In California, a judge just told governor Arnold that he can’t solve prison overcrowding by out-placement of prisoners to other states.
And he can’t “build his way out” by waiting a few years until more human store rooms can be constructed.
The billion dollar program to help drug users stay out of trouble after release has proven a dismal failure - no meassurable improvement.
So now he wants to parole non-violent cons early.
Seems we already had this plan, that’s what the parole board does now.
Of course, one plan would be to reduce crime. Maybe he should take that billion from the drug program and use it to send the non-violent prisoners to those states with the empty prisons. They wouldn’t fight the exile if it were part of an early release plan. California’s streets would be safer, and those other states could just round the the perps up after their next, inevitable, crime and still store them in those same empty rooms.
How about stopping people going to prison in the first place? It seems to me that one of the precepts of justice - that it should be seen to be done - isn’t being kept. Especially with short prison sentences. People no longer know all the people on their street. That guy who lives up the road? Is he on holiday? In prison? Or what? Everyone used to know everyone. People used to know who the rotten apples were. This is no longer the case today.
Shame is a powerful motivator. For minor criminals, I’d like to see public shaming - stocks and pillories and the like - on top of enforced public service like sweeping pavements. Make it an entertainment and a lesson. No throwing of fruit and stuff and warders there to ensure no harm comes to those restrained. Just being publicly and visibly outed as a criminal.
Sometimes I wonder whether maybe it would be better, instead of the revolving door for repeat criminals, just to never let them out. In fact, ship them to penal colonies off French Guiana. Let them farm build their own cells, farm their own food, jump into the sea in desperate escape attempts like Steve McQueen.
We can reform the prisons by addressing the root of the problem:
Relax Drug Laws.
Release all non-violent, drug offenders without restitution.
Allow non-violent, drug offenders the opportunity to apply for financial aid.
We can also reform by implementing improvements to local and state law enforcement.
Put more funding into law enforcement.
**Mandate that all entering police officers must have, at minimum, an associate’s degree (or 60 college credits) that include basic classes in english, sociology, psychology, political science, and mathematics. **
Improve officer training by extending police training to two years. Training at the academy should be revised to include an additional sixty credits of graded coursework and vigorous physical training.
Lastly, we can reform the prison system by addressing the communities themselves.
**Pass laws that set realistic benchmarks for reducing criminal activity in crime-ridden cities. **
**Pass laws that allow the State to temporarily take over school systems in counties that are underperforming. **