The US prison system is about indifference and more like factory farming than inflicting punishment -- the negative effects are mostly a byproduct of high volume and costs.
I got really into this issue maybe two years ago, and it's been pretty sickening to observe. Things like multiple states denying surgeries based on alleged "one good eye" policies. Replacing in-person visits with virtual ones.
Sure, there's profit involved, of course. For example, there are pushes to get rid of prison libraries and their books and music and switch instead to tablet devices, so that the families of incarcerated people (those in prison might be making as little as literal pennies per hour) can be charged subscriptions by various companies. But even that is driven by costs involved in checking donated books for contraband. At the end of the day, we need to incarcerate fewer people for shorter periods of time -- and I'm not just talking about non-violent offenders, either.
The person in this twitter thread served 30 years. Let's start there.
Rehabilitation works for those handful of cases where a mother had to steal food to feed a baby, and wasn't a career criminal.
I don't have any hope nor interest in try to "rehabilitate" rapists, murderers or child molesters. I don't even want them locked up for life, that's a waste of money and isn't enough punishment. I want the problem solved, I want them to get the death penalty.
Giving prosecutors the ability to request the death penalty requires us to put our utmost trust in them to follow due process and ensure a fair trial for each and every defendant. I absolutely do not trust them with that responsibility - time and time again, we hear about corrupt district attorneys who care more about their campaigns and conviction rates than actually meting out justice. Look no further than the US's historically rich track record of wrongful execution, particularly when it comes to minorities.
What is the percentage of wrongful executions? And it says nothing about the pros and cons of the death penalty itself. We should always strive to improve the Justice system which should minimize any wrongful condemnation.
>particularly when it comes to minorities.
Given how much they are so overrepresented in commiting crimes, I don't even know how you can minimize that beyond just keep improving the system, regardless of the sentence.
I got really into this issue maybe two years ago, and it's been pretty sickening to observe. Things like multiple states denying surgeries based on alleged "one good eye" policies. Replacing in-person visits with virtual ones.
Sure, there's profit involved, of course. For example, there are pushes to get rid of prison libraries and their books and music and switch instead to tablet devices, so that the families of incarcerated people (those in prison might be making as little as literal pennies per hour) can be charged subscriptions by various companies. But even that is driven by costs involved in checking donated books for contraband. At the end of the day, we need to incarcerate fewer people for shorter periods of time -- and I'm not just talking about non-violent offenders, either.
The person in this twitter thread served 30 years. Let's start there.