The first time I was arrested I gained a valuable insight. Locking up non-violent offenders (especially first time offenders) is just about the worst possible way of dealing with them possible. It just simply makes no sense whatsoever.

Non-violent crimes should be punished with restitution. Drug offenders should be required to work to pay for their treatment. Make drunk drivers do community service. The options are many, each one better than incarceration.

Let the punishment fit the crime. Just as importantly, let the offender do something to benefit society instead of costing society money. It simply makes no sense at all to imprison people who are not a risk for committing violent crime.

Couldn't agree more. This is not a conservative versus liberal issue, we need to take care of this problem as a country. The whole soft/hard on crime bickering is juvenile and counterproductive. Here in my state (CA) we have by far the largest prison population in the country and are broke. We need to rethink the whole idea of prisons and who we put in them. Why should drug and other non-violent people be put in prisons in the first place? They should be contributing to society and giving restitution instead of sitting in a cell sucking up money that we don't have to give anymore.

Nothing rehabilitates like work

The Prison Industrial Complex is Big Business & way Cheap Cheap Labor. Note the Main-Gate in Auschwitz read, "Arbitin Macht Freudin" (Work Set Ye FREE?) Note again. Keeping Busy prevents mischief & insanity & instills hope & self esteem. PS: Prison can/does save Lives too, if Ye thinketh about it.

Actually, the motto was "albrecht mein frei" and it had nothing to do with German utilization of konzentration lager inmates in private enterprise.

It was an allusion to the Jewish belief that good works will make them closer to God.

Konzentration, or abrietslagers, didn't save lives...

That would be "Arbeit" for work, not "Albrecht," which is a fairly common German surname, but otherwise a very interesting post.

iNTERFAITHNATION:

The Prison Industrial Complex is Big Business & way Cheap Cheap Labor. Note the Main-Gate in Auschwitz read, "Arbitin Macht Freudin" (Work Set Ye FREE?) Note again. Keeping Busy prevents mischief & insanity & instills hope & self esteem. PS: Prison can/does save Lives too, if Ye thinketh about it.

Prisoners in america don't work.

the true conservative:

The first time I was arrested I gained a valuable insight. Locking up non-violent offenders (especially first time offenders) is just about the worst possible way of dealing with them possible. It just simply makes no sense whatsoever.

Non-violent crimes should be punished with restitution. Drug offenders should be required to work to pay for their treatment. Make drunk drivers do community service. The options are many, each one better than incarceration.

Let the punishment fit the crime. Just as importantly, let the offender do something to benefit society instead of costing society money. It simply makes no sense at all to imprison people who are not a risk for committing violent crime.

If people were responsible enough to work and pay restitution or complete their community service...

THEY WOULDN'T BE CRIMINALS!

Jail is mostly there nowadays to delay a criminal's next violation. Since responsible people are going to hafta babysit them anyway, why NOT in jail?

the true conservative:

Let the punishment fit the crime.

Start with the politicians and enforcement people that are violent criminals. Does the majority even have a decent rationalization for what those people are saying they can do? Were you a victim of violent crime?

"Prisoners in america don't work"

This is simply not true. Many prisoners don't work, but very many do. In virtually every prison you will find prisoners doing various cleaning, food service, and administrative jobs. There are also numerous private/commercial ventures that utilize prisoner labor, though they are more limited often because of controversy (often from their economic competitors, be they companies or workers). Such jobs are often highly sought by the prisoners themselves.

the true conservative:

iNTERFAITHNATION:

The Prison Industrial Complex is Big Business & way Cheap Cheap Labor. Note the Main-Gate in Auschwitz read, "Arbitin Macht Freudin" (Work Set Ye FREE?) Note again. Keeping Busy prevents mischief & insanity & instills hope & self esteem. PS: Prison can/does save Lives too, if Ye thinketh about it.

Prisoners in america don't work.

Mabe, but they put other people to work, sometimes in the private sector.

I have no problem whatsoever acknowledging when you and I are in total agreement.

If people were responsible enough to work and pay restitution or complete their community service...

THEY WOULDN'T BE CRIMINALS!

Jail is mostly there nowadays to delay a criminal's next violation. Since responsible people are going to hafta babysit them anyway, why NOT in jail?

Because:

1. House arrest is way cheaper than jail.

2. Prisoners on house arrest who are made to hold a job learn valuable life skills they can't learn in prison. You are right that these people have often not done so in the past. But being made to work, and not being allowed to go to bars and whatnot where they've gotten into trouble in the past can change those behaviors.

3. It is well-proven that non-violent offenders often pick up bad habits in prison and many come out as worse offenders than when they went in.

The primary goal for non-violent offenders should be to re-intigrate them as productive members of society. There is simply no reason to lock up a weed smoker or bar brawler, or even a non-violent thief. Give them ankle bracelets, a parole officer, and a job. It's cheaper for the taxpayers in the short run, better for all of us in the long run. Who is hurt?

Were you a victim of violent crime?

Never once

True conservative: People in prisons do work. Just Google "prisons" and "work" and you'll get a mountain of results. Prisoners are the cheapest form of labor, as low as 5 cents per hour. They are made to work and they now work for private enterprises (ex. Dell and others). Mindless work isn't going to help, only training to make a living when let out will. In the meanwhile American workers keep on losing their jobs not only to oursourcing but to the growing "insourcing" to cheap prison labor.