Prisoners get flat screen tv's :P

[isekii]

THey should have them work for food.

No work ? No food for you.

Start a fight ? No food for you.

 

[Kilgor]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
the problem is, a lot of people (in my experiences, conservatives) think the prison system is meant to be a torture system where people are to be in solitary 23/7.

that is not the case, they are there to reform the prisoners. throught this incentive program, inmates have a job, earn an income, and are able to buy consumables, thus instilling in them the basics of capitalism and foundation of our economy. when their time is served, they will have an easier time maintaining a job so that they can afford to take care of themselves, and avoid the judicial system in the future.

:Q

That's some nice progressive thinking there, now if we could only get the criminals to think that way.

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: isekii
THey should have them work for food.

No work ? No food for you.

Start a fight ? No food for you.

Yeah, we have to work for food on the outside. No work, no food. No work, no shelter. Why are these given to criminals and paid by us?

 

[KidViciou$]

Originally posted by: Kilgor

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
the problem is, a lot of people (in my experiences, conservatives) think the prison system is meant to be a torture system where people are to be in solitary 23/7.

that is not the case, they are there to reform the prisoners. throught this incentive program, inmates have a job, earn an income, and are able to buy consumables, thus instilling in them the basics of capitalism and foundation of our economy. when their time is served, they will have an easier time maintaining a job so that they can afford to take care of themselves, and avoid the judicial system in the future.

:Q

That's some nice progressive thinking there, now if we could only get the criminals to think that way.

it appears to be working for at least 25 of them .

edit: consider an extra $5 a day of labor to be what they would be paying for rent and food, but already garnished from their wages. i don't know how much material is produced by the prison system, but it appears that they are selling quality merchandise based on some of the other posts in this thread.

 

[0roo0roo]

eh, yea paying em nothing gets u gulag quality.. which if u didn't know.. is sh*t.

its worrying about the wrong problem anyways, all the nonviolent drug offenders locked up cost way way more then whatever these guys are getting paid.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
As an Oregonian, I like the plan. The inmates churn out great furniture as part of their jobs, so the state benefits with cheap, high-quality furniture and better behaved inmates, and the inmates themselves get to watch TV. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Yep, I agree.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: buyer262000

Yes, 3 dollars for a full day of work is just sooooo much.

The three dollars a day is over 1000 dollars a year of my taxpayer money per prisoner. Not to mention the 30,000 or so extra it costs yearly to incarcerate a prisoner. I feel it is totally ridiculous to have tv's in the jail cells. Books - ok, thats as far as I would go.

Uh, we're talking about 3 dollars for a full days work here. That's more than 50% below minimum wage in most places.

I agree with the sentiment that they should be thankful to be able to earn money at all, but you cannot just force someone to do work - and expect the work to be high quality. There has to be some sense of reward, even if it's only 3$/day. Shrug.

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: buyer262000

Yes, 3 dollars for a full day of work is just sooooo much.

The three dollars a day is over 1000 dollars a year of my taxpayer money per prisoner. Not to mention the 30,000 or so extra it costs yearly to incarcerate a prisoner. I feel it is totally ridiculous to have tv's in the jail cells. Books - ok, thats as far as I would go.

Ok then, but now the state has to buy furniture at retail.

I don't understand why it is not enough that the prisoner's are 'paid' simply by having a place to sleep and three meals a day? The state can still produce furniture with prison labor, but why pay them and let them buy tv's for their jail cells? As long as there are hard working law abiding citizens out here that can't afford a tv themselves, NO prisoner should have access to one.

The prisoners still should be required to enter a work program. Heck it is FREE JOB TRAINING! They should be required to work, simply to offset the 30k that society is spending to house them. Pay? They are not sleeeping outside on the wet ground are they? That is the pay. . . There are good law abiding citizens that are homeless and without shelter, so they should be happy just to have that.

So we give them free job training, pay them, feed them, let em have tv's in their cells? The way I figure at 3 dollars a day, in 10 years an inmate could have 10,000 worth of goodies. . . .Heck thats more than my budget for toys and electronics, thats for sure. I honestly don't understand what is wrong with books? There has been a few great prison successes that involved prisoners picking up books for the first time because they were bored and educating themselves and becoming great people. Had they had tv, chances are they'd just have let their brain rot for 10 years. . .

