Doing life in a max security US prison.

DEFTLEFTHAND

What would you do? You're locked up in a 6 by 8 cell for 23 hours a day, the one hour you have out you wander alone in an outdoor cage.

This is how some of the extreme case lifers in the US exist. What do you do all day? Do you read books? Do a college correspondence course and get a degree or higher. All for nothing?

They say the human mind will eventually break down under such prolonged periods of solitude. I think that's a far worse punishment than being sent to the gallows as some posters advocated in the Death Penalty thread.

Maybe instead, life should mean life in special cases in Ireland.

ParkRunner

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

What would you do? You're locked up in a 6 by 8 cell for 23 hours a day, the one hour you have out you wander alone in an outdoor cage.

This is how some of the extreme case lifers in the US exist. What do you do all day? Do you read books? Do a college correspondence course and get a degree or higher. All for nothing?

They say the human mind will eventually break down under such prolonged periods of solitude. I think that's a far worse punishment than being sent to the gallows as some posters advocated in the Death Penalty thread.

Maybe instead, life should mean life in special cases in Ireland.

Is that you Ed Snowden.

Lurching

What's your point?
There is no stricter punishment than life in Ireland. Its not as if we "let them away with it" by sending them to a chair or anything.

As for what you would do all day? I don't really care. Maybe I'll think about that before I climb the clock tower.

Festy

I'd probably masterbate all day and ask for a small pick axe

mdebets

I would do a degree in civil engineering, specialising in tunnel building.

just_be_nice

Ian Brady, stuck in a hospital but wants prison. James Holmes wants hospital, state wants death. Brady says he's not crazy and doesn't regret his crimes. James Holmes says he's not guilty as he claims he was insane at the time.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Vito Corleone wrote: »

I would kill myself, I would not be able to live in a prison environment.

They'll make that very hard for you, shoelaces, belts all denied (They even take the staples out of magazines) and round the clock supervision through the cell peephole. The objective is to make the inmate suffer alone. My Question is do you think that this form of punishment is ethical? I'd like to hear the pro DP opinion.

batistuta9

Is the point of solitary confinement not for the protection of the prisoner(s) or the protection of staff & other inmates?

it's sole purpose/objective isn't for punishment

monflat

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

What would you do? You're locked up in a 6 by 8 cell for 23 hours a day, the one hour you have out you wander alone in an outdoor cage.

This is how some of the extreme case lifers in the US exist. What do you do all day? Do you read books? Do a college correspondence course and get a degree or higher. All for nothing?

They say the human mind will eventually break down under such prolonged periods of solitude. I think that's a far worse punishment than being sent to the gallows as some posters advocated in the Death Penalty thread.

Maybe instead, life should mean life in special cases in Ireland.

Jasus none of the " lifers " in Ireland " minds " break down over a period
Sure they have a pick of courses activities and telly to watch oh yea and also the mad Christmas party to attend
They all get their education in there .
Pick of activities to do

DEFTLEFTHAND

batistuta9 wrote: »

Is the point of solitary confinement not for the protection of the prisoner(s) or the protection of staff & other inmates?

it's sole purpose/objective isn't for punishment

The RICO Act saw many of America's mobsters and Racketeer's sent to such an end. That's why there has been so many 'rats' in recent years. As this goes on the Russian's and Mexicans gain further inroads to American organised crime.

Serial Killers in some US States also end up in the same position. Basically anybody who they know they can't rehabilitate. Isn't that better than killing them, just on the off chance that new evidence will emerge in the future.

Ruudi_Mentari

I would go between the whites; and the latinos and the asians and get as much inside information to forward to the screws as possible and obtain an early release.

batistuta9

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

The RICO Act saw many of America's mobsters and Racketeer's sent to such an end. That's why there has been so many 'rats' in recent years. As this goes on the Russian's and Mexicans gain further inroads to American organised crime.

Serial Killers in some US States also end up in the same position. Basically anybody who they know they can't rehabilitate. Isn't that better than killing them, just on the off chance that new evidence will emerge in the future.

what do you mean 'such an end'? Just being sent to solitary for no reason?

Better than killing them? I suppose it is, well it sounds like it is but you'd need to each prisoner really.
some will adapt to it i'd think, the ones with parole but it could send others insane/wish they had the death penalty

who is the evidence you're talking about benefit? prisoner or police

tipptom

Use my time devising new ways of fending of local romeos.

Gummy Panda

I'd dig up a doctor, and you pay him 20 menthol Kools to do a surgical shine job on my eyeballs

kneemos

Ruudi_Mentari wrote: »

I would go between the whites; and the latinos and the asians and get as much inside information to forward to the screws as possible and obtain an early release.

