No I think they should have to work off the debt through community service.......or pay restitution should they be released and on probation for a very long time paying for the services to them.....But if they were able to rehabilitate...

1 we wouldn't be feeding them year after year waiting on the death penalty

2 if they were determined death penalty they would only have one allowable appeal process....ending caring for them while on death row essentially saving money in the end

Now that I agree with. :P

I honestly don't think the "working man" should have to pay a single cent for "prison" facilities, care, etc.

What they should do is turn the prison facilities into a sort of sweat shop.

Create a business out of it; give them a few bucks, but make sure the majority of it goes to the prison facility for costs such as electricity, their own room and board, paying the guard salaries; etc.

All the while, include your concept of psychiatric care/help.

But, hey, who knows right?

Forced Labor? Believe me, we had that - doesn't look too good on your CV as a nation! ;)

CV? o.o

I didn't mean like "hard" manual labor..
..here, like an example:

Millions of people out there who don't have clothes on their backs right?

BAM! Have them make shirts, sweaters, hats, etc etc.

Free donations.

Forced Labor - Helping the less fortunate - Downside?

They don't want to participate?

Solitary. See if a few months in the hole changes your mind.
xD

CV - Curriculum Vitae!? CV of a nation: History... look back at Germany 70 years ago...

As far as work is concerned: in German prisons, prisoners are expected to work; they even get paid for that. Not much, but the prisons don't make much money from this kind of work, either. They are granted a part of their income for spending cash, to buy tobacco and other stuff in prison, the rest will be paid out when they are released. Actually, it is harder to provide all the work requested than to get the people to work, as this work tends to make the day go by faster... plus, it is actually part of their resocialisation process. Juvenile delinquents (and others without decent job training) will even get job training for qualification (Job training in Germany is much more organized than in the States), so they can easier reintegrate into an "ordinary" life after doing their time....

Never heard the term CV before now. xD

So, what kind of work do they actually have them do though?

And I thought you were against the idea of putting inmates to work but that statement now sounds like you.. are for it? o.o

Some prisons in the US are literally "gang" owned, run, and operated.
Kind of frightening in itself, if you ask me.

I agree with letting inmates work, for themselves, and as a means of rehabilitation... NOT in the way of "You HAVE to work, or you will not get food, and sleep outside!", even if part of the income is used to pay for the upkeep of the prison. But be aware: Every $ the prison makes, is a $ lost to the local economy. A dollar spent for a carpenter in jail will be a $ that's lost to the local carpenter...

That depends... they work in prison functions, like I think they do over there (cooking, washing, stuff), and even for the outside (services like washery, but also carpenter shops, metalworkers and the like)...

Ah, yes.

That's why I was thinking of making their "business" to actually account for the "less" fortunate over taking the already "rare" job market.

I'm not sure entirely the extent of what "washing" and what not they actually do; but I was under the impression it was only their own clothes and outfits. :O

Here's what they do:

http://www.jva-online-shop.de/

i didnt say self defense i said justice. i dont think killing a person thats in prison is self defense, they are out of the communitys way

I have to say I firmly believe in and support Ron White's take on the death penalty.
You know Ron...(Tater Salad) White.
" Texas has passed a law that if there are 3 or more verifiable witnesses to a murder....The killer wont sit on death row. He goes to the front of the line. While other states are tryin to abolish the death penalty.......Texas has put in an....Express lane."

thats why Im glad the USA is so big,, every body has their thing snd someplace they can go to live it

I would never live in Texas,,,,but thats my thing (valuing life)

Witnesses are the worst form of evidence.

I like the idea, but in practice its terrible.

How so?

Just a quick article, I am super busy or Id dig up better info.

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2007/05/unreliable_eyewitness_testimon.php

This is an extreme minority of cases. I don't see how that makes eye witnesses the "worst form" of evidence.

According to the National Institute of Justice: "Although the evidence eyewitnesses provide is critical in identifying, charging, and ultimately convicting suspected criminals, the evidence is not infallible."

How can it be critical to the process, but still be the "worse form"?

Isn't second hand evidence worse? Or would you trust someone who says "My sister said soandso kill whatshisname", but you wouldn't trust someone who directly said "I saw soandso kill whatshisname"?

How about circumstantial evidence, is that better? You were in the building when the murder was committed, so you are guilty?

Maybe it was just bad wording on your part and I don't mean to beat you up over this, it's just that what you are saying is clearly not true.

Only becuase our ability to determine if it is indeed this "case" is if we have DNA evidence that can overturn an eye witness. Where that DNA does not exist we cannot know.

Not knowing is not the same as it not happening.

What you need for a solid conviction is multiple corroborating forms of evidence with solid objective evidence backing it up.

The human brains ability to make accurate conclusions about identifying a stranger from memories created during a hi stress situation is objectively flawed.

Tests have been done from countless studies to show this is true.

Which backs up the conclusion that eye witness evidence is the worst kind of first order evidence.

(Absolutely my explanations are short due to being at work and juggling a few things, getting distracted and having to come back and edit, my apologies.)

Bushidobillyclub,

I'm just going to agree to disagree with you. I have a bit of a headache and I need to start lunch. I don't see anything in what you posted to believe that eyewitness evidence is the worst form of evidence.

:D Have you ever worked in that area?

Show five people a scene... wait ten minutes, and then ask for their description of what happened. You'll get six versions, and not one of them is exact (and you can be happy if you can build what happened from taking parts of all six).

That goes so far as clothing... built of the people that have been there... the memory of man is selective, has to be, and normally what happened and interests you later did not have the focus of the witness when it happened!

Just Google unreliable witness testimony, many professional, peer reviewed studies exist that support my position.