Against the death penalty...

But I even have concerns about life in prison.
Yes, I was thrilled to see the ruling saying no death penalty for minors, as it is a step in the right direction.
My question, however, is what is the point of prison if the person can never have improved? Never see the light of day as a free man/woman again?
Isn't prison supposed to be a correctional facility? Why then, do these people have no chance to show that they've improved?
Obviously, for heinous crimes, I believe the person should be locked up for years... but they should get the oppurtunity at least have a CHANCE at parole...


Thoughts?
Have I finally become too liberal?

I also feel that once a person has done their time and paid their debt to society, they should have all the rights and privliges of any other person.

though I must add that if they commit another felony... then perhaps life in prison is the right route.

I think people should be put in jail for life if they are sexual predators of any kind. They cannot be cured and for the safety of society life in prison has to remain an option.

Punishment
Rehabilitation
Deterrance
Protection
Justice

Punishment of a criminal is what we usually think of when we think of what prisons are for. Deterrance is closely related- if we want people to refrain from committing a criminal act, we must have consequences that will be enforced. Justice for the victim is also closely related to the concept of punishment.

But prisons are also facilities that promote rehabilitation of criminals, though not all criminals can be rehabilitated given our current understanding of pyschology and behavior.

By and large, though, prisons serve the purpose of keeping criminals away from those that they would prey on. We have to segregat the truly dangerous from the vulnerable. So we put them in prison. The death penalty can't accomplish what prisons can based on these goals, and therefore doesn't serve us to perform. While it can punish and protect, it cannot rehabilitate, grant justice to the victimized and it does not deter others from commiting capital crimes. Therefore, it is not an effective means of dealing with criminals.

prison is also used by the haves to control the have-nots . . . particularly those with darker skin . . . the percentage of African-American males in prison in this country is a disgrace . . .

I think the prison system is inheritly lopsided against minorities and the lower socio economic classes. I'm a huge fan of Angela Davis who advocates the abolishment of the prison system. Here are some links, she is much more articulate than I in explaining her views.

snip

mystikchylde asks: What are your ideas on prison reform?

Angela Davis: First of all, that's a huge question. I guess what I would say is that I believe that we should move beyond prison reform. Historically, "prison reform" has tended to strengthen the prison system. So what those of us who are organizing this Critical Resistance conference are saying is that we need to think about radical alternatives -- education instead of incarceration, free drug programs instead of the criminalization of drug use -- and we are especially concerned about the degree to which prisons have become a source of profit. Instead of calling our movement a prison reform movement, we are calling it a movement against the prison industrial complex.

http://www.time.com/time/community/transcripts/chattr092298.html

http://www.eda-sf.org/pages/angeladavis.html

http://www.kintespace.com/p_angeladavis0.html

edit: spelling

but our sentences are disproportionately higher as well. Of course our founding fathers believed in Enlightenment principles regarding criminal justice. Punishment and rehabilitation should be considered equally when dealing with convicted felons. The goal was to take a broken individual and send them back into society whole, a situation in which everyone benefits.

Unfortunately, we now have a privatized prison system that profits from filling prison beds. It is no longer in their best interest to rehabilitate anyone or even consider clemency should the convict somehow rehabilitate him/herself. Some prisons have geriatric units filled to the gills with old, decrepit men who are no threat to anybody but whose continued imprisonment is adding to the profit margin of some huge corporation like Wackenhut or CCA.

That is why the networks show 24/7 coverage of murders, kidnappings and sensational trials. They are serving their corporate masters by whipping up public outrage over Laci Peterson and whatever cute white girl has been kidnapped this week.

I'd prefer no death penality but some people can't be helped like sociopaths (serial killers), pedophiles (child molesters), and Republician. For the first 2, death penality once proven they done the crime. All the rest needs more balanced sentences. 5 years for pot possition is stupid. Make it a fine and let them out. What I fear is the fact conservatives love prisons to separate the undesirables from themselves like blacks, hispanics, etc.

republican... some are respectable... I probably would never vote for one, but it's these neocons and god-in-their-ear folks who are the problem.