Inmates, California officials warn prisons crowded

[Scott & Lai 12]

Not everyone that is wrong is illegal and not everything that is right is legal. My standards of morals don't depend solely on our legal system.

And, not everything that is morally wrong should be illegal. Decriminalizing drugs, for example, would significantly reduce the prison population.

[Peikko 1,575]

Fair do's. It just gets so old listening to peole wallowing in other people's misery and so often the interjection of illegal aliens into any argument is to inflame and incite.

And, not everything that is morally wrong should be illegal. Decriminalizing drugs, for example, would significantly reduce the prison population.

Not sure how drug use is immoral, but certainly agree that drug activity should be decriminalised.

Edited February 15, 2007 by Purple_Hibiscus

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Not everyone that is wrong is illegal and not everything that is right is legal. My standards of morals don't depend solely on our legal system.

And, not everything that is morally wrong should be illegal. Decriminalizing drugs, for example, would significantly reduce the prison population.

I agree...at least to the decriminalization part.

Edited February 15, 2007 by Steven_and_Jinky

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Jake Serna, 48, another inmate, interjected, "Isn't it a crime for them to house us like a bunch of animals?"

Quit whining Jake. Conditions were much worse on my ship in the Navy. Try working 18 hour days, sleeping 3 high and having a fraction of the personal space of the worst US prison.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Jake Serna, 48, another inmate, interjected, "Isn't it a crime for them to house us like a bunch of animals?"

Quit whining Jake. Conditions were much worse on my ship in the Navy. Try working 18 hour days, sleeping 3 high and having a fraction of the personal space of the worst US prison.

[Robor007 0]

So that makes it ok to let the prison system fall apart? It's rather short sighted to revel in the unpleasant conditions that these prisoners are facing when there are bigger problems like letting prisoners out early and without proper rehabilitation. There is a bigger picture and if prison officers (according to the article cited) are worried about the situation then it is probably safe to say it's something that ought to be taken seriously.

I can't speak for Charles but I don't think he's reveling in the prison overcrowding/conditions. I think it's more a matter of apathy (hence the smiley & fiddle) and to be honest I feel the same way. When they talk about murders, rapists, armed robbers, child molesters, etc they're talking about very violent and/or dangerous people. I couldn't give a $hit about them or their conditions. These people committed crimes so heinous that they are no longer fit to live in society. As far as I'm concerned they shouldn't be alive, period. That would free up some space!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

U.S. Prison Study Faults System and the Public

The Vera Institute has completed a bipartisan report on our prison system for Congress. 13.5 million people are jailed each year. On any particular day, more than 2.2 million people are locked behind bars. The cost for all this is a staggering $60 billion per year. Not only are our prisons failing them, so is the American public. And while violent crime has dropped, we are not any safer.

"We should be astonished by the size of the prisoner population, troubled by the disproportionate incarceration of African-Americans and Latinos, and saddened by the waste of human potential," the panel said in a report to be presented to Congress on Thursday.

Among its findings:

The report gives credit to the best corrections professionals, but finds too much violence and too little medical and mental health care, as well as a "desperate need for the kinds of productive activities that discourage violence and make rehabilitation possible."

The violence experienced by inmates in prison stays with them after release:

The commission's principal conviction is that prison life is relevant far beyond the fences and walls of the nearly 5,000 adult places of incarceration in the United States. Violence, overcrowding and poor services -- from medical care to literacy programs -- ripple outward when an inmate heads home, as 95 percent do.

"What happens inside jails and prisons does not stay inside jails and prisons," the commission concluded. When things do not work out, the group found, the effects are felt in higher crime, higher taxes and heightened dismay. Sixty percent of the nation's inmates commit another crime. Even modest improvements in medical care and attention could significantly reduce recidivism, the panel said.

One thing that mitigates against re-offending is the strength of the prisoner's connection to his family:

To that end, one commission member said that institutions should lower the cost of telephone calls, expand visiting rooms to accommodate families, and offer counseling to inmates' relatives.

