I honestly dont see what is wrong with it personally,
these people have broken laws, and henceforth they have forfeited various rights such as voting, free access to the world for a set time and other freedoms.
I personally feel we should use the prisoners for hard labor such as digging roads, mining (with needed safety gear ofc.), assembling various products and anything else of need
to the govenment, it would help save costs on many different things.
It would also help pay back for the huge cost to keep them in prison in the first place.
What is facepunch's opinion?
I completely agree with you.
The only problem I see with it is that it might be an incentive to put people in prisons.
I'm not sure how to argue this too well, but at least to be an advocate of the opposite side:
Your point regarding the cost of prisons is disputable. The military also had a huge cost, far exceeding that of the prison system's. We are far less likely to cut this spending for the reason that the military is necessary, prisons are also a necessary part of society so perhaps the cost is not as crucial a point as you make it. Therefore, arguing that prisoners should be forced into some kind of slave labour because of the cost seems invalid.
I fear that this would give incentive for private prisons to exploit this.
But the money made from the labour could be used to help cover military and other things if we put them to real use....
Only if they get paid at market rates/minimum wage.
But then there is no money being generated to pay for the prisons ect, why should they get PAY if they already have housing, food ect, mabye they could get credits for extra things.
Why should they get pay, concider this the punishment, having to put work in and earn money to pay back the troubles they have caused...
I'm afraid you are advocating for quite a scary state where slavery is encouraged. Surely the point of prison is to contain offenders and to rehabilitate them so that they may better fit into society? Rather than being a lucrative business opportunity
[QUOTE=nuttyboffin;40839149]But then there is no money being generated to pay for the prisons ect, why should they get PAY if they already have housing, food ect, mabye they could get credits for extra things.[/quote]
Then sell the prisoners special services in return for their work? Television access or chocolate bars or some books?
[quote]Why should they get pay, concider this the punishment, having to put work in and earn money to pay back the troubles they have caused...[/QUOTE]
Because being put into prison is the punishment. They have their freedom of movement restricted. Why punish them more?
Also unpaid work is economically unsustainable.
If the prisoners are not receiving a fair return it would almost be slavery. It's not like you could state that they could be given a choice, because I do believe in some prisons across the world they do already have a choice regarding such work. Despite being prisoners, and yes having commited crimes, they are still human beings and have human rights just like you and I.
Also, forcing prisoners to perform work is not in any way a feasible mean of production. There would be risk of low morale raising the issue of sabotage in production, and low output (making ventures unprofitable and cause them to be a blight on state budgets). Depending on how strict the work discipline is, it might cause increased suicide rates. Being exposed to production equipment could increase the chances of finding something to cause self-harm with, and when you think about it even Foxconn workers have managed to find ways to commit suicide.
An unhappy worker is a subpar worker, and having a giant workforce like that means jobs are potentially taken from paid workers. I'd be all for it if it wouldn't have an impact on the economy, wasn't a reason to put innocent people in jail, and wouldn't have an impact on the products produced.
They should, but not as basic unskilled labour, but through special apprenticeships that teach prisoners skills that could be used to better themselves once they are released so they don't need to go back into crime to make a living. These programs should not be compulsory for the prisoner but have rewards such as a reduced sentence and more luxuries in prison for participation.
If work was a volunteer incentive rather than being forced, then it would be OK. The point of prison is to rehabilitate people, so letting people have a degree of freedom and work towards a reduced sentence/good behavior release would be a step towards that.
However prison is unnecessary for many crimes, likewise criminals most often come from a background of poverty. It's not an excuse to get away with crimes, however one has to question the societal implications of putting a predominately poor spectrum of people into a badly managed prison then [I]forcing[/I] them to work.
Likewise some places have private prisons, which just leaves a gigantic window open for wrongful exploitation so that should be steered clear of.
Private prisons will just find more ways to bribe the US government into making more harmless activities criminal as they have done in the past, to garner even more prisoners.
In countries like the UK high unemployment rates mean it would be disastrous to take jobs from qualified people and give them to criminals who have broken the law of the land.
[QUOTE=IceyMalone;40840195]Private prisons will just find more ways to bribe the US government into making more harmless activities criminal as they have done in the past, to garner even more prisoners.
In countries like the UK high unemployment rates mean it would be disastrous to take jobs from qualified people and give them to criminals who have broken the law of the land.[/QUOTE]
pretty much this the making prisoners doing the work for nothing will take away jobs for other people
[b]I[/b] pretty much think prisoners could work ( as volunteer ) as maybe a student for some of these jobs also being watched by a guard being taught how to do " say " job so they have something to do when they get out
No, because this sort of thing encourages the incarceration of people for more and more petty things. The "huge cost of prison" happens more because of the large number of people locked up for pointless things like possession of small amounts of cannabis.
Anything produced or done by a prisoner would likely also be low quality or produced inefficiently, as the workers would effectively be slaves. In Rome in might have been effective to some degree, but only because slaves would face death (or worse) upon resistance. In a semi-civilized society like the one we have today, this would be all together unreasonable.
I wouldn't think it is the best idea.
Because there are people who has a hard time actually finding a job, just giving it to the wrongdoers would/could probably encourage wrongdoing.
There are honest people who are struggling with getting a job/home, and the criminals just gets it given?
I remember I once saw someone on the news who said he would gladly re-offend because it was so nice.
They shouldn't.
At least where I live, it's fucking difficult to get a job, even the shittiest of jobs are hard to get here. This would do nothing but raise the number of unemployed people who need money to pay for a roof over their head.
It depends really.
German POWs in The United States during WWII were placed in POW camps throughout The United States and were received fair treatment according the Geneva convention. They were also allowed to work and were paid in Scripts so that they couldn't buy things outside of the camp that they could use against the camp guards/other POWs. Many of the POWs worked on farms throughout America and had strengthened the farm's workforce as the POWs were readily available at anytime. The same thing can go for prisoners as there is a large majority of them rotting away in cells doing absolutely nothing with themselves. Of course there would have to be security measures and possibly only a small amount would be actually allowed to leave the Prisons, but it can work in the same basic idea. However if such a system would be put in place it would be extremely complicated and there would more than likely be many problems with it. Lower security prisons would more than likely be appropriate while maximum security prisons and others related to those prisons on that level would have to be excluded due to the potential danger the inmates would place on society. Once the inmates get out they would have useful skills they could use in the outside world and instead of turning back to crime would possibly head into an honest job.
Once again theres always the danger even in lower security prisons and the need for a completely new prison system, but it would allow for a larger workforce while also supplying the skills needed for life outside of these prisons and putting them to actual use to society instead of simply waiting, rotting away in a 6x8 jail cell.
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