A recent study showed that Arkansas' prison costs will increase by a little over $1 billion dollars in the next ten years unless something changes. That is over $1 billion dollars of new additional tax money the citizens of this state will have to come up with. I expect Governor Beebe may address this soon. Some committee is studying it now.
There are different kinds of prisoners. You have the ones in county or city jails for a few days for pretty minor stuff or those awaiting trial. I don't think we are talking about most of these. You have people in minimum security type prisons for non-violent crimes. Then you have the people in maximum security prisons for pretty nasty stuff. Where they are does not depend on how nice they play. It depends on what they have been convicted of. And it depends on the judgment of people. Sometimes people make mistakes.
In my opinion, I want to put the nasty violent people in prison and keep them there, not so much as punishment (though I have nothing against consequences for actions) but to protect the rest of us from people like that. I think the three strikes law helps with that. Some people are beyond help and should just be kept away from the rest of us. But you have to commit the crime before you can be punished for it.
You have a lot of people in prison that are not a huge threat to the rest of us. There is hope that when they get out, they will become productive tax-paying citizens and not commit further crimes. For these, I think the prison system should be about rehabilitation. (Punishment too. I do believe in consequences for your actions.) The same thing does not work for everybody. The threat of a bologna sandwich every day would probably be sufficient for my wife, but I ate a lot of bologna growing up. Eating a bologna sandwich every day would probably not be that big of an incentive for me. Other things would.
Some of us do the right thing because we have an internal moral compass where we just do the right thing. Some do the right thing because they are worried about the consequences, prison, fines, peer pressure, whatever. Some do the right thing because they are afraid they will burn later. And some don't do the right thing because they are not worried about the consequences or they just don't think of the consequences. Some of these people can't be helped. Some can.
Most of us have friends or relatives that have spent time in jail or have been there ourselves. My uncle spent three months in county jail for moonshining. In the1930's moonshining was not all that unusual in the hills of Tennessee. He is still alive and is a solid, respected citizen, community leader, and church leader. Just because someone has been to prison does not necessarily make them a bad person the rest of their lives. It is not a good sign, just not always all that bad.
Tala, I have not read about that case, but I would guess that person was held in jail awaiting trial and that time in jail awaiting trial was the prison credit he received. That guy sure sounds like a mental case, which is another category.
Gee, imagine that. Punishment actually feels like punishment.
