We had a class discussion at school today about prisons being a "joke," as one of my classmates labeled them. Now I personally do NOT agree with this conception. I have a family member currently incarcerated as jail is hardly a joke, in fact it is anything but. That label makes me laugh after hearing descriptions of what goes on in those facilities. With backed-up drains causing feces to run along the cell floors and wall, with a GUARD killing a prisoner with his own hands, with the fact that simply taking a single step into the wrong area in the jail yard can cause you to get beaten-up and possibly killed by other prisoners, added to the fact that medical facilities are so horrible that "doctors" are forced to use the same tongue depressor on all the prisoners, these factors hardly sound like a prison that could de described as a "joke" to me.

And just for the record, the other student who I engaged in this conversation with described these "joke" prisons as ones that allow prisoners to play playstation and watch television. Please post your thoughts on this issue.

death penalty isn't used often enough. if ted bundy had been caught today, i highly doubt he would have been given the electric chair. he'd probably been given 20-tp-life with possibilty of parole. he could probably have gotten out.
we're too nice to these people.

YAH PRISONS ARE TEH JOKE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAFUN-E!!1¡!

Yeah I think that in the U.S. our prisons are a little too nice. I recently read an article in Reader's Digest (I think) about how prisoners get top quality medical treatment, I mean is it fair that a felon would go to the head of the list for an organ transplant? I don't think so. And I'm also pretty sure that they can get things like breast reduction for guys, now that's dead wrong. But then I'm not saying that we should go and turn our prisons in to Middle Age hell-holes. They should be clean, the prisoners should get basic medical care and food but they should not get top notch treatment, unlimited TV and such. Prison is supposed to be a punishment and at the rate we're going U.S. prisons are going to be nicer places than most of our cities.

Oh and I'm definitely pro-death penalty, we just need to find some way of making sure the people are truly guilty first.

yeah prisons arent a joke i mean if they were we would be in alot of trouble. prison shouldnt be thought of as a joke cause they dont treat you fair in there. that is what i hear from people who come out of there. i mean there is alot to a prison it teaches the criminals that are in there that they need to shape up and what they did was wrong dont you agree? this is an awesome question it gives you something to actually think about!!

Rape devistates the lives of victims. Anyone who says that we shouldn't devistate the lives of the rapists is sick. I am sickened by anyone who thinks that rapists deserve a greater ability to be happy than rape victims. I am very happy that rapists are often A** raped, murdered and incapacitated by other prisoners inside prison. It is sad when prisoners have a more profound sense of justice than the lawmakers.

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Originally posted by CelticNewAger:

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but this is america and if that happened here The ACLU would probably get involved and say thats its not right to treat prisoners that way.

Americans are too nice at times. Why should we treat killers and rapists nicely, in fact, even have any form of compassion/pity for them?

thank god someone said it. it disgusts me that proven rapists & serial killers are protected & treated with respect, as though what they did isn't wrong. these people didn't treat their victims with respect victims with respect, so why should we.

Thank you for finally posting the disclaimer Celtic.

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What social injustice? I look at these minorities, given help, special scholarships, and what do they do? They trash it away, go into crime. That's their fault, their choice.

Far more things should be done. There is not universal health insurance in America, socialization would allieviate some problems. It is unfair to heap the problem of crime upon minorities.

They are not given enough help. It disgusts me.

I don't think that someone who ends a persons existence on earth unjustifiably maintains a right to exist themselves.

To kill would mean, permanently, that these people can't do the same.

Revenge? Revenge is not wrong at times.

It appalls me that people pity killers. They're killers, damn it. K-i-l-l-e-r-s. How is it that people have no pity for girls who get pregnant, yet for killers we must show compassion?

Of course it is not the solution to the cause of crime. There is no solution to crime. Because most crimes are normal, in fact, killing is normal in human behaviour (if we lived as barbarians, I mean). Crime will never have a solution, as long as power, wealth, money, etc are not balanced within people. And even if it was balanced, people still want to stand out.

