For half that amount, they could be housed in much better conditions in China or the Japans.(j/k about Japan). If they escape, they’ll be the local chinese cops problem. Those guys know kung fu too.
Not only that, with up to 30Bn/year available, we coule hire 500,000 cops and 500,000 teachers which would more than make up for the loss of prison-related jobs.
Of course, China is just one of many countries and regions available. All would welcome such an amazing boon to their economy . 15k dollars a year for the upkeep of one man? Why, it would lift millions up from abject poverty and save hundreds of thousands of lives to be sure.
Different kinds of criminals could go to different “resorts” or “caretaking families”. White collar fraud convictions could spend a few years in the Sahara desert, riding with the bedouins and appreciating the incredible natural beauty and peace surrounding them, eating honey-sweet dates, gazing at the clear starry sky and learning saharawi.
I know this may sound crazy, but do you think it’s crazy enough that it just might work?
:dubious: And you think that won’t occur to the Chinese when they’re asked permission for this?
Exile, banishment, deportation, are not used as criminal punishments in the modern world because it’s considered inconsiderate to dump your problems on some other country.
I think the bedouins might be pissed if we start sending large masses of prisoners to stay with them, white collar or not. I get your meaning though. I think your premise is wise but sending them into another culture is being sort of presumptuous of us right? Bedouins have a simple culture, and though we can learn a lot from thier behaviours socially and culturally, we can’t send our dejected to them to hope for a quick fix…
That said, aren’t there increases in ‘shipping and handling’ costs, not just for them, but for their families and lawyers? Will they still be able to have American lawyers, or will they have to settle with what the locals offer? Will they be able to come back to the states for appeals and whatnot, if such things are necessary?
I think it’s a (conventional?) way of abbreviating the expression “To be resolved” . My memory is hazy but it felt right. Maybe someone could weigh in on this.
Brainglutton: But it worked out so well in Australia! In any case, the hosts would have to agree after weighing all the facts and I’m sure that security cost would not be high enough to offset the economical benefits.
Phlosphr: No dumping. An offer that would have many happy takers. What harm could a white collar criminal do in the desert? It’s all camels, sand and palm trees. Also, they would have to learn the language first. Furthermore, the healthy exercise, measured diet and the pure, dry desert air would benefit their health. Finally, I don’t see how sending them to jail here instead would increase the chance of reform. So, that’s not an issue.
Begbert: We’ll just ship all the lawyers to the desert too if need be. Win-win :D.
Seriously though, they can videoconference with their families and lawyers, email, blog, whatever. They’re no worse off than the brave men and women during a tour of duty in Iraq (much better off, actually). If their families want to, they can always catch a $700 flight to go visit them on their vacation. There are some really nice beaches on the western Sahara coast. The kids’ll love it.
Of course, I just picked that desert on a whim. They are many more places cons can be shipped to, some low security, some high, just like we do it now.
I tell you! The more I think about this the more sense it makes. Everybody wins.
I still don’t get why the other countries would want this. Pretty much every country in the world has immigration laws, you can’t just drop someone off on the shores of some North African state and leave them there–they would rightfully protest internationally.
Are you suggesting the U.S. pay the other countries to take care of our prisoners (some amount less than we currently pay per prison)?
Or are you suggesting that sending a few thousand criminals to another country will be an “economic boon.”
China has something like 1.4 billion people, even if we sent every single person incarcerated in the United States, that wouldn’t be a major impact on their economy. At least not for the positive, it would hit them with two million people with no way of supporting themselves in the Chinese economy. Or two million people to be housed in prisons.
No, I’m thinking this plan is the regular kind of crazy.
There’s the darn old Constitution in the way. Cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited. I’d say that telling some guy that got caught embezzling that he’s going to be imprisoned for a year but we’re going to make him serve that year in the middle of the Sahara Desert would qualify.
I think the main problem would be affording criminals who are serving their time in Haiti roughly equal treatment and facilities as they would have in the US. Visitation rights? Doesn’t this situation make it harder to visit family? I’m sure there are other factors to take into consideration.
On the other hand, I don’t see why this couldn’t be a nice voluntary system for our prisoners. Make the prison on the beach in the Caribbean. I’m sure plenty of prisoners would opt for such a facility ;D
I suspect that the kind of goverments or companies that would go on with a plan like this would take the money and promptly put the prisoners in a hole in the ground on bread and water for the remainder of their sentence.
It’s good usage. A forensic debate competition typically begins with the statement: “Resolved: God exists,” or whatever, and then the two teams are assigned (by coin toss) to argue the positive or negative.
But that format requires the matter to be debated be stated as a statement, not a question.
Are we just going to borrow more money from China to pay China to keep the prisoners?
Also, wouldn’t human rights become involved at some point here as well? I can’t imagine some small African nation having the required food, A/C, recreation, etc.
Well, yes, but if the visits would have consisted just of sitting down with a glass screen in between and talking through a telephone, then modern media (Skype, videophones) make that just as easily possible. Conjugal visits are another matter.