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Should prison ever be 'For life'?

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps if people came out of prison with more support than their train ticket home, perhaps they wouldn't be back on smack within a week. Just a thought.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's been nearly 200 years since we abolished the death penalty for petty theft, and about 130 since we abolished transportation. We abolished these things for being cruel and barbaric.

    Fast forward ten generations and we're back to thinking we should lock someone up for life for pinching a flat screen telly. Good to know we're all embracing modernity so thoroughly.

    Maybe we should bring back serfdom while we're at it?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't re-read the whole thread) - but has anyone actually said that all burglars should be given life without parol?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think people ever stopped wanting the death penalty. It's the barbarity of the masses, whether we like it or not. Things like the death penalty were popular even when they were repealed. In Arab states where corporal and capital punishment are still used widely despite not insignificant opposition - the majority is no different from here in that they bray for blood and retribution.

    I believe the trend, decade-on-decade, is that we tend to grow a little nicer as people, almost universally. Afterall, just last week we even agreed that gays are people now.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nope. My opinion is that if you've got an offender who is dangerous, or who is a serial criminal who has had numerous chances of redemption then the risk they pose to the public is too great. I used the example of one burglar, a man who has broken into 200 homes and sentenced to 6 years as a "punishment". Chances are he will convince a parole board that he is reformed and he will be released in 3.
    Arctic believes everyone deserves another chance, regardless of the cost to the wellbeing of the innocent and all they have to do is "prove" (how exactly) that they are reformed. I believe that at some point a line has to be drawn and that person be locked up indefinitely for the good of the community.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I would argue that in your example the parole board obviously has failed then.

    So rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater and say lock him up indefinitely (because it's too hard for the parole board to do their job), I would say actually lets look at the problem - parole boards letting out people with a strong history of re-offending with no clear plan to reintegrate them into society.

    It's not about cuddling criminals, its about getting the best outcomes for everyone.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps if people came out of prison with more support than their train ticket home, perhaps they wouldn't be back on smack within a week. Just a thought.

    from what I understand, this is the real crux of the issue. a person might be desperate to prove themselves upon release, but be in a situation where the only options are starving to death or going back to prison. it's all very well for prisoners with a stable family home to go back to, but for those with nothing there needs to be more done to support them on release. otherwise they are bound to reoffend in order to survive, and give more ammunition to the 'once a criminal always a criminal' brigade.
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