Other recommendations:

The commission is asking Congress to develop uniform data-reporting requirements and to extend Medicaid and Medicare, without co-payments, to eligible inmates. Crowding should be reduced, and programs that foster productivity and purpose should be expanded, it said.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/06/08/116/07736

[Jasman0717 9]

Not all criminals are convicted of heinous crimes. Yes, they are there for a reason, but your attitude is petty and ridiculous. Releasing the less dangerous criminals back into society without rehabilitation is an awesome idea, right?

no one said that they were all convicted of heinous crimes. and my attitude is piss on them. live with it.

Maybe California needs to get that sheriff from Arizonia to come over help them set up tent prisons. Of course I don't think it is as hot in California is it is in Az!

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Not all criminals are convicted of heinous crimes. Yes, they are there for a reason, but your attitude is petty and ridiculous. Releasing the less dangerous criminals back into society without rehabilitation is an awesome idea, right?

no one said that they were all convicted of heinous crimes. and my attitude is piss on them. live with it.

Maybe California needs to get that sheriff from Arizonia to come over help them set up tent prisons. Of course I don't think it is as hot in California is it is in Az!

what irks me out of this entire thing is they have better living conditions and more amenities than most of our boys in the military and they are whining about it. don't like it in jail? then don't commit the crime! hello!

[Jasman0717 9]

Not all criminals are convicted of heinous crimes. Yes, they are there for a reason, but your attitude is petty and ridiculous. Releasing the less dangerous criminals back into society without rehabilitation is an awesome idea, right?

no one said that they were all convicted of heinous crimes. and my attitude is piss on them. live with it.

Maybe California needs to get that sheriff from Arizonia to come over help them set up tent prisons. Of course I don't think it is as hot in California is it is in Az!

what irks me out of this entire thing is they have better living conditions and more amenities than most of our boys in the military and they are whining about it. don't like it in jail? then don't commit the crime! hello!

I say appoint that Arizona sheriff as prison czar for the nation. He sure might help people decide that crime does not pay!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Not all criminals are convicted of heinous crimes. Yes, they are there for a reason, but your attitude is petty and ridiculous. Releasing the less dangerous criminals back into society without rehabilitation is an awesome idea, right?

no one said that they were all convicted of heinous crimes. and my attitude is piss on them. live with it.

Maybe California needs to get that sheriff from Arizonia to come over help them set up tent prisons. Of course I don't think it is as hot in California is it is in Az!

what irks me out of this entire thing is they have better living conditions and more amenities than most of our boys in the military and they are whining about it. don't like it in jail? then don't commit the crime! hello!

I say appoint that Arizona sheriff as prison czar for the nation. He sure might help people decide that crime does not pay!

White collar crimes seem to pay nicely in this country...especially with a coke snorter in the White House.

[Mirorgate 0]

White collar crimes seem to pay nicely in this country...especially with a coke snorter in the White House.

Ah Steven.. still resorting to cheap shots Everyone knows that political ppl are all criminally involved in one way or another, just how many will take action when it is revealed though? Maybe when the entire country gets behind that cause, something will and can be done about it.

[Peikko 1,575]

Making comparisons between the living conditions of the armed forces while at war (which is presumably where you are coming from) and prisoners doesn't really make much sense.

The fact is that the overcrowding problems affect not only the perpetrators of heinous crimes, but everyone in jail, all the prison workers and the prison system as a whole. The article isn't trying to generate people's sympathies for particular prisoners, but hightlight that a broken system is going to cause more and more problems for society at large and needs to be fixed.

If it was just about some prisoners whining about lack of facilities that would be a different story altogether.

[Alex+R 0]

This is just another example of that divide between those who think criminals should be punished (or killed) and then released and those who think there is a chance that those criminals could be rehabilitated, and that we owe society an attempt at rehabilitating those who seem ready for it. If the conditions are causing unrest in prisons and are making rehabilitation impossible, that is ultimately bad for society.

Agree with PH that comparing this to military conditions is ridiculous.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Making comparisons between the living conditions of the armed forces while at war (which is presumably where you are coming from) and prisoners doesn't really make much sense.

The fact is that the overcrowding problems affect not only the perpetrators of heinous crimes, but everyone in jail, all the prison workers and the prison system as a whole. The article isn't trying to generate people's sympathies for particular prisoners, but hightlight that a broken system is going to cause more and more problems for society at large and needs to be fixed.

If it was just about some prisoners whining about lack of facilities that would be a different story altogether.

My point is that they don't have it that bad. Prison is not supposed to be fun and comfortable.