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What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

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Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#81

Post by Ygg2 »

Nux wrote: post #59
Ygg2 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prison exist for two things: a) Punishment b)Rehabilitation. If it existed solely because a) then all sentences would be permanent. Personally I'd like to see end of prisons, at least for many minor offenses.

Re point "a", it doesn't make that much sense. Why would they be permanent? It should be permanent for very serious offences (murder etc). For minor offences I agree there shouldn't be a case of imprisonment. I'd send those people to do some community work and maybe learn something good from it.

Because if you don't want to rehabilitate them (i.e. acclimate them to world outside bars), what's the point of releasing them back?

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#82

Post by outworlder »

Ygg2 wrote: post #55
Nux wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Want to treat them like human beings? Don't put them in the damn prison in the first place! They're in prison because "justice" needs to be done for the crime they committed against fellow human beings. They're in there for _punishment_. Once you start giving them free meals, clothing, warmth, internet, tv - then what kind of punishment is this? Do you seriously want people who have robbed, killed, trafficked, drugge…

Prison exist for two things: a) Punishment b)Rehabilitation. If it existed solely because a) then all sentences would be permanent. Personally I'd like to see end of prisons, at least for many minor offenses.

Actually, I'd say there's only one reason for the existence of prisons: confinement. As in, removing someone who could otherwise present a physical threat to others.

Prisons might be a deterrent, but locking up people who never caused physical harm to others is insane. Those should be alternate sentences.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#83

Post by carlyle4545 »

lambersley wrote: post #79
carlyle4545 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first startup actually landed me in CA state prison. (Read about my prison sentence and my new project here: http://comebackasap.com/burn_the_boats/ ) Though I "only" served a year, the one thing I missed more than anything --including family, friends, and the touch of a woman-- was internet access. (I love my family, friends, and lady friends but a year away from them wasn't so bad. Fortunately I have no kids.) I…

Interesting idea. What would the premiums be based on? Were you able to find insurers willing to back this business model?

We've developed some proprietary risk assessment software that takes a variety of risk factors like age, gender, zip code, employment status, # of arrests, etc. and calculates the likelihood of an applicant returning to prison. Based on that, we determine premium amounts, down payment, or whether or not we can write a policy for them at all.

The CA Dept. of Corrections has a similar system called the CA Static Risk Assessment (CSRA) which they use to determine housing for inmates and eligibility for early release. Our algorithm uses far more variables than theirs to determine insurability.

>>>Were you able to find insurers willing to back this business model?<<< Our underwriter backed out at the last minute before launch several weeks ago. We're scrambling to replace them as of this writing. Surprisingly we've gotten interest from a number of different insurance companies to offer this.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#84

Post by richardlblair »

treerock wrote: post #69
richardlblair wrote: post #65

Because you were locked up for so long I'll go easy on you. Use a font size bigger than 13px... seriously. You're lucky I wanted to know what you had to say. Normally I'd just close the tab and never look back.

He says on hackerNews with it's 9pt text and 8pt headings.

You clearly missed the fact that i said px, and not pt.

I also find it hilarious that I get down voted on this of all things. Too funny.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#85

Post by coldtea »

coldtea wrote: post #30

telnet eee.fwed.dww 25 mail from: your_worst_nightmare@hell.com rcpt to: claris@isp.com I'm coming for you bitch. You know who. .

If you're keeping score, I got from +3 to -4 (current) for this one.

It's supposed to be a telnet SMTP session, using a fake email, and to mimic the standard cliche plot of Hollywood movies, with the convict returning to seek his revenge.

Not meant as misogynistic or anything (the "bitch" is written "in character").

