About Prison Conditions (long)

[IRescue452]

What about self-defense crimes: involuntary manslaughter? Somebody comes at you with a chainsaw so you shoot them fatally. Are you really a horrible person deserving of this jail? You might be the most law abiding person in the world, a volunteer, an organ donor, have saved somebody from drowning type of model citizen, but you commited a crime so you get the same "don't do the crime if you can't to the time deal"?

What about last winter when I hit a patch of ice and spun head-on into a van? If I had killed the guy should I get these types of conditions?

What about the hypothetical man who steals the loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Desperation drives people to crime even though they aren't bad people. Put them in 165F conditions and feed them mold?

Teenagers who are caught with drugs? Do they need to learn to be citizens and find a job they can do and learn to budget and that kind of stuff to get them on the right track to living in society, or do we need to put them in these horrible conditions and teach them nothing but hate?

[Twisterdog]

What about self-defense crimes: involuntary manslaughter? Somebody comes at you with a chainsaw so you shoot them fatally. Are you really a horrible person deserving of this jail? You might be the most law abiding person in the world, a volunteer, an organ donor, have saved somebody from drowning type of model citizen, but you commited a crime so you get the same "don't do the crime if you can't to the time deal"?

What about last winter when I hit a patch of ice and spun head-on into a van? If I had killed the guy should I get these types of conditions?

What about the hypothetical man who steals the loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Desperation drives people to crime even though they aren't bad people. Put them in 165F conditions and feed them mold?

Teenagers who are caught with drugs? Do they need to learn to be citizens and find a job they can do and learn to budget and that kind of stuff to get them on the right track to living in society, or do we need to put them in these horrible conditions and teach them nothing but hate?

I agree with this. I don't think self-defense should be a crime at all. In fact, I think you should get an award for shooting a chain-saw wielding psychopath who broke into your home. I don't think anyone should go to prison for an accident, like you described. I like to think our justice system is still functional enough to not allow that to happen. I think the man stealing bread for his family ought to be taught about the public aid available (food stamps) for such cases, and should be put into a job training program so he can learn a skill with which to support his family.

I also do not believe in throwing juveniles in jail for minor crimes such as vandalism, skipping school, drinking beer, smoking pot. I believe juveniles need to be sent to rehabilitation facilities where they are reformed, counseled and taught to be productive adults. I have, unfortunately, had a bit of experience with the juvenile justice system, having four teenagers. It does society not one ounce of good to put a "delinquent" teenager in jail until he turns eighteen, then let him out. Society needs to fix the problems these kids have, before they become much larger problems in adults.

But I have seen some pretty darn nice prisons on television. I can't remember the name of the program I was watching, but my husband and I both said, "Dang! That's an awfully nice 'cell' that murderer has ... nicer than the places we lived in college. That's and awfully nice gym ... I don't think we could afford a membership there. And he's getting a free master's degree, when I can't afford to go get mine. Hmmmm .... " Obviously all prisons aren't like this, but they do exist.