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I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

theguardian.com

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Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#201

Post by ImSkeptical »

hellcow wrote: post #42
bmmayer1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fewer than 10% of prisoners are held in private prisons, so how are private prisons the 'central problem' with the US prison system?

You misunderstood my point. Both government-run and privately owned prisons are paid (or funded) based on how many inmates they have in custody. I'm suggesting that private prisons could be solution to the problem if we change their incentive structure.

I've always thought an easy solution would be to pay private prisons based on recidivism. e.g. The government gives twenty percent of all future tax income from the inmate to the prison company - until the inmate is incarcerated again.

The government gains an incentive not to jail people unnecessarily (loss of revenue). Prisons get an incentive to rehabilitate and educate.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#202

Post by BigJono »

pillowkusis wrote: post #26
arcticbull wrote: post #7

Honestly, I find the US prison system absolutely horrifying in all respects. As satisfying as it may be for victims to feel the person that did something to them is 'gone' they will eventually be let out, and when they do I want them to be ready to integrate with society. Recidivism rates in the US show it is objectively not working, with state prisons leaving inmates to re-offend 76% of the time. [1] In Norway, much…

the challenge is that literally nobody is incentivized to make changes to this system. the situation is really bad for politicians. A politican voting to reform a clearly broken prison system faces tons of risks to their career. Even one wrong vote for improving the prison system will get you labeled as "soft on crime," a dangerous liability for Democrats and nearly a death sentence for Republicans. Every change you…

The solution is to push through the correct solution by playing the exact same game. Politicians interested in reform are for the most part far too quiet. Every time there is a violent crime committed by an ex-convict they need to use that politically to absolutely slam the criminal justice system until something is done. "Tough on the crime system" is just as good as "Tough on crime" if you're loud and obnoxious enough whenever a camera is put in your face.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#203

Post by Clubber »

hellcow wrote: post #24
arcticbull wrote: post #7

Honestly, I find the US prison system absolutely horrifying in all respects. As satisfying as it may be for victims to feel the person that did something to them is 'gone' they will eventually be let out, and when they do I want them to be ready to integrate with society. Recidivism rates in the US show it is objectively not working, with state prisons leaving inmates to re-offend 76% of the time. [1] In Norway, much…

You're absolutely right. Looking for a solution here, the central problem with the US prison system seems to be the incentive structure. Private prisons are paid based on how many inmates they have. Prisons are therefore incentivized to keep people as long as possible, and ensure that if a convict is ever released, that person commits another crime quickly and winds up back in prison. Instead, what if the state paid…

Private prisons and the incentive for profit is a concern. What is more of a concern, and what leads to much more incarceration is the ambition of prosecutors to rack up convictions, and the embarrassment that is caused if someone discovers a conviction overturned. That's inventive to keep people in prison and don't bother asking if maybe you've got the wrong guy (that's the defense's problem). Also, in many municipalities, the public defenders are very lightly funded, to the degree where one defender works 100 cases at at time. It is in no way a fair trial in any resemblance to what the constitution envisioned.

That's the corruption, that's the stink in the system.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#204

Post by yourapostasy »

gallerdude wrote: post #9

Maybe I shouldn't post this online, but this is one of my biggest fears. Just, being trapped somewhere, alone with your thoughts, with nothing to do. After reading The Jaunt by Stephen King, I was on edge for a day or two afterwards.

> After reading The Jaunt by Stephen King, I was on edge for a day or two afterwards.

The story has been optioned [1], will be interesting if it does come out as a feature film.

What would be really interesting is if it is used as a platform for different storytelling angles. Instead of coming out insane, someone comes out, Anathem-1,000-Apert-avout-like, with incanting-like powers from meditating for so long. The Buddhists would get a kick out of that; imagine being able to meditate without physical need for far longer than the 10,000 year increments so popular in Buddhist stories. Then put in savage plot twists: the venerated Buddhist sage is sent through and comes out blubbering insane, but an affable Cajun-drawling redneck scientist goes through and comes out with telekinetic and world tracking powers.

[1] http://io9.gizmodo.com/stephen-kings-teleportation-tale-the-...

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#205

Post by kamaal »

Toenex wrote: post #88
jernfrost wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am Norwegian, so I thought I'd add a few points, which I think greatly influence the difference. 1) Prison guard education is just a few weeks in the US to my knowledge. In Norway it is a 3 year college education, where you learn about mental illness, why people become criminals, how to rehabilitate people etc. The prison guard job in Norway, is by American standards more like a social worker. Guards spend a lot of…

> The world was divided into order and chaos not good and evil. What an interesting point.