You would end up as rat soup.

smcgiff

Ruudi_Mentari wrote: »

I would go between the whites; and the latinos and the asians and get as much inside information to forward to the screws as possible and obtain an early release.

remove your third word and replace with 'be passed around' and you'd be closer to the truth.

aman23

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

They'll make that very hard for you, shoelaces, belts all denied (They even take the staples out of magazines) and round the clock supervision through the cell peephole. The objective is to make the inmate suffer alone. My Question is do you think that this form of punishment is ethical? I'd like to hear the pro DP opinion.

ETHICAL! ask there victims.

kneemos

aman23 wrote: »

ETHICAL! ask there victims.

You have to remain humane for the sake of humanity.

danthedolphin

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Maybe instead, life should mean life in special cases in Ireland.

Special cases? Sorry if you take a life, then you should lose your life of freedom - for life.

Conmaicne Mara

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I'd like to hear the pro DP opinion.

I'm in favour of the DP. I think being locked up in a small cell 23 hours a day, with an hour off in a cage is a far, far worse fate than hanging or the chair. I would certainly not be able for it.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Special cases as in extreme acts of violence, Psychopaths and serial killers. The RICO ACT is insane, sending down mob boss's when they've got nothing on them. The rat's that testify are only doing it to get off on a lighter sentence.

America is corrupt as fcuk. Take NY for eg for years the Mafia took care of their local communities, everyone paid up and there was zero crime rate in their areas. (In their hayday they approved appointment of judges in the State, Frank Costello) The same with Hell's Kitchen and the Irish.

All of a sudden you've guy's being indicted and convicted and the neighbourhood's are falling into the hands of the Russian and Mexican mobs who will destroy them.

America doesn't know what they've done. It's the old saying, If you think I'm bad you'd wana see what's coming next.

Capt'n Midnight

Better in a federal prison than a state one.

Online dating, get married and let her sort out the campaign to get you released early.

Found God or Found a religion.

mattjack

danthedolphin wrote: »

Special cases? Sorry if you take a life, then you should lose your life of freedom - for life.

I'm 44 now and I've had a relative die years ago violently in Dublin and an acquaintance die similarly in London.

The person in Dublin died at the hands of a person with mental ill health who's detained indefinitely , the convicted person in the UK served eight years .

That's where the comparison ends ... the person in Dublin was a danger to people , the man in London was defending himself from a drunk thug , some of deceased family felt that eight years was to much ... they knew what their family member was like.

So if you take a life , you should most certainly not lose your life and in some cases not lose your freedom indefinitely.

mikemac1

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Take NY for eg for years the Mafia took care of their local communities, everyone paid up and there was zero crime rate in their areas.

Yes and if the local greengrocer doesn't pay the protection money then a few teenage kids are sent around with baseball bats to trash his store.

And the local boss calls around, sympathizes and suggests he starts paying up again.

Extorting money from hard working people is not taking care of a community

R P McMurphy

mikemac1 wrote: »

Yes and if the local greengrocer doesn't pay the protection money then a few teenage kids are sent around with baseball bats to trash his store.

And the local boss calls around, sympathizes and suggests he starts paying up again.

Extorting money from hard working people is not taking care of a community

And what about tommy dick fingers, they found him in a wheelie bin, snooker balls for eyes

DEFTLEFTHAND

mikemac1 wrote: »

Yes and if the local greengrocer doesn't pay the protection money then a few teenage kids are sent around with baseball bats to trash his store.

And the local boss calls around, sympathizes and suggests he starts paying up again.

Extorting money from hard working people is not taking care of a community

It's part of life in a sh1thole like NY. Ruudi Giuliani is not the big hero like the liberal media like to paint him out to be, You pay your protection money and they ensure the survival of your business. The Italians wiped out any low level crime in their areas, everything is run through them, each of the five Mob families. They give out free turkeys at Thanks Giving and pay the rents of local families in arrears. They look after their own. The Mexicans and ruskies are souless fcukers with no connections to the neighbourhoods. They'll devastate those communties if they gain control of the rackets.

Reamer Fanny

In prison you gotta be someone's bitch or start a fight

T-Maxx

It's not about punishment.

It's about safeguarding society from these individuals. IMO they should bring back the death penalty.

mikemac1

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

The Italians wiped out any low level crime in their areas, everything is run through them, each of the five Mob families. They give out free turkeys at Thanks Giving and pay the rents of local families in arrears. They look after their own. The Mexicans and ruskies are souless fcukers with no connections to the neighbourhoods. They'll devastate those communties if they gain control of the rackets.

What's your opinion of Irish gangsters in Irish neighborhoods?

I don't know any, I guess South Boston is mentioned in films

ads20101

T-Maxx wrote: »

It's not about punishment.

It's about safeguarding society from these individuals. IMO they should bring back the death penalty.

I hear what you are saying T Maxx but if true isn't that a damning view on us as humans and society in general.

I truly feel that the punishment should fit the crime but are we saying that once someone is bad, they are always bad?

Certain states in the U.S. have rather draconian prisons coupled with long solitary sentences and the death penalty to boot, but research is showing that this is not deterring violent crime.

