Prisoners "Get their affairs in order"

[msmith537]

@obbn

I understand that this thread ask a serious question that would be pretty relevant if you were going away for a while. But honestly, who really cares if they have time to get their affairs in order or not. Really not our problem.

I think it depends on the crime. If you are going away for 20 to life, why care about your shit? For all intents and purposes, you aren’t seeing it again. If you are going away for 18 months for a non-violent crime, it’s a bit more of a big deal. You don’t want to have to try to put your life back together with a criminal record AND a no place to live and no stuff and a shitty credit score.

[OpalCat]

@BigT

If we’re going to worry about those other people, it would often be better to never let these people be “put back into that web,” but we still do it. Thing is, those other people just aren’t our primary concern.

And, really, without any significant programs to actually rehabilitate prisoners, I find the excuse for giving back their stuff to be less than satisfying. I guess it’s better than nothing, but if you are really concerned, have prison be more like a boot camp, with mandatory training and classes.

A friend of mine did 2 1/2 years in prison a while back… he had an apartment full of stuff… should he have all of that just forfeited because he fucked up and ended up in prison? He wasn’t married, didn’t have a roommate, etc… getting out of prison 2 1/2 years later with NOTHING is certainly going to make him more likely to commit a crime than getting out and getting his stuff back (out of storage/out of his friend’s basement/wherever). Not everyone who goes to prison is some horrible person who should never see the light of day again.

[chappachula]

@OpalCat

A friend of mine did 2 1/2 years in prison a while back… he had an apartment full of stuff.

I’ve got a related question about a prisoner’s stuff–
It happens in the movies, when you see a prisoner getting released after his 10 years are up: they take him to the storeroom where there’s a little wire basket holding all the stuff he had on his person when he was first locked up. A wristwatch, a pair of shoes, etc…
Do prisons really keep all that stuff on hand, easily accessible?Obviously, the guy getting locked up isn’t going to need it for a long, long time. After 10 or 15 years, there’s going to be a lot of dust accumulated. Does a typical prisoner remember what should be in the basket, or does he even care about getting it back?