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#86

Post by bramcohen »

carlyle4545 wrote: post #71
handelaar wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Read about my prison sentence and my new project here Tip: In the UK, operating a fund which hedges against criminal proceedings (colloquially, a 'bust fund') is a severe criminal offence in its own right. Do reassure me that you've made very sure nobody where you are is likely to prosecute you a second time :)

Unfortunately there aren't any reassurances I can give you. Several code sections in CA prohibit insurance against "willful acts, wrongful acts and criminal acts." However, Comeback's goal with custodial insurance isn't to make the consequences of being convicted of crimes less severe, it's to reduce the likelihood of recidivism upon release. In a state where the recidivism rate is a staggering 65%, at a cost of tens…

Low enforcement might start issuing warrants to hand over your customer list as a list of potential suspects. If I were you I'd start that rumor myself.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#87

Post by Spooky23 »

hackinthebochs wrote: post #70
Spooky23 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you were the guy working in the prison who is going to get stabbed to death by some inmate, you might feel differently.

Kill messages are so easy to get in as it is that I doubt internet access would have a huge impact. Even so, there are ways to mitigate it. Graduated access due to good behavior seems like an obvious one. The point is, we treat all inmates as if they're potential murderous drug kingpins. And this is exactly why the recidivism rate is so high. There are much better ways to rehabilitate than what we are doing today.

I agree -- I'm not defending the policy, I'm just trying to point out that these polices don't come out of a vacuum. People who run prisons are concerned about the welfare of their people first.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#88

Post by winter_blue »

bramcohen wrote: post #86
carlyle4545 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately there aren't any reassurances I can give you. Several code sections in CA prohibit insurance against "willful acts, wrongful acts and criminal acts." However, Comeback's goal with custodial insurance isn't to make the consequences of being convicted of crimes less severe, it's to reduce the likelihood of recidivism upon release. In a state where the recidivism rate is a staggering 65%, at a cost of tens…

Low enforcement might start issuing warrants to hand over your customer list as a list of potential suspects. If I were you I'd start that rumor myself.

> If I were you I'd start that rumor myself.

How would such a rumor help him at all? It would ruin his business!

> Low enforcement

I presume you were using some voice-to-text tool?

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#89

Post by winter_blue »

carlyle4545 wrote: post #71
handelaar wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Read about my prison sentence and my new project here Tip: In the UK, operating a fund which hedges against criminal proceedings (colloquially, a 'bust fund') is a severe criminal offence in its own right. Do reassure me that you've made very sure nobody where you are is likely to prosecute you a second time :)

Unfortunately there aren't any reassurances I can give you. Several code sections in CA prohibit insurance against "willful acts, wrongful acts and criminal acts." However, Comeback's goal with custodial insurance isn't to make the consequences of being convicted of crimes less severe, it's to reduce the likelihood of recidivism upon release. In a state where the recidivism rate is a staggering 65%, at a cost of tens…

> possibly even jail time

Are you really ready to go to jail, yet again? That sounds quite bold, and foolish... of you. (No offense intended.)

My 2 cents: if you start getting sued again, you should just leave the country, for some place[1] with not as inane laws. Perhaps Comeback might be more viable there.

[1] Dunno where though... perhaps somewhere in Europe? They probably have low rates of recidivism to start with, though.

As a side point, I can't help but think -- a lot of the recidivism in the U.S. is somehow driven by laws and a system that continues to be upheld by the "stake holders". The stake holders here are, ofcourse those private "prison-as-a-business" corporations.

Re: What It’s Like to Get Online After 25 Years in Prison

#90

Post by winter_blue »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #50
livnev wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rather than a dump on a prison server, it would be easier to get Wikipedia to block the prison IP range from editing. I believe that some schools (high schools/secondary schools, not universities) do this due to high rates of vandalism.

The "prison IP range"? What's that? There are literally thousands of prisons in the US (4500. We've got more than any other country in the world, go us.) Wikipedia certainly is not interested in the task of trying to track the IP addresses of each of these prisons. (Also, I can guarantee you that the vast majority of these prisons are served by under-resourced barely-competent IT departments.) (Also, it may not even…

I'm just wondering: is the high incarceration rate in the U.S. somehow connected to it's multi-ethnic makeup?

In Europe, and other places/countries with more homogeneous ethnic makeups, the incarceration doesn't seem to be that high. Scandinavia, for example.

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