Why not use prisoners more effectively?

[Gooberlx2]

Like Beev said, inmates have rights. They actually have more rights then regular citizens do.

By what measure could you possibly make that statement? Hyperbole much?

 

[highland145]

Come to think of it, I think the civil war was somehow related to slavery. Something about the south having an endless supply of cheap labor, the north had no possible way of competing against the south in the free market. All of production goes to the south. North is a barren wasteland because no sane person wants to pay white people 1 penny per day when he could just as easily pay black people 0 pennies per day for the same product....

That would sure fuck up the local economy too. You own a company that empties the garbage cans at bus stops. Suddenly it's done by prison labor. Your company = out of business. All construction workers would be replaced as well.

No wonder those damn yanks invaded us. Jealous bitches.

That was the deal. The private industry couldn't compete. They put pressure on the politicians. Prisoners, have a seat. Googled but couldn't find any details. 1940's or 50's, iirc.

I read about it a little while ago and it was pretty disturbing and while it's awesome that they got rid of it in S.C I feel that it's still very prevalent in other parts of the country. i feel it's just something too tempting for large corps to pass over and since they got the money to push it they probably won't stop unless there's some large scale crack down/reform.

See above on the dates. The Federal prison industry is still around. I know they make flooring in the county above me.

Interesting

Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) was formed in 1934 during a period when social reform and economic recovery were priorities in the United States. At the time, federal prisoners were unproductive and inactive, and officials in the Department of Justice were concerned that this idleness was creating an increasingly dangerous federal prison system. To occupy the inmates' time and also to teach them job skills and a work ethic that would prove valuable upon their release, the Department of Justice lobbied for a program that allowed men and women incarcerated in federal prisons to manufacture goods for government use.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Federal-Prison-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html

 

[Brainonska511]

This will happen only in a fascist or communist country.

Not in free countries like yours

Unless you let the penal wardens run the natio, of course.

LOL - that's what you think. They used to imprison blacks in the South on trumped up or petty charges just to use them in chain gangs.

A large number of criminal convictions were based on "petty" and "trumped up charges" to meet the demand for cheap convict workers. n60 This system became what the Supreme Court called a "wheel of servitude."...

The peonage system characterized racial and economic arrangements in the South during the Progressive era. n71 Through peonage laws, Southern states effectively enacted legislation to reduce freed blacks to the level of slave labor without having statutes defined in racial terms. n72 For example, a typical peonage law like the Florida vagrancy statute of 1905, which subjected vagrants to a $ 250 fine or six months on a chain gang, did not refer to race. n73 It defined vagrants as a multitude of persons beginning with "rogues and vagabonds, idle or dissolute persons, common night walkers, persons who neglect their calling," and ending with "all able-bodied male persons over eighteen years of age who are without means of support." n74 In reality, however, Southern states used these broad statutes to convict any person without a job or means of support and found their targets mostly in African-American laborers who typically did not have contractual employment. n75

Nancy A. Ozimek, 1997, The Boston University Public Interest Law Journal (6 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 753)

 

[Squisher]

The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause applies to the states. The phrases employed originated in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

I would think that rules out drug testing.

 

[ShawnD1]

I think we need a pre-crime division.

Actually we already have this. Some drunk asshole called the mayor and left a message saying something about "you better watch your back." Phone call traced, person identified, drunk person is now charged for making violent threats.

Department of Justice were concerned that this idleness was creating an increasingly dangerous federal prison system

Makes sense. What do little kids do when there's nothing to do? They start causing a ruckus. What's the worst possible thing a recovering alcohol or drug addict can be? Ruckus I mean bored, because bored people go back to using drugs. What do prisoners do when they have nothing useful to do? START PRODUCING RUCKUS.

Prisoners need to be kept entertained somehow. Put on plays and shit. Have them visit a high school, put on a play, then yell at the kids about how they're all going to die if they end up in prison and don't do drugs and get your eight hours of milk and stay off sleep so they can find work.
Make them do science experiments too. Do the trick where a can with a hole in the top is filled with hydrogen and the top is lit with a match; it starts making a weird whistling noise for a few seconds then there is a small explosion and the can will jump off the ground. Then they can yell at the kids more.

 

[coloumb]

Don't they already make license plates?

 

[Gooberlx2]

Don't they already make license plates?

They do a lot of things. As mentioned, license plates, road cleanup, flooring, other industrial contracts.

They also often have a job within the prison (cooking, cleaning, laundry, caring for other inmates). And some other creative jobs as well, like training working dogs, for example.

 

[ShawnD1]

They also often have a job within the prison (cooking, cleaning, laundry, caring for other inmates). And some other creative jobs as well, like training working dogs, for example.

Working with animals is probably a good idea. Animals always seem to bring out the best in people.

Animals are also a good way to tell which prisoners you should abuse and which ones not to abuse. The guy who hits the dog, that's the guy you say is actually a police informant, then sit back and let that problem solve itself.

 

[Evadman]

I;d support it if it was for unemployment.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Working with animals is probably a good idea. Animals always seem to bring out the best in people.

I remember watching some story on it. I don't remember the program (news, Frontline, Animal Planet, whatever), but I do remember the strongest point being that it's really productive in actually rehabbing some inmates and/or teaching certain social emotions/skills (such as compassion, patience, sympathy, etc...) to inmates who never really developed them.

 

[davmat787]

Working with animals is probably a good idea. Animals always seem to bring out the best in people.

Animals are also a good way to tell which prisoners you should abuse and which ones not to abuse. The guy who hits the dog, that's the guy you say is actually a police informant, then sit back and let that problem solve itself.

I seem to recall reading about a highly successful program involving abused dogs and some hard core prisoners. Will see if I can dig it up...

edit: this page appears to list many programs of various types: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/apps/utopia/learn.html

 

[SunnyD]

The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause applies to the states. The phrases employed originated in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

I would think that rules out drug testing.

I would think allowing the prisoner the informed option to participate (contractually) would circumvent that clause. Perhaps some external incentive, such as additional benefits for non-incarcerated family members or some such thing as compensation. Give the prisoner the right to refuse, and all is well.

 

[fustercluck]

I think the first step is not to put everyone in the country in Jail. Like you said, highest rate of incarcerations. It's quite sad. This too

Might as well give them something they can do that's productive though, like you say.

 

[Schadenfroh]

They took our jobs!

 

[highland145]

They took our jobs!

Prisoner mods. Might be fun.

 

[Rudee]

I always say prisoners on death row should be used for really authentic movie stunts involving injury, dismemberment or gore.

 

[Farmer]

I always say prisoners on death row should be used for really authentic movie stunts involving injury, dismemberment or gore.

Definitely. Like decapitations and stuff.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I agree 100% with those points. I mean, don't treat them like slaves, but make them work 7.5 hours a day, get weekends off, like the rest of the world, and given they are prisoners, they just don't get paid for it.

For the death row I fully agree with using them for testing drugs. Why should we be putting innocent animals through these tests, when we have actual humans we can test on... they're going to be killed anyway, may as well make them useful before killing them. If the experiment goes terribly wrong then just end their miseries faster.

The roughness of the work should go by crime. For example, non violent criminals could get to do some supervised yard work outside of the prison, to at least more or less see the rest of the world. The rapists and murderers would get harsh manual labor inside. Maybe cleaning tons of stuff by hand or something. Basically factories and other companies could outsource grunt work to the prison. They would pay the prison some money which could then be used to operate it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always say prisoners on death row should be used for really authentic movie stunts involving injury, dismemberment or gore.

That would be awesome, actually.