system should be greatly simplified. All drugs should be legal for adults, and no one should go to jail on drug charges except for giving or selling drugs to a minor. That would reduce our prison population by at least half. Next, we should separate violent offenders from nonviolent offenders. The money saved in housing fewer people could be spent on drug rehab, social skills, mental health services, avocation classes, etc. Everyone should come out of prison a better person or not all. Excellent point, Eric. The ba…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-18:537324:Comment:1372122008-04-18T16:12:11.507ZDoug M. Cummingshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DougMCummings
Excellent point, Eric. The baisic problem, though, isn't that inmates are treated like animals; many ARE animals and allowed to pick their prey at will. As a result, many non-violent offenders develop animalistic qualities to protect themselves and don't shed the habit when they're released. That's tragic. Unfortunately, any legislator who tries to budget enough money to protect inmates' welfare will be laughed out of committee, if not tarred and feathered and kicked from the statehouse or…
Excellent point, Eric. The baisic problem, though, isn't that inmates are treated like animals; many ARE animals and allowed to pick their prey at will. As a result, many non-violent offenders develop animalistic qualities to protect themselves and don't shed the habit when they're released. That's tragic. Unfortunately, any legislator who tries to budget enough money to protect inmates' welfare will be laughed out of committee, if not tarred and feathered and kicked from the statehouse or Capitol. I've watched politicians try to make improvements; it just ain't gonna happen. Private organizations try, too. In Illinois, the John Howard Association is doing the best it can to provide oversight to the state's jails (Cook County jail, the largest single-facility jail in the nation, has some divisions that the terms "disgusting" or "third-world" don't adequately describe. Been there, seen them, don't want to visit again.), prisons and juvenile facilities but there are never enough resources, even with three major federal lawsuits pending.<br />
As simplistic as Wambaugh's suggestion is (putting the worst offenders on an island and using them for parts), it appeals to me. In the real word, super-max prisons I think, are part of the answer. There aren't enough of them. The cost is significant and there are other problems. When you fill an institution with only stone killers, finding the right kinds of correctional officers can be difficult. Is privatizing prisons a better option? I'd rather see the surgically precise usage of Capital Punishment in very specific cases. But that's a discussion for another day. If you treat them like animal…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-18:537324:Comment:1371442008-04-18T04:35:08.220ZEric Christophersonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/datahog
If you treat them like animals in prison, don't be surprised if they act like animals when they get out.
If you treat them like animals in prison, don't be surprised if they act like animals when they get out. Was it Joseph Wambaugh's Bump…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-04-17:537324:Comment:1370282008-04-17T18:50:53.924ZDoug M. Cummingshttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DougMCummings
Was it Joseph Wambaugh's Bumper Morgan who believed the most serious offenders should be housed on a remote island somewhere and used for parts?<br />
Prisoners no more deserve privacy than gangbangers deserve free firearms training.<br />
Yes, prisons could be better managed, but the public will never support the kind of financing and legislative oversight that requires.<br />
Oh and not only are live babies being used to transport dope, dead ones are, too.
Was it Joseph Wambaugh's Bumper Morgan who believed the most serious offenders should be housed on a remote island somewhere and used for parts?<br />
Prisoners no more deserve privacy than gangbangers deserve free firearms training.<br />
Yes, prisons could be better managed, but the public will never support the kind of financing and legislative oversight that requires.<br />
Oh and not only are live babies being used to transport dope, dead ones are, too. During the course of my other…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-28:537324:Comment:1203492008-01-28T08:28:01.580Zhelen blackhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/helenblack
During the course of my other job - representing kids going through the care system I have been to jail more times than I care to remember. They are absolutely the most brutal, soul less places on God's earth.<br />
And please spare a thought that many in mates are mentally ill not evil.<br />
Also what we in the UK call YOI - I think you call it Juvenile prison in the States - is just a prison for children. In this country 60% of Yound Offenders have been through the care system which means they had no…
During the course of my other job - representing kids going through the care system I have been to jail more times than I care to remember. They are absolutely the most brutal, soul less places on God's earth.<br />
And please spare a thought that many in mates are mentally ill not evil.<br />
Also what we in the UK call YOI - I think you call it Juvenile prison in the States - is just a prison for children. In this country 60% of Yound Offenders have been through the care system which means they had no decent family to start with, no love, no support and now are receiving even less in jail...can we really expect them to come out of that and be useful members of society?<br />
I don't have any answers but am pretty sure the solution is not to make jail time harder.<br />
HB xxx The prison library that I kno…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-28:537324:Comment:1203232008-01-28T06:47:54.493ZMary Deehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/readstoclem
