Prisons have become so comfortable that some offenders prefer to stay on the inside rather than face life outside, a prisons officers' leader said yesterday.

 

Inmates themselves have admitted conditions are like those at holiday camps, with satellite television and video game consoles on offer as well as free bed and board. Prisoners also receive wages and cash bonuses for good behaviour, while drugs are cheaper in jails than they are on the streets.

Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice secretary, said: "It is time for a fundamental shake-up of our failing prisons system." What do you think?

 

Are British prisons too soft? What would our prisons be like if you were in charge? Should prisoners be denied television and other amenities or is the isolation from family and lack of personal freedom punishment enough?

 

Should prisoners who behave well earn rewards? Where should we draw the line between punishment and rehabilitation?

 

Source: Sunday Telegraph

One of the changes I would make would be that prisoners would actually serve the length of sentence that they are given. If they misbehave in prison, then they should receive a longer sentence. At present, prisoners actually seem to serve half the sentences passed on them. I also get fed up of hearing about prisoners suing the authorities about the most ridiculous things. Okay, prison is about them losing their freedom, but it shouldn't be like some holiday camp. Sure, they are in there to not only be punished, but hopefully to be rehabilitated too, but it shouldn't be soft, after all, many of their victims will be suffering long after the prisoners have completed their sentence.

Prisons should be tough regimes so that people are genuinely scared of the idea of going to prison

 

The emphasis on prison should be one of hard labour, prisons should be effectively work camps where prisoners work till they drop breaking rocks or whatever but hard physical labour and basic levels of food as agreed by the Geneva Convention

 

 

its ridiculous that inmates lives are BETTER in prison then outside.

Prisons should be tough regimes so that people are genuinely scared of the idea of going to prison

 

The emphasis on prison should be one of hard labour, prisons should be effectively work camps where prisoners work till they drop breaking rocks or whatever but hard physical labour and basic levels of food as agreed by the Geneva Convention

 

It might be the drink talking, but fukk it, I'm totally with you mate...... To quote Monty Python's "Life of Brian" - "Nail 'em up I say!!! Nail some sense into 'em!!!!!!!"

 

Actually, I think it's more to do with the fact that I'm watching BBC News 24 in a window right now, and I'm listening to this truly HORRIBLE crime that's happened in Austria with this poor woman, and it's really, really upsetting me...... :cry:

 

 

How about another interpretation. The story is about prisoners in low security prisons, so we are talking about prisoners thought unlikely to escape. Prisoners who do escape know that they are likely to be sent to higher security - and hasher - prisons if they are recaptured.

 

What is the purpose of prison?

What does it do to stop crime?

Should prisoners loose basic human rights?

Are there more successful alternatives to stopping crime?

Do governments have a right to deny individuals basic rights?

Are prisons really soft?

Would you like to be in prison?

How bad is someones life if prison seems a good option to them?

Do the press exagerate how easy prison is?

 

These are all questions to ask yourself before you say prison is too easy/hard.

 

I for one don't think prison works, and for a lot of offences it seems a complete over reaction.

I say yes to prison for serious and persistant violent, and sexual offenders, and non custodial alternatives for everyone else.

 

I also think less offences should be criminal, and more should be civil, with no record available to employers etc...