Prisons

[Lord Braykewynde]

Nearly 18,600 prisoners have been released early.

367 have gone on to commit further crimes.

673 have been called back for not complying with their conditions.

124 have gone on the run after being recalled for not complying.

The liberal left PC numpties say locking people up isn't the answer.

The Tories have recommended that old prisons are sold off and replaced with modern institutions better suited to cut re-offending.

I think I'm missing the point here. If I was an offender who got locked up and while locked up was only given the basic needs and my life was miserable somehow I would learn my lesson and not re-offend.

Surely by building prisons as hotels, as the Tories are suggesting, it's no deterrent to committing crime.

What with pressure groups like the Prison Reform Trust and now the Tories softly softly approach no wonder we are spiralling out of control.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Oops, I forgot the prisoners "human rights", silly me :O(

 

[BrianStAlbans]

Quite right, the sentence is after all to deprive them of their liberty.

Basic human rights such as food ,drink ,TV ,radio,drugs ,sex,days out,fags,carpet,pets,privacy and respect much be allowed and indead provided what ever the cost.

If however they are a re offender they should be shot IMHO

Off to sit on the fence now

Brian ;O)

 

[Lutz]

Your statistics surprise me, Lord B. That only 367 out of 18,600 have committed further crimes seems extremely low to me. Maybe those are figures only for a short period after being released or something like that. The figures that I have seen show that between 40 and 50% commit a further crime sometime later, and quite frankly, that doesn't surprise me. I'm not against prisons, don't get me wrong, but they have never been proved to be a very effective deterrent, no matter how strictly they are managed. If I have nothing to loose and see no perspective in life, it's rather immaterial whether I'm free or in a prison. It's easy for anyone who is capable of taking his own destiny by the horns and do something to get out of trouble for good, but lots of these people just couldn't care a damn about their own future or don't have the willpower. Besides, the company that they have in prison, often doesn't help to change their attitude, either.

 

[Guest]

I tend to agree the number 367 seems a tad low, but if I was one of the victims of those 367 crimes then I probably would not be happy at any early releases.

There are 2 approaches to this. Yes, prison probably does not work for the offender, but if it removes the criminal from society for a lengthy period of time, then the victims at least feel some justice has been done.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

To reduce prison over crowding there are two simple solutions: we must adopt either the American or Muslim form of punishment.

The Americans have the prisoners up at the crack of dawn, dress them in a noticable form of clothing, chain them together and take them out to work on the highways, railways, etc. in chain gangs.

Alternatively adopt the Muslim form of treatment where the punishment fits the crime. Theft - cut their hand off, reoffend and chop the opposite leg off below the knee thereby making it difficult to use a crutch for walking.

Should we adopt either of the above solution and disregard the Prison Reform Society we will reduce the overcrowding considerably and also reduce the crime rate. The best solution would be to initially adopt the American solution and just beofre release adopt the Muslim solution.

 

[Lutz]

I agree with Scotch Lad regarding the satisfaction for the victim that justice has been done (assuming the length of sentence is appropriate to the crime) but prisons can only be a punitive and hardly a corrective measure.

I'll go along with certain American methods but I still see them as part of the punishment and only to a very limited degree as a way to get the prisoner back on track to integrate himself into society again. Even in the USA the fallback rate is not much better than here.