PBS Frontline: Prison State: The high cost of incarceration in America (1 Viewer)

[igbomb]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

Unfortuantely, I'll repeat, stupid people are breeding at a faster rate than the normal humans. Those people don't want to learn and definitely don't want to work. Their education is from the low life that brought them into the world and they learn quickly that not working and living off the gov't is the gig for them.

Good Lord this post is full of dumb.

 

[Dickies]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

Unfortuantely, I'll repeat, stupid people are breeding at a faster rate than the normal humans. Those people don't want to learn and definitely don't want to work. Their education is from the low life that brought them into the world and they learn quickly that not working and living off the gov't is the gig for them.

"Those people" are the way they are because of the environments our society has created for them. It's a cycle. Unless you think "those people" will act a certain way regardless of how and where they are raised.

If you watched the Frontline, three of the four cases they looked at were environment/mental health related. The two young girls stories and the schizophrenic stories were pretty heartbreaking. The guy is released from prison with 30 days worth of his medicine, no money, no chance to get a job with a felony conviction, and no place to live. How the hell is that guy not going to end up back in jail? Those girls are both screwed, they are going to end up pregnant or addicted to drugs, or both. The ghetto eats those kind of people up, they rarely make it.

Yea, it was pretty powerful stuff. The girl with the anxiety had all the cards stacked against her. Her mom died, her aunt wanted nothing to do with her, and she had serious medical issues (no idea how far they went, but just looking at her you know there are problems) The guy that was released from jail stood zero chance. He wanted to avoid the people that got him in trouble, but that left him with nothing, nobody and nowhere. I have no clue what I would do if I was released from jail and I had no family, friends, clothes, money or food. Seemed like a nice enough guy who has just been beaten down to the point where he has no choice but to give up.

 

[Dickies]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

While we probably don't fund education properly, I don't think it's as much about funding as it is needing a philosophical overhaul of our education system. The sooner we realize that not everybody is meant for college, the sooner we can fix things. There are kids in this country that are simply not smart enough (terrible to say, but true) to go to college, and there are kids who don't want to go to college, yet our education system only cares about getting more people from these two groups into college. We focus on the bottom and try to get them to just barely get by while largely ignoring the best and brightest.

I think we need to adopt stronger vocational training so that we can give the kids that don't fit into our current model a place to go and be useful. Keep the current model the same through 8th grade, then give the option or high school (college prep) or vocational. It would allow the schools to focus on kids who actually want/deserve to be there, while giving the kids who would normally be getting into trouble a productive outlet. I honestly think it would ripple all the way through society, including our prison system.

 

[lod01]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

Unfortuantely, I'll repeat, stupid people are breeding at a faster rate than the normal humans. Those people don't want to learn and definitely don't want to work. Their education is from the low life that brought them into the world and they learn quickly that not working and living off the gov't is the gig for them.

Good Lord this post is full of dumb.

Talk about full of dumb. You don't have a clue, do you? Look at the numbers of those on welfare and living below poverty. All time highs and and growing.

I'll start with the pile of #### that so far over the last year has asked me for money 3x not even remembering that the answer has been a definitive 'NO'. Twice in the last month. It would be more but he was in jail for most of the year. That's who is breeding uncontrolled.

 

[humpback]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

Wat?

 

[Bonzai]

We really need to start funding education in this country. It's a disgrace that a country supposedly as rich as the US has so many uneducated people living here. I'm not talking just beef up the funding either. I'm talking free education all the way through college. There should always be an effort to fund education over just about everything else. If we dont educate our citizens, which is what has been happening for years in this country, then we are going to have the problems that have developed...crime, drugs, etc. There are so many people here that do not have a hope in hell from the time they are born of ever amounting to anything. Nobody cares. It's going to get worse so if people think prisons are full now, just wait. We will probably need more prisons then land available to build them on in another 30 years.

Unfortuantely, I'll repeat, stupid people are breeding at a faster rate than the normal humans. Those people don't want to learn and definitely don't want to work. Their education is from the low life that brought them into the world and they learn quickly that not working and living off the gov't is the gig for them.

"Stupid people" as well as "normal humans" can both go to a public library, correct? Education opportunities are out there for anyone willing to learn. Lots of people just aren't willing, they don't care.

 

[Ilov80s]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

 

[RCon]

If you watched the Frontline, three of the four cases they looked at were environment/mental health related. The two young girls stories and the schizophrenic stories were pretty heartbreaking. The guy is released from prison with 30 days worth of his medicine, no money, no chance to get a job with a felony conviction, and no place to live. How the hell is that guy not going to end up back in jail? Those girls are both screwed, they are going to end up pregnant or addicted to drugs, or both. The ghetto eats those kind of people up, they rarely make it.

Yea, it was pretty powerful stuff. The girl with the anxiety had all the cards stacked against her. Her mom died, her aunt wanted nothing to do with her, and she had serious medical issues (no idea how far they went, but just looking at her you know there are problems) The guy that was released from jail stood zero chance. He wanted to avoid the people that got him in trouble, but that left him with nothing, nobody and nowhere. I have no clue what I would do if I was released from jail and I had no family, friends, clothes, money or food. Seemed like a nice enough guy who has just been beaten down to the point where he has no choice but to give up.

Seems like yet another thing that BIG would help.

 

[NCCommish]

If you watched the Frontline, three of the four cases they looked at were environment/mental health related. The two young girls stories and the schizophrenic stories were pretty heartbreaking. The guy is released from prison with 30 days worth of his medicine, no money, no chance to get a job with a felony conviction, and no place to live. How the hell is that guy not going to end up back in jail? Those girls are both screwed, they are going to end up pregnant or addicted to drugs, or both. The ghetto eats those kind of people up, they rarely make it.

