What about this idea on Criminals and Prison Reform?

Question

Issue: Prisons and Criminals

Problem: Prisons house convicts and produce nothing except negative results such as:

• Better trained criminals to release on our society

• Larger state and federal spending to house criminals

• Continual increases in facility sizes and no way to keep up with the need for more and larger facilities

• Continual increases in prison staffing requirements and no way to keep up with the need for more staff

• A criminal population that our society and prison systems are exponentially increasing the numbers on

As we understand it:

• Criminals are in prison because they have been convicted of violating the Law

• It costs the government (state and federal) a lot of money to house these criminals and this cost is growing beyond control with no relief in sight

• Criminals produce relatively nothing except burden

• Criminals are not rehabilitated for the most part

• There is no incentive for criminals to change into law abiding citizens

Ideas:

• Establish a pilot program with first time offenders

• Segregate first time offenders from second and third (repeat) time offenders and deal with each based upon different end goals

• First time offender goals

o Pay their debt to society (cost of their crime, incarceration and training)

o Actively participate in all aspects of the first offender program

o Complete all aspects of the program and probation

• First time offenders

1. Will be indoctrinated upon assignment to the program and trained in the procedures and rules to be successful and graduate from the program. After the completion of indoctrination and signing the contract of understanding, the offender will be enrolled in the program

2. This is not a free ride. The offender must actively and continuously produce positive results in all aspects of the program to be returned to society. Resistance to any aspects of the program (including passive resistance) may result in disciplinary action and possible removal from the program. Any violation of rules of the program will be thoroughly reviewed and appropriately dealt with. Violence will not be tolerated and if repeated may cause the offender to be removed from the program

3. The end goal is to return an individual to society that will not reenter the criminal justice system

4. Analyze and develop a psychological profile for the offender

5. Create an incarceration plan. Develop the end goal and work backwards through the plan. NOTES: (1) The plan must be reevaluated annually and any time the offender does not meet a milestone or goal in the plan on or ahead of schedule. (2) The plan must also be reevaluated any time the offender meets a milestone or goal ahead of schedule

6. Create an incarceration cost estimate based upon the above plan (incarceration budget). This cost estimate must be based upon cost of all support required to return them to society. This cost then becomes the debt they will be required to pay back to the system before they can be returned to society. NOTES: (1) The incarceration cost estimate must be reevaluated annually and any time the offender does not meet a milestone or goal in the plan on or ahead of schedule. (2) The incarceration cost estimate must also be reevaluated any time the offender meets a milestone or goal ahead of schedule

7. Analyze the offender’s personality profile (Myers-Briggs) and potential occupational specialties that they are compatible with and interested in

8. Provide the offender the opportunity for training necessary to reenter the work force and be successful. This training can be taught during their incarceration and while on probation after release

9. Evaluate the offender’s performance and based upon this, establish a risk assessment on returning the offender to society. If the offender displays they are not making significant progress on their incarceration plan or the risk assessment is too high that they will not succeed and remain a productive member of society, consider moving them into the second offender program

10. Assign the offender to productive work and pay them a fair wage to allow them to repay their debt to society and have money in savings when they return to society so that they can be successful

11. Assure they are placed in a position when they are returned to society and that they remain in the position during their probation unless there is a problem with the employer or the position in eliminated by the employer. Part of the probation requirements is that the offender must take responsibility for their own success or failure

12. Upon successful completion of probation, all history of their arrest and conviction (including what the police have access to) will be sealed. It may only be unsealed and access made available by the court system based upon a subsequent arrest. NOTE: (1) This will protect an individual from unnecessary police harassment

• Second time offender goals

1. Pay their debt to society

Answer 1

This is all fine and good but there is a much, much simpler way to fix it all. First off, you're right that rehabilitation is a failure and a fraud against the tax payers because to RE-habilitate someone assumes that they were Habilitated to start with and most criminals are not, were not and will not be after going to prison. My fix to the problem won't cost near as much as yours either:

1. Stop the enforcement of and repeal 'victimless Crime' laws.

2. Persons convicted of felony crimes of violence should be executed and failing that because of the hand-wringing whiners against the death penalty, they should be sentenced to 'Death in Prison' meaning that they can 'check out' any time they like but the only way they're coming out is feet first!

3. Have non-violent offenders pay restitution to their victims, from a 'Debtors Prison' if necessary.

The whole idea of probation and prole is a bass-ackwards way to control and mess with people and effectively keep them in the CRIMINAL Justice System so those maggots...er...cops have something to do...