What social injustice? I look at these minorities, given help, special scholarships, and what do they do? They trash it away, go into crime. That's their fault, their choice.

What does killing serve? A vicious cycle of revenge and violence. I know that killers are terrible human beings, but they're still humans, and while partof me would like to see them beheaded, I know that killing prisoners is no solution to the problems taht cause crime.

Poverty and social injustice need to be combatted to reduce prison populations: killing people is no solution.

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Celtic waht the **** is wrong with you? They're humans!!! God damn it! They should be treated like ****ing humans! What about all the balcks arrested and tried under false pretenses in america? What about the innocent on death row?

Puerto- Rican prisons, itf they are as bad as Brazilian ones, are medival. It's disgusting.

And did they ever consider your being a human when they killed you, did cannibal acts upon you? Did they ever considered your rights as a living, thinking, emotional person? Did they ever think of your family, of your children, of your value of a human being? Did they ever even give a damn that you died a painful horrible death? Did they ever regret killing you? No. No. No. No. No. Then tell me, why should I give a **** about their rights? Tell me a good contribution a killer makes to this world. Tell me a positive light a mass murderer can shed upon us.

The innocent on death row...yes, that is a problem. Cases in the US are too easily put on death row, that I agree on, and think more should be done to prevent innocent people from being killed.

No, they are not as bad as Brazilian ones. We are not a third-world country, thank you very much. And the death penalty is not legal here, the prisoners kill themselves; the ones they think should be killed (child rapists, wife beaters, murderers, etc).

Call me Hitler, but these people should be killed. Murderes and rapists. They do nothing good for the planet, the planet is getting overcrowded, I say, shoot them.

It isn't so much the prison system that is a joke; it's our punishment and "fair law" as another student in my own Us Systems class put it. (He was in agreement with how our system works...) We have people who kill another human being and can walk out in 12 years on probation, some are acquitted because of a minor discrepancy. I have to get to bed, or i would go on. Good topic.

Celtic waht the **** is wrong with you? They're humans!!! God damn it! They should be treated like ****ing humans! What about all the balcks arrested and tried under false pretenses in america? What about the innocent on death row?

Puerto- Rican prisons, itf they are as bad as Brazilian ones, are medival. It's disgusting.

because this is america and we have been politcally corrected into thinking that everyone has the rights of regular citizens. including illegal aliens and criminals of violent or sexual crimes. i like the idea of your prisons. maybe if we had a prison system like that then there would be less crime in america.

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but this is america and if that happened here The ACLU would probably get involved and say thats its not right to treat prisoners that way.

Americans are too nice at times. Why should we treat killers and rapists nicely, in fact, even have any form of compassion/pity for them?

but this is america and if that happened here The ACLU would probably get involved and say thats its not right to treat prisoners that way.

Prisons are too sweet, I think, in the US. A prison is not supposed to be a place of enjoyment. It's prison.

Here in Puerto Rico and in Russia (I've heard, never did a crime there), prisons are prisons. You only leave your cell to shower once a week and to go outside twice a week. Men rape each other and no one cares. It's an honest torture, like it is supposed to be.

For a rich man, a prison might be hell on earth. But for others, it's ok.

My viewpoint is kind of in the middle on this one.

If someone was homeless all he would have to do is commit a crime and he'll have a roof over his head, food, television, and friends (if you want to call them that).

But, for someone who is used to all of those necessities, prison is horrible. You are shut off from society missing those you love. You count down the days until you are released and only have cement walls to stare at. You have to beg the guards for paper to write to loved ones, and ask cellmates for a pen. If you are lucky you will have a television to look at, but only if your cell is close to a guard station. It is the definition of boredom. Maybe, if you are lucky, you or your cellmate will have a deck of cards to play with, but even that gets boring.

From what I have seen, prisons do change the people who are in them. Most of the time for worse, but people who are truly good inside, will change for the better.

After all, who wants to live life in a remote prison secluded from friends and family, just living for another chance to see their family on the next visit.