Comments on: Ben Carson is Concerned Our Prisons Are Insufficiently Hellish and Dysfunctional

By: BillWestern

BillWestern — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 09:20:00 +0000

Maybe the good doctor could commit some minor traffic infraction somewhere in the South so he can get some first-hand experience of jail.

By: Christopher Foxx

Christopher Foxx — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 01:54:00 +0000

I was flabbergasted by the accommodations — the exercise equipment, the libraries and the computers,
…
Are we creating an environment that is conducive to comfort where a person would want to stay, versus an environment where we maybe provide them an opportunity for rehabilitation

Newsflash, Doc. It’s the libraries and computers that help make the rehabilitation possible. Sticking felons in their cells with no means of gathering useful knowledge or skills is guaranteed to return them to prison.

By: gescove

gescove — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 21:38:00 +0000

In reply to JMAshby. Exactly. Why anyone takes Mr. Carson's preposterously shallow policy "analysis" seriously is simply beyond me.

By: muselet

muselet — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 20:25:00 +0000

Something over twenty years ago, I heard a radio report out of Orange County about a move by a group of concerned citizens who thought the prisoners in the county jails were being treated too well. They pissed and moaned about the inmates having televisions and a law library and exercise equipment—basically the same nonsense currently falling out of Ben Carson’s piehole—and proposed making the jails as barren as possible (not only so those evil people would be properly punished! but to Save Money).

Asked for comment, the sheriff explained in the tones of a man whose patience has worn dangerously thin that if the inmates had nothing, he had nothing to take away to discipline them. I believe he also pointed out that a lot of the people in county jails had not been convicted of anything: they couldn’t make bail and were awaiting trial.

Stupidity never goes out of style for some people, does it?

–alopecia

By: JMAshby

JMAshby — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 19:04:00 +0000

In reply to gescove. I know someone who spent 18 years locked up and even though he had a great deal of mechanical expertise and business experience, no one would hire him. If not for family and old friends he wouldn't have anything today. Not everyone who gets out has family or friends they can depend on.

By: Nefercat

Nefercat — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 18:56:00 +0000

In reply to gescove.

“More and more, the GOP seems to me to be comprised mainly of people without compassion.”
———————————————–
As well as intelligence, education, common sense, and sanity.

By: aynwrong

aynwrong — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 18:50:00 +0000

In reply to gescove. "More and more, the GOP seems to me to be comprised mainly of people without compassion." Yeah, they call that Christianity.

By: gescove

gescove — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 17:46:00 +0000

So many levels of awful. “… a lot of times when it’s about time for one of the guys to be discharged, especially when its winter, they’ll do something so they can stay in there.” That’s not because prison is like a cushy resort. It’s because upon release a former inmate: 1) may not have a job and the means to support themselves, 2) may face discrimination or lack the skills to find work, 3) may not have access to livable housing, 4) may face re-addiction to alcohol/drugs, 5) may not have access to needed medical or mental health treatment, 6) may not want to freeze to death on the streets, 7) and this list goes on forever. More and more, the GOP seems to me to be comprised mainly of people without compassion.