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Myths of the private prison industry

muckrock.com

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Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#31

Post by lgas »

wildmusings wrote: post #6
hugh4 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That gives me an idea: prison vouchers. Give each prisoner a voucher for a certain amount and let them choose where they want to serve out their sentence. Prisons will compete to offer tolerably humane conditions to inmates while still keeping under budget. (Prison escapes will be punished by huge fines so there's no incentive to cheap out on security.) Flaws with this system: do prisons have to take a given inmate?…

You're not supposed to like prison. It's a punishment for serious misdeeds. If your suggestion was implemented, the result would be despicable. Prisons would be competing to have the most plush accommodations. The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel.

I think you just give less vouchers to the kid rapist than you do to say someone in on involuntary manslaughter, who in turn gets less than someone in on GTA, who in turn gets less than a coke dealer, who in turn gets less than someone in on coke possession, etc.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#33

Post by gambiting »

zeveb wrote: post #30
wildmusings wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not supposed to like prison. It's a punishment for serious misdeeds. If your suggestion was implemented, the result would be despicable. Prisons would be competing to have the most plush accommodations. The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel.

> The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel. He shouldn't live , period: he should go straight from the jail where he was waiting trial, to the gallows. Prison should be for those who are bad enough to remove from society for a time, but not bad enough to execute; and since they will be returned to society, we should try to make sure that when they re-enter it they do so a…

It's a matter of personal opinion, but I don't think anyone has the right to give out a death sentence. Yes, even to a child rapist. As a society we are so rich we can easily keep those people in prison for life, and spare ourselves the moral implications of actually killing people.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#34

Post by anonbanker »

hugh4 wrote: post #4
nateabele wrote: post #2

I know someone who stayed in a GEO prison. Based on everything I heard about it, I have to imagine that there's some mid-level accountant who knows exactly, down to the penny, how much money they make per inmate per day. One example: when you're given a spork with your first meal, you might think that was the spork for just that meal, and toss it out with your meal tray. Wrong move. That was your prison-issue spork.…

That gives me an idea: prison vouchers. Give each prisoner a voucher for a certain amount and let them choose where they want to serve out their sentence. Prisons will compete to offer tolerably humane conditions to inmates while still keeping under budget. (Prison escapes will be punished by huge fines so there's no incentive to cheap out on security.) Flaws with this system: do prisons have to take a given inmate?…

I laughed really hard at this post. I've long compared schools to prisons, but never with this much flair. People thought you were serious, to the point of wanting to ignore your future posts. That's some good satire right there. kudos to you, sir.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#35

Post by anonbanker »

zeveb wrote: post #30
wildmusings wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not supposed to like prison. It's a punishment for serious misdeeds. If your suggestion was implemented, the result would be despicable. Prisons would be competing to have the most plush accommodations. The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel.

> The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel. He shouldn't live , period: he should go straight from the jail where he was waiting trial, to the gallows. Prison should be for those who are bad enough to remove from society for a time, but not bad enough to execute; and since they will be returned to society, we should try to make sure that when they re-enter it they do so a…

and they should televise the whole thing, so that the public can get the blood they're all so clearly thirsty for.

I bet if televised, public executions would be the biggest PPV draw in Oklahoma and Kansas. It could fund schools, lower taxes, and most importantly, fund bigger gallows for executing more of the people we decide shouldn't live anymore.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#36

Post by zeveb »

gambiting wrote: post #33
zeveb wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The guy who was raping little kids in his van shouldn't serve his time in a nice hotel. He shouldn't live , period: he should go straight from the jail where he was waiting trial, to the gallows. Prison should be for those who are bad enough to remove from society for a time, but not bad enough to execute; and since they will be returned to society, we should try to make sure that when they re-enter it they do so a…

It's a matter of personal opinion, but I don't think anyone has the right to give out a death sentence. Yes, even to a child rapist. As a society we are so rich we can easily keep those people in prison for life, and spare ourselves the moral implications of actually killing people.

> As a society we are so rich we can easily keep those people in prison for life, and spare ourselves the moral implications of actually killing people.

But not the moral implications of keeping someone caged like an animal for the remainder of his life. What's worse: to die in a week, or to spend decades in prison?

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#37

Post by Jordrok »

hugh4 wrote: post #4
nateabele wrote: post #2

I know someone who stayed in a GEO prison. Based on everything I heard about it, I have to imagine that there's some mid-level accountant who knows exactly, down to the penny, how much money they make per inmate per day. One example: when you're given a spork with your first meal, you might think that was the spork for just that meal, and toss it out with your meal tray. Wrong move. That was your prison-issue spork.…

That gives me an idea: prison vouchers. Give each prisoner a voucher for a certain amount and let them choose where they want to serve out their sentence. Prisons will compete to offer tolerably humane conditions to inmates while still keeping under budget. (Prison escapes will be punished by huge fines so there's no incentive to cheap out on security.) Flaws with this system: do prisons have to take a given inmate?…

...I think this is satire... Right? Poe's Law is really kicking my ass here. The fact that it's so hard to tell is the scary part.

In any case, I alternately applaud/decry this hilarious/appalling idea.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#38

Post by Hydraulix989 »

rcurry wrote: post #7

I really don't think prisons should be run by private corporations. I was already kind of leery about it, but the whole "kids for cash" scandal in Pennsylvania was the last straw. There's no way I can be convinced that we can ever trust a for-profit corporation to manage a prison. There are just too many opportunities for corruption.

Right, you can't have an incentive structure that encourages corruption.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#39

Post by hugh4 »

Jordrok wrote: post #37
hugh4 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That gives me an idea: prison vouchers. Give each prisoner a voucher for a certain amount and let them choose where they want to serve out their sentence. Prisons will compete to offer tolerably humane conditions to inmates while still keeping under budget. (Prison escapes will be punished by huge fines so there's no incentive to cheap out on security.) Flaws with this system: do prisons have to take a given inmate?…

...I think this is satire... Right? Poe's Law is really kicking my ass here. The fact that it's so hard to tell is the scary part. In any case, I alternately applaud/decry this hilarious/appalling idea.

C'mon man, I at least critiqued my own wild-ass idea, you can do the same instead of dismissing it.

Re: Myths of the private prison industry

#40

Post by gambiting »

zeveb wrote: post #36
gambiting wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a matter of personal opinion, but I don't think anyone has the right to give out a death sentence. Yes, even to a child rapist. As a society we are so rich we can easily keep those people in prison for life, and spare ourselves the moral implications of actually killing people.

> As a society we are so rich we can easily keep those people in prison for life, and spare ourselves the moral implications of actually killing people. But not the moral implications of keeping someone caged like an animal for the remainder of his life. What's worse: to die in a week, or to spend decades in prison?

What's worse - finding out an innocent man spent 20 years in prison before being exonerated, or that he was killed? I know it's an extreme minority if cases - but there really is no reason to kill people. We are perfectly capable of keeping people locked for life, and that's what we should do for the worst offenders. Is it horrible? Of course. But the alternative is much worse.
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