The prison library that I know about is a random collection of books and very few to serve the number of people who use it. Apparently there are no professional services and the books are mostly cast-offs. Getting to it is a major expedition and rarely possible, even if any of the books are desired, which decreases with each year spent there. Book lovers beg books from family and friends and then trade.<br />
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The TVs are always on but without sound. I don't know if that is all of the time or only…
The prison library that I know about is a random collection of books and very few to serve the number of people who use it. Apparently there are no professional services and the books are mostly cast-offs. Getting to it is a major expedition and rarely possible, even if any of the books are desired, which decreases with each year spent there. Book lovers beg books from family and friends and then trade.<br />
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The TVs are always on but without sound. I don't know if that is all of the time or only some of the time.<br />
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The definition of pornography is the broadest possible, including the works of Michaelangelo, etc.<br />
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I believe that prisons are necessary for a society to function, but they can be better managed. I also realize that prison services vary greatly from one state to another and within the various institutions of a given state. I believe they have libraries…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-27:537324:Comment:1202322008-01-27T23:20:18.351ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
I believe they have libraries in prisons. They also have T.V. Privacy may not be feasible where there is violence and/or suicidal prisoners. There is also a considerable traffic in contraband. Not sure why pornography should be a good thing in a place where inmates gang up to rape each other.<br />
No, prison is not a nice place. Not meant to be. And the prisons are overcrowded. That has more to do with the number of crimes committed per capita than with the cruelty of guards or the inhumanity of…
I believe they have libraries in prisons. They also have T.V. Privacy may not be feasible where there is violence and/or suicidal prisoners. There is also a considerable traffic in contraband. Not sure why pornography should be a good thing in a place where inmates gang up to rape each other.<br />
No, prison is not a nice place. Not meant to be. And the prisons are overcrowded. That has more to do with the number of crimes committed per capita than with the cruelty of guards or the inhumanity of society.<br />
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That is not to say that our laws are always fair. I correspond with an inmate i…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-27:537324:Comment:1202232008-01-27T22:59:13.458ZMary Deehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/readstoclem
I correspond with an inmate in a Texas prison. That state has the highest incarcarceration rate in the US (the world?). I have no idea what he did that put him there (suspect drugs) but he expects to die there and is is not yet 40. My own problem is chosing books to send him. Art books can contain no nude pictures and it is hard to find anything on art history without some nudes. Novels can contain no pornographic passages -- and since we have different reading tastes I send what he asks for or…
I correspond with an inmate in a Texas prison. That state has the highest incarcarceration rate in the US (the world?). I have no idea what he did that put him there (suspect drugs) but he expects to die there and is is not yet 40. My own problem is chosing books to send him. Art books can contain no nude pictures and it is hard to find anything on art history without some nudes. Novels can contain no pornographic passages -- and since we have different reading tastes I send what he asks for or what I think is similar but have no intention of reading -- so I am constantly guessing.<br />
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He is in a building designed for about half the population it now houses and his description of the tunnel to the giant shower room is a nightmare in itself and a violation of every safety code known, but it is an old building. One of the things that bothers him the most is the constant noise. That many people generate a lot of noise just being so close together and the prison uses a speaker system for announcements. The men who risk discipline to mute the speakers are called "saints."<br />
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I don't think privacy is an issue there -- survival is. The restriction on "pornography" is only a couple of years old and I do hope it goes away at some time in the future. Prisons vary greatly and, from the little I have seen on the subject, I think that Canadian prisons are considerably more humane than those in the US. Privacy is not an issue he has ever mentioned and I do not think he has any at all. One story he sent me described a guard ordering a prisoner to strip in a shared area and I took it to be an incident of personal experience. I wrote extensively about U.S…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-27:537324:Comment:1201752008-01-27T21:21:20.804ZLee Loflandhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/125Lee
I wrote extensively about U.S. prisons and jails in my book (non-fiction) on police procedure and investigation. Those particular chapters deal with an inmate's journey through the system - county, state, and federal - ending with executions. If you'd like, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.
I wrote extensively about U.S. prisons and jails in my book (non-fiction) on police procedure and investigation. Those particular chapters deal with an inmate's journey through the system - county, state, and federal - ending with executions. If you'd like, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.