Proposed changes to the prison system

The prison system is in need of reform. We should each suggest changes in the way we deal with crime that we think would improve life for society as a whole. This may also include ideas about voting rights, immigration and citizenship. - include thoughts on Capital punishment, work gangs, sentencing recommendations, parole and support after release. If you don't want to take this debate, I'll open it to the public, but I really liked your debate question. 1. Round 1 is for presentation of major ideas. 2. Round 2 is for responding to each other's ideas. 3. Round 3 is to clarify your round 1 ideas and to present any new thoughts. 4. Round 4 is a brief "oops I forgot to mention it" round. We will try not to introduce major new ideas as there is no opportunity to respond. VOTERS - please vote for the system you think would do the most good. Avoid picking one item (say capital punishment) and voting on that one issue ********************************************** Round 1 begins here Our prison systems (Canada & USA) are not effective in reducing crime, as many re-offend after their release, and often for more serious offenses. Here are some suggestions to improve society as a whole through changes in the prison system. 1. Capital punishment. Capital punishment should be a last resort option. To reduce the possibility of a local prejudice giving a person a death sentence hastily, I suggest that local governments be required to petition federal government for all capital punishment, and that sentencing and the punishment be carried out by a federal Supreme Court. 2. Work as punishment. Many offenders lack a work ethic, work skills and people skills. If low risk offenders were able to reduce their sentence by participating in work programs, it might give them work skills and improve their people skills. There are several risks with this. (they may see all work as punishment rather than reward and have a worse work ethic; or that they may be in closer contact with the public - more in round 2) 3. Mental illness The first professional contact with people having a mental health break is often the police. Many in our prison systems have mental health problems. Substance abuse is closely linked with mental health. Most prisoners have substance abuse issues. An ideal system would have closer links and more options to place offenders in programs for improved mental health. Like successful work options to reduce jail time, signs of better mental health could be used for "outpatient" options where these prisoners are released to work programs that have mental health monitoring. 4. Release Location Many offenders have more trouble with the complexity of city life, and with the option of a transient lifestyle that city life allows. Parole (early release with conditions) should allow very few to be released into cities. Work release to rural or semi-rural areas might give released offenders a better chance at avoiding the things that led to their crime. 5. Monitoring. All early release offenders should be given a brightly colored cell phone that they are required to carry with them at all times. This has several benefits: a) They are identified as people on a release program. b) The GPS can record and transmit where they are at all times. c) Their parole officer can contact them at any time. Failure to respond is an instant breach of parole. The parole officer can demand immediate tests for substance abuse. d) They have one less obstacle to work, as they have a phone. e) They can add services (like data) if they earn enough to pay the difference, this has the added benefit of being able to be monitored for sex offenders. f) Protection - many on parole live in fear of a false accusation from ex girlfriends of alleged contact. GPS enabled phones can give evidence to protect them. Repeat offense Repeat offenders show they they are not in control of their actions. I suggest that options for early release be made more difficult for repeat offenders. Sentencing lengths I am in favor of much higher term lengths of sentencing. The average sentence length is around 5 years,[1] but only a portion of that is currently served because of early release for decent behavior while in prison. By having higher sentencing options with many opportunities for motivated and competent people to reduce their sentence we would see two patterns in first time offenders: a) People could work hard to get out early. They would emerge with job skills, opportunities and people skills, and would be the people least likely to re-offend. b) People would try for early release, but would not be able to keep their job or a record of good interactions with people. Their only options for earlier release would be courses on job skills and people skills inside the prison. They would not be released as quickly. c) Mental illness and substance abuse issues (on the inside) would make a person do their entire sentence, with options of programs for mental illness or substance abuse. Enforcement Many issues we may want to discuss later Prisons Prisoners should be equipped with ankle bracelets that allow remote monitoring. These are common in the dairy industry[2], and allow farmers to monitor things like weight, water intake, food intake and activity level. In the prison system a similar system would not only keep track of prisoner location, but could be used for drug testing direct from the toilets, and linked to the prisoner. By having a focus on work programs, many prisoners would be out of the prison on an individual work placement or work group, so there would be less people to deal with during the day and evening work shifts. I hope we come up with some great suggestions for improved prisons. [1] edr.state.fl.us/Content/resource-demand/criminal-justice/.../cj25.pdf [2] http://www.destronfearing.com...