28 July 2004

A Kinder, Gentler Corrections System

Over the last few years we have seen a rather interesting trend in our Judicial and Corrections systems. A new way of thinking has evolved in which the focus of Corrections is less on punishment and more on rehabilitation. Personally, I think that this is a noble idea, but the downside is that it’s a lot harder and a lot more expensive to implement than simple punishment.

Besides which, it’s being misused. Crimes which once would have merited mandatory incarceration are instead given conditional sentences, which specify things like community service and mandatory check-ins with local law enforcement. By the same token, crimes for which conditional sentencing is appropriate are instead being subjected to mandatory incarceration. Repeat offenders are being given conditional sentence after conditional sentence for crimes that should merit mandatory incarceration, while offenders who have committed far less severe crimes are receiving sentences totally out of proportion with the severity of their crimes. It almost seems as if the only really constant factor in the doling out of sentences is the whims and desires of that particular judge on that particular day.

Why is this happening? It’s happening because the judicial and corrections systems have allowed themselves to be seduced by so called practitioners of the voodoo social sciences, which aren’t really sciences at all because their conclusions have absolutely no basis in scientific fact. Social scientists draw their conclusions from incomplete bodies of evidence and call themselves learned and informed, and people believe them. The judicial and corrections systems believe them, and that’s why we have the problem we’re now facing.

Social workers and other voodoo scientists are telling us that every convict must be given every opportunity to rehabilitate, even in such situations where such rehabilitation is totally inappropriate. And we have judges who are swallowing this load of bilge hook, line, and sinker. They’re swallowing it so completely that there are judges who seem to dole out nothing but conditional sentences, completely ignoring those instances in which incarceration is not only appropriate, it’s virtually called for. This does nothing to safeguard our society, and isn’t that the primary responsibility of the Department of Justice and the Department of Corrections?
We as a society choose to grant our citizens certain rights and freedoms. In exchange for these rights and freedoms, which are a privilege and something we aren’t actually entitled to, we agree to act in a certain, civilized manner and abide by the laws of the land. Criminals are people who have broken this social contract, and therefore it seems logical to me that the same rights, freedoms, and privileges granted to them by the same social contract they have just broken should be taken away from them. If you’re not going to hold up your end of the bargain then the bargain shouldn’t apply to you.

Originally this was the whole purpose behind incarceration. Criminals were incarcerated as punishment for violating their half of the social contract. They were herded into a holding facility where their rights, privileges, and freedoms as ordinary citizens were systematically taken from them as part of their punishment. Sadly, it seems as if this is no longer the case.

The voodoo social scientists insist that these same criminals who have violated the social contract should reap the benefits of the contract they’ve violated, and have even gone so far as to lobby to allow convicted, incarcerated criminals to vote in elections. These are the same wonderful people who insist that criminals should have a high level of creature comforts while they’re on the inside, the people who are responsible for allowing such luxuries as televisions and stereos inside jail cells.

I’m uncertain what this does to encourage criminals to rehabilitate themselves, or even what it does to punish them for the crimes they’ve committed, but it sure in hell makes them comfortable. Just like being at home, except that here you’re surrounded by guards and other inmates.

More and more with each passing day I find myself coming to the conclusion that our kinder, gentler corrections system will end up doing our society more harm than good. Our crime rates will continue to spiral upward because inappropriately applied conditional sentences and a woefully inadequate prison system are doing nothing to either rehabilitate or punish convicted criminals.
That’s another thing that gets me about these voodoo scientists: They’re the first ones that tell us that we have to concentrate on rehabilitating these criminals, but they have no idea how to go about doing it. They’re like the guy who gives his friends all kinds of sexual advice, but he’s never been shagged.

The only way to fix it is to ignore the social scientists and reform the judicial and corrections systems from the ground up. I’m not so sure about what to do about the judicial system, but I know what we can do about the corrections system.

What we need to do is take a step back and adopt a correctional system which emphasizes punishment for crimes while, at the same time, giving criminals every opportunity to rehabilitate themselves. This system will a lot harsher than what convicts are used to now, but that’s out of necessity.

The first thing we need to do is take out all of the creature comforts. You, as a convicted criminal, will reside in a small cell. You will live alone. You will have extremely limited contact with the other inmates. The only piece of furniture in your cell will be a cot, with a single pillow and a blanket. And, just to prove that I’m not a completely heartless bastard and that I recognize the need for personal hygiene, you will also have a sink and a toilet. There will be no bars. The walls will be made of concrete and will sport a single, reinforced steel door with a one foot square window. You will have a single light with a 60 watt bulb. This is your home now. Get used to it.

Work programs will be mandatory, and all of them will be hard labour.

Your typical day will go something like this:

You will be awakened to reveille at 6AM and have fifteen minutes to clean yourself up and prepare for your day. You will stand for cell inspection at 6:15AM. At 7AM you will be herded into the mess hall for breakfast, which will occupy 30 minutes. At 7:30AM you will be herded into the courtyard and separated into your work gangs. Your work day begins at 8AM and ends at 8PM. Lunch is at noon and dinner is at 5PM. Convicts will muster in the courtyard to be counted immediately after work and will return to their cells at 8:30PM. At this point, those convicts who have served at least a year of their sentence, and have requested and been granted permission to participate in rehabilitation programs, will be given their opportunity to do so. Those convicts not participating in such programs will be returned to their cells to stare at the walls and watch the flies fuck. Bed check is at 10:30PM. Lights out at 11PM.

Oh, about the food. It will be nutritionally complete, but will otherwise taste like shit.

There is no such thing as early parole for good behaviour. You will serve the entirety of your sentence, and that’s all there is to it.
For those who have committed murder or other major felony offenses, I advocate the use of the Guillotine. For rapists and child molesters, I advocate the use of a scaled down version of the Guillotine.

Is this proposed prison system harsh? Yes, it most certainly is. That is by design. Do I go too far? I don’t think so. I promise you this, though: with this kind of prison system your crime rate will drop dramatically and you will have far fewer repeat offenders.

And that, my friends, is another reason why I will never hold public office.