Whats next in the cell? Broadband as long as they pay for it and a new computer cause they earned 400$ in a year?

 

[KidViciou$]

eli, these people think that water and bread is too good for inmates, and they expect them to be civil when they come out.

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
eli, these people think that water and bread is too good for inmates, and they expect them to be civil when they come out.

They should have safe quarters and adequate food. Don't turn an argument about flat screen tv's in the jail cells into one where you think that is cruel. . .I'm all for education and giving them all the books they can read - but electronic accessories is a little much in their cell. If the 'community tv' was causing fights, there should be no tv at all.

Now if they choose to spend money on a subscription a newspaper, I'd be more willing to acquiese. . .

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: buyer262000

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
eli, these people think that water and bread is too good for inmates, and they expect them to be civil when they come out.

They should have safe quarters and adequate food. Don't turn an argument about flat screen tv's in the jail cells into one where you think that it is cruel to deprive a person of tv. . .I'm all for education and giving them all the books they can read - but electronic accessories is a little much in their cell. If the 'community tv' was causing fights, there should be no tv at all.

Now if they choose to spend money on a subscription a newspaper, I'd be more willing to acquiese. . .

 

[sd]

looks like 3 hots & a cot just got better! WTF :|

 

[KidViciou$]

i agree that they should be spending money on their education as opposed to entertainment, but it's not as bad as how people make it out. i do believe that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. as long as he is not allowed to spend all his time watching tv, and his time watching tv is during entertainment time, i don't see any problem with this

 

[StageLeft]

Good for him. The prison system is less about corrections and mroe about punishment, which contributes to a high recidivism rate.

 

[skace]

Oh no a prisoner has something that I don't have! The horror. Well, at least I've got my freedom and can walk normal..

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by: OulOat

Originally posted by: isekii
THey should have them work for food.

No work ? No food for you.

Start a fight ? No food for you.

Yeah, we have to work for food on the outside. No work, no food. No work, no shelter. Why are these given to criminals and paid by us?

:roll:
Why the hell do we need to feed the prisonners? Hell, just shot them dead. Anyone convict of a crime, "bam..." it costs the state one bullet and the labor to clean up the mess. Soooo much cheapers...
:roll:

 

[chibchakan]

I'm ok with the prisoners buying their own tvs, but why stop there? Make them also pay for the electricity and basic cable.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
As an Oregonian, I like the plan. The inmates churn out great furniture as part of their jobs, so the state benefits with cheap, high-quality furniture and better behaved inmates, and the inmates themselves get to watch TV. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

the inmates here in MI also make furniture. Its such a great program!!! The state now contracts with the prison to make all their furniture. The prison only pays the prisoners a couple bucks a day so they can underbid anyone else out there. This has worked out so well that some of our largest employers in the state (steelcase in particular) have had to lay off or fire many of their employees because the state was one of their biggest customers. Now more people are out of work, but at least the inmates get to have some nice things while they are locked up for raping, murdering, and God knows what else.

 

[Amused]

Folks, the number one advocates for incentives like these are prison guards. Maybe we should trust them to know what is needed to keep prisoners from rioting. Brute force and total deprivation has never worked and always led to extremely violent riots.

Also, this teaches prisoners that good behavior and hard work has rewards. Remember, the vast majority of prisoners will be released one day.

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: GoodDad

Originally posted by: ViRGE
As an Oregonian, I like the plan. The inmates churn out great furniture as part of their jobs, so the state benefits with cheap, high-quality furniture and better behaved inmates, and the inmates themselves get to watch TV. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

the inmates here in MI also make furniture. Its such a great program!!! The state now contracts with the prison to make all their furniture. The prison only pays the prisoners a couple bucks a day so they can underbid anyone else out there. This has worked out so well that some of our largest employers in the state (steelcase in particular) have had to lay off or fire many of their employees because the state was one of their biggest customers. Now more people are out of work, but at least the inmates get to have some nice things while they are locked up for raping, murdering, and God knows what else.

AMEN. . . - This is wrong.

 

[KidViciou$]

where are the people complaining about inmates taking their jobs? "THEY TOOK OUR JOBS"