>>5
prisons arent cheap. they cost tons of tax dollars and many feed and clothe the prisoners for far less than they request for funding.
Thing is, though they diserve jail time, many are in for longer periods than they diserve because of the three strikes law, which puts people in jail for things less than felonies.
Considering the sheer number of people in the justice system, you think the handfull of people they get sound bites from are going to have any sympathetic messege to tell? no, they're gonna pick a robber, a gangbanger, or some child rapist.
We also have to face the fact that almost half the inmates in todays prisons are mentally ill, and should be in an institution for their problem. Prison is a rehabilitation program for most, a holding cell only for some. to keep these mentally ill people not only in jail and away from help, but in jail near others they might harm is wrong and irrisponsible.
and dont say everyone in jail diserves it, cause they dont, even if they're not innocent. Parents of a teenager sent their son to jail because he took out the family car without permission and they were teaching him a lesson. He was subsiquently stabbed in his cell a few days later.
and the thing is, some of them are right, even the ones that diserve their time, that it is the systems fault. When prisons do nothing but hold prisoners without any type of rehabilitation or counseling, they have an awful lot of time to stew and contemplate. If you've ever seen the show 30 days you'll know what i'm talking about. one of the repeate inmates of the jail said it's akin to a dog that's always chained up. the dog is on the chain so long, that as soon as you release it it hits the ground running and is more likely to do something stupid right after being released. this is the same with prisoners. many are so glad to be out that they become reckless and end up doing things quicker and getting sent back sooner than if they had just been through a program to help them.