Yea, it was pretty powerful stuff. The girl with the anxiety had all the cards stacked against her. Her mom died, her aunt wanted nothing to do with her, and she had serious medical issues (no idea how far they went, but just looking at her you know there are problems) The guy that was released from jail stood zero chance. He wanted to avoid the people that got him in trouble, but that left him with nothing, nobody and nowhere. I have no clue what I would do if I was released from jail and I had no family, friends, clothes, money or food. Seemed like a nice enough guy who has just been beaten down to the point where he has no choice but to give up.

Seems like yet another thing that BIG would help.

True

 

[DiStefano]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

 

[NCCommish]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

As I said in the thread we did on this if you must do something put him on probation. Guy has turned it around and is everything you could want an ex con to be. What purpose is served by jailing him? He is no threat to society, he is contributing and he is raising a family. Justice isn't served by locking him up.

 

[jonessed]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

 

[NCCommish]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

 

[NCCommish]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

 

[jonessed]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.

If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

 

[NCCommish]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.

If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

What more do you need? He coaches youth football, he volunteers at his church, he runs a business and has a family. He didn't try to hide. He didn't leave the state. I don't know really what more a guy can do to show he is on the right path and has been for a long time.

 

[Slapdash]

We need to end private prisons. Perverse incentives are built into those contracts that actually make it expensive for the state to not have people in cells. It's ridiculous. There is movement to defund private prison corps much like what was done to companies that invested in South Africa during Apartheid. Let's get back to the state running prisons and actually get some rehabilitation going again.

I completely agree with this, but let's be honest. This is not the major source of the problem.

What is the driver then? The militarization of law enforcement?

 

[jonessed]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

What more do you need? He coaches youth football, he volunteers at his church, he runs a business and has a family. He didn't try to hide. He didn't leave the state. I don't know really what more a guy can do to show he is on the right path and has been for a long time.

That's great. Probation should be a breeze.

 

[humpback]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.

If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

What more do you need? He coaches youth football, he volunteers at his church, he runs a business and has a family. He didn't try to hide. He didn't leave the state. I don't know really what more a guy can do to show he is on the right path and has been for a long time.

I don't think he's saying that this particular guy should be sent away, just that there has to be some sort of system in place to determine how to handle this (which is very difficult).

Also, what about the victim(s)? I'm not sure what the right answer is.

 

[NCCommish]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.

If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

What more do you need? He coaches youth football, he volunteers at his church, he runs a business and has a family. He didn't try to hide. He didn't leave the state. I don't know really what more a guy can do to show he is on the right path and has been for a long time.

I don't think he's saying that this particular guy should be sent away, just that there has to be some sort of system in place to determine how to handle this (which is very difficult).

Also, what about the victim(s)? I'm not sure what the right answer is.

The victim has said he doesn't want him to go to jail.

 

[humpback]

http://www.change.org/petitions/attorney-general-chris-koster-release-cornealious-michael-anderson-iii-from-prison

This is interesting story of a guy convicted of robbery, but the State forgot to put in prison. He went on to develop a real quality life for himself and 13 years later, he was taken from his home by SWAT and put in jail. Now his kids will grow up fatherless despite the clear fact that he is rehabilitated.

The government doesn't like it when someone makes them look stupid. He needs to be punished. Punished, I say.

He does need to be punished. That doesn't mean he should be put in jail though.

I don't believe that is true at all. This guy is a success story, he turned it around. Punishment accomplishes nothing.

It looks that way, but he was also convicted of robbery. I think a period of probation is in order.

I wouldn't look for any punishment personally but I could live with probation.

The guy he robbed has been kind enough to show sympathy, but I have heard him speak on the subject and this robbery destroyed his life. It wasn't just a simple robbery.

If we are to let something like this go there has to be a mechanism to ensure that the individual really has turned his life around.

What more do you need? He coaches youth football, he volunteers at his church, he runs a business and has a family. He didn't try to hide. He didn't leave the state. I don't know really what more a guy can do to show he is on the right path and has been for a long time.

I don't think he's saying that this particular guy should be sent away, just that there has to be some sort of system in place to determine how to handle this (which is very difficult).

Also, what about the victim(s)? I'm not sure what the right answer is.

The victim has said he doesn't want him to go to jail.

This is about more than just this one case and jail time.

 

[NCCommish]

This is about more than just this one case and jail time.

No it's not. It's about this case.

 

[Josie Maran]

There's a whole other thread about that guy, FYI.

 

[humpback]

This is about more than just this one case and jail time.

No it's not. It's about this case.

Oh, okay. I thought there was a separate thread about that specific case, and this one was about a PBS special which discussed the bigger picture. Thanks for getting me back on track!

 

[jonessed]

This is about more than just this one case and jail time.

No it's not. It's about this case.

I'm talking about both. When presented with a situation such as this there has to be a means to verify that the individual has become a longstanding good citizen and stays on that path.

It sounds like it would be easy in this case, but I think a period of probation where the legal system could use the time to verify it would be appropriate.

 

[cstu]

Obama will be the first sitting President to visit a prison - will be filmed by Vice:

“There’s an emerging consensus in this country — on both the right and the left — that the way we treat criminal offenders is utterly broken and weakening our society in profound ways,” Smith said in a press release. “Visiting El Reno with President Obama — the first-ever visit to a federal prison by a sitting president — will give our viewers a firsthand look into how the president is thinking about this problem, from the policy level down to one-on-one conversations with the men and women living this reality.”

 

[cstu]

Obama issues executive order.