Order and chaos are just abstractions. They moment you get down to root cause analysis- There is generally some definition of good and evil you have to settle to understand why things like order and chaos exist.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#206

Post by bobbington »

arcticbull wrote: post #7

Honestly, I find the US prison system absolutely horrifying in all respects. As satisfying as it may be for victims to feel the person that did something to them is 'gone' they will eventually be let out, and when they do I want them to be ready to integrate with society. Recidivism rates in the US show it is objectively not working, with state prisons leaving inmates to re-offend 76% of the time. [1] In Norway, much…

The prison system isn't the only thing at fault though. The courts are horribly rigged as well and it looks like that was why this man spent so much time behind bars. It's a terrible thing that we have prosecutors who further their career by getting more in jail, no matter whether they are guilty or innocent.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#207

Post by exclusiv »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #81
MrZongle2 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A country that would, and I quote, "...blatantly violate every kind of basic human right" doesn't sound particularly nice, does it? Every kind of basic human right? I guess we're tied with North Korea, then? If that's the United States, who's worse?

You really don't see the difference between the phrases "worst country ever" and "not particularly nice"? You're going to have a hard time both learning and teaching if you can't reign in your language a little. No one around you is actually understanding you because your language doesn't represent your true thoughts. You are the only person hearing the arguments you think you're having.

> You are the only person hearing the arguments you think you're having.

The parent made a good point with this: "blatantly violate every kind of basic human right" which was a comment hailing from Italy of all places. Criticism is fine but these ridiculous & inaccurate anti-US statements are exhausting.

It's usually from a country that would be speaking German if it wasn't for the US. No country is perfect but damn, you'd think people would put forth sensible criticism from their glass house.

To the article at hand, and valid criticism - our prison system is seriously broken. It's corrupt. It's costly and ineffective. We're incarcerating way too many people that aren't a risk to society. Then we let out risky inmates because it's overcrowded. We haven't figured out how to provide punishment while at the same time preventing recidivism. Let's be honest - we don't have our brightest running this system.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#208

Post by exclusiv »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #170
jernfrost wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. The US is the most powerful country EVER in human history. It has the ability to invade and influence any country on the planet. No country in the past really had that ability. When Great Britain rules much of the world, they were no superpower like the US today. There were countless countries in Europe which could all challenge Britain militarily. Back then there was many great powers. Today the…

What is unique about the US historically is that they have always claimed to be spreading freedom while frequently doing the exact opposite. Of course it is really just a new twist to the old western excuse for invading: we are civilizing your, or: we are bringing christianity to the poor masses. But this isn't unique nor Western. The Persians invaded Greece. The Chinese invaded Tibet. Great Britain at the height of…

Score 40-70M deaths for Mao and 3-60M for Stalin too. The last hundred years were ridiculous.

Unfortunately the world needs a police. The UN isn't effective. So the US takes a lot of heat for meddling in other country's affairs.

I'd personally like to see us move off a lot of bases, but when shit hits the fan and history repeats itself, a lot of the anti-US critics are going to jump on the wagon. Reminds me of Billy Madison - "Man, I'm glad I called that guy!".

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#209

Post by abritinthebay »

humanrebar wrote: post #154
vivekd wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Christianity is quite focused on the idea of good and evil. Norse mythology was never like that. Norse mythology was never like that. There was no evil devil. The world was divided into order and chaos not good and evil. What? Why do people say stuff like this? The Norse myths were from a millennium ago, no one has believed in them for almost a thousand years. Maybe Norway is largely atheistic now but for the majori…

It's also bad understanding of Christian theology. > Christianity is quite focused on the idea of good and evil. No, it's mostly focused on the contrast between being a follower of Christ or not. To that end, the character of God and Jesus are elaborated on at length. So subjects like "good" and "evil" come up as a part of that. Yes, Christ is described as being intrinsically good, but the end goal isn't to: * do goo…

It's not trying to be a description of the theology, but of the practice.

In that respect it's quite accurate.

Re: I spent 29 years in solitary confinement (2010)

#210

Post by fivestar »

I would be cautious with sympathy mainly because the guy probably committed more crimes than were mentioned. The dead giveaway is when he mentions the others who were in solitary for killing a guard "but there's some evidence they didn't do it." How naive can readers be? They very likely did do it, and a whole lot more.

There are some people who have done heinous things and who deserve a lifetime behind bars. Whether that time there is humane is of very little concern versus ensuring that they can never do harm to anyone else ever again. Despite what everyone thinks, US prisons are extremely humane. If you want to experience hell on earth, try Third World prisons. If a quick bullet to the back of the head is more your style, I recommend China.

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