(urth) This Week in Google Alerts: Home Fires

[David Stockhoff]

On 4/12/2012 1:43 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>> David Stockhoff: OTOH, who could be in prison for life and NOT brutally murder
>> >(or want to) everyone he comes in contact with? Indeed, what more could you do to
>> >destroy his humanity?
>
> This isn't the case for most prisons within modern, industrialized nations. A prison
> is a living, working community. Prisoners have jobs they have to go to, recreation
> entertainment and educational opportunities, contact with family members, friendships
> and even romantic relationships both in and outside the prison walls (some very
> progressive prisons are now assigning special wards for couples). There are holidays
> and special events and creative outlets and opportunity for freedom of expression.
> Hard as it is to fathom from the outside, prisoners have lives.
>
> It isn't the life I would want to lead. But the people who run the prison systems are
> human beings.  And if you spend any amount of time in prison you quickly realize that
> most of the prisoners are also human beings and ways must be found to treat them as
> such. The stereotyped dungeons with open cells made from iron bars and filthy public
> toilets and perpetual beatings and rapings are a thing of the past in the USA.  It is
> simply a natural progression that must happen, assuming you aren't a sadist.
>
> (of course a minority of prison staff do lean in that direction but  efforts are always
> made to reduce such behavior. I've seen staff disciplined, fired and even jailed
> themselves for mistreating prisoners)

Naturally I bow to your experience. But I assumed we were all thinking 
of max-security or supermax facilities where murderers would find 
themselves, and further, with the privatization of prisons in the US 
much of the progress you describe is being undone.