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Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

themarshallproject.org

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Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#52

Post by phone8675309 »

vxNsr wrote: post #48

I always have trouble with posts like these, the comments are full of people who ask why prisons exist, and seem to imply they would rather crime and criminal behavior not be punished at all. They also chafe at the idea that prisons should be allowed to inhibit their inhabitants’ freedom in anyway. As if prison should actually be a really nice free hotel that we send people who commit murder and rape. I totally get t…

[flagged]

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#53

Post by troupe »

> A software change in my prison-issued electronic tablet ate up my drafts

I didn't realize that prisoners were allowed tablets. Evidently there is a business that will give prisoners tablets at no charge, but then basically charge them to use those tablets. This seems like something a non-profit could do a lot better job of.

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#54

Post by Afton »

avazhi wrote: post #51

[flagged]

There are several philosophical approaches to the purpose of prison. 1. Revenge 2. to keep society safe from dangerous/anti-social people 3. to provide a safe space for rehabilitating people for re-integration.

I tend to view (1) as the worst possible option, even discounting the fact that we are completely 100% aware of the existence of false convictions. You are entitled to believe that revenge is a valid society choice, but I will definitely judge you for believing that.

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#55

Post by troupe »

vinaypai wrote: post #16
anotherhue wrote: post #4

Is there a reason, other than capitalism/entrenched interests, that the prison service doesn't have its own in house software? A non profit could perhaps assist.

The root cause is that a huge portion of the US population sees prisons entirely from a punitive point of view. Want to reduce prison sentences? Improve conditions? You're soft on crime!

> Improve conditions?

It seems like there might be room for improving conditions in ways that will help prevent them from being back in prison later. Education and working in a way that develops skills are two ways that come to mind.

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#56

Post by rhn_mk1 »

avazhi wrote: post #51

[flagged]

You're expected to feel the limit. What is the sufficient punishment for a 2nd murder? Does it include being arbitrarily robbed of your work? What is the lightest transgression that deserves being treated with implicit promises about basic freedoms followed by taking them away without a warning?

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#57

Post by morelisp »

vxNsr wrote: post #48

I always have trouble with posts like these, the comments are full of people who ask why prisons exist, and seem to imply they would rather crime and criminal behavior not be punished at all. They also chafe at the idea that prisons should be allowed to inhibit their inhabitants’ freedom in anyway. As if prison should actually be a really nice free hotel that we send people who commit murder and rape. I totally get t…

> ended someone else’s life in cold blood

As he's convicted of 2nd degree murder, this is precisely what he did not do.

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#58

Post by xp84 »

vxNsr wrote: post #48

I always have trouble with posts like these, the comments are full of people who ask why prisons exist, and seem to imply they would rather crime and criminal behavior not be punished at all. They also chafe at the idea that prisons should be allowed to inhibit their inhabitants’ freedom in anyway. As if prison should actually be a really nice free hotel that we send people who commit murder and rape. I totally get t…

> you deserve to be punished.

I don't like scumbags who commit those crimes any more than you do, but honestly, if we just want to be as f'd up as possible to them, then it starts to get pretty close to the "just do capital punishment" argument. If on the other hand we'd like them to reform themselves so we don't just have to keep them locked up forever or kill them, various forms of psychological torture run counter to those goals so we actually should care that they're not being subjected to cruelty.

If you look at prison as a whole, I don't think the needle is anywhere close to "so pleasant that people don't even want to stay out of it" so no, I don't think it's necessary to make every aspect of it worse just to spite them. It won't bring the victims back. And just having them locked up at all is sufficient to keep the rest of society safe.

Re: Writing Is My Main Freedom. One Day My Work Disappeared (2021)

#59

Post by orange_joe »

Afton wrote: post #54
avazhi wrote: post #51

[flagged]

There are several philosophical approaches to the purpose of prison. 1. Revenge 2. to keep society safe from dangerous/anti-social people 3. to provide a safe space for rehabilitating people for re-integration. I tend to view (1) as the worst possible option, even discounting the fact that we are completely 100% aware of the existence of false convictions. You are entitled to believe that revenge is a valid society c…

I don’t fully buy into rehabilitative Justice. I’ve not read an account of how to handle one off crimes. Things like manslaughter or negligence. Crimes with extremely low rates of recidivism. Should people who commit these crimes be let off without consequence? If the point is character building, do you simply keep people imprisoned until their character improves. I’m not saying you have these answers but I haven’t seen them elsewhere.
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