Yes, there could be deviant societal issues and combining this with their stupid gun laws may account for some, but not all.

We need to look at why people commit violent crime and do our best to prevent it. We also need to look more closely about what people do in prisons. Rehabilitation needs to be a condition of parole.

Before I finish, I may be liberally minded but I also concede that for things like premeditated murder, rape & paedophilia the sentencing should be toughened. i.e. life with no parole.

DEFTLEFTHAND

mikemac1 wrote: »

What's your opinion of Irish gangsters in Irish neighborhoods?

I don't know any, I guess South Boston is mentioned in films

The Westies payed rent for struggling families too in West Manhattan. They also extorted business's in the area for protection.


Southie Boston was Bulger country. There's no proper form of Irish Mob run in Boston anymore AFAIK. The Westies still survive in Hell's Kitchen to this day, albeit their influence has wained significantly.

the_syco

kneemos wrote: »

You have to remain humane for the sake of humanity.

Be humane, and the scum won't see it as prison; they'll see it as a nice holiday. Only the people that are not scum will see the humane prison as prison.

=-=

I spend all my time getting stronger.

kneemos

the_syco wrote: »

Be humane, and the scum won't see it as prison; they'll see it as a nice holiday. Only the people that are not scum will see the humane prison as prison.

=-=

I spend all my time getting stronger.

I don't want to prisoners treated like animals no matter what they have done,it doesn't deter crime and reflects badly on society.

the purple tin

batistuta9 wrote: »

Is the point of solitary confinement not for the protection of the prisoner(s) or the protection of staff & other inmates?

it's sole purpose/objective isn't for punishment

Used for both I think. Saw a reality program in a US prison, an inmate who attacked another inmate had to serve the last 6 months of his sentence in solitary. He started to crack up after a few weeks.

Also there were gang bosses who were still running things from inside the prison so they were putting them in solitary to stop them communicating with other inmates.

c_man

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I'm in favour of the DP.

Lol

af_thefragile

Read books, helluva lot of books. Pick up some skill such as drawing/painting. Have deep and profound conversations with the walls and imaginary beings...

crackcrack30

Is there any law that states that we have to detain our prisoners in Ireland??

I believe we should farm out our medium to long term prisoners (^5 yrs) to what ever country can house them at the cheapest cost to the taxpayer......

Conmaicne Mara

c_man wrote: »

Lol

Ah yes,I seem to have put my feet in it there...

rolliepoley

The human mind can soak up a lot of knowledge, solitary confinement only bounds you movements and interaction with other people it does'nt bound your thoughts.have loads of books and wankig material and you'll get by.

Stereomaniac

I am finding it hard to take the OP's posts seriously here, since I find it hard to believe that he has his finger on the pulse of gangland America. I know he has all the facts learnt off, but....

DonkeyStyle \o/

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

What would you do?

Re-install World of Warcraft.

laoch na mona

that sounds like torture

ILikeFriday

I think it would be impossible to motivate yourself to do anything if you knew you were never getting out.
Why study? You're not going to get the chance to use your skills, earn money, contribute to the well-being of others or any of the traditional reasons.
Why exercise? You're not going to be able to play any sports, no-one sees you so it doesn't matter if you look attractive, you probably don't want to ensure you live a long life, in fairness.
Why involve yourself in any projects that prisoners do for society? You're not getting credit for good behaviour leading to an early release. You're probably too bitter to care about society anyway. Society decided you're not having a life after all.

looking_around

I'm against solitary ..once they crack it serves no purpose. And what good is it TO society to make them totally insane.

Surely there's some kind of work they could be doing? Ball and chain and hammering at rocks.
Cutting down trees the "no power/fuel" way.

Sure..it's be slower..but it's be USING them for something.
But that'd only be for the worst crimes. /Those who are unlikely to be rehabilitated.

For the others, education is key. I'm quite fond of the ankel monitors tbh.

camel jockey

I'm in favour of a cost effective death penalty. Strict time limit on appeals processes etc and get it over and done with.

Perhaps a system of induced comas (without ongoing medical monitoring) for repeat offenders to keep them off the streets. If they die while in the coma, then that's life.

Alternatively stick the crims into a massive freezer.

woodoo

I'd be for the rope if i was doing life in a max security jail.

SHOVELLER

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

It's part of life in a sh1thole like NY. Ruudi Giuliani is not the big hero like the liberal media like to paint him out to be, You pay your protection money and they ensure the survival of your business. The Italians wiped out any low level crime in their areas, everything is run through them, each of the five Mob families. They give out free turkeys at Thanks Giving and pay the rents of local families in arrears. They look after their own. The Mexicans and ruskies are souless fcukers with no connections to the neighbourhoods. They'll devastate those communties if they gain control of the rackets.

Errant nonsense. Firstly NY is hardly a "sh1thole". Secondly without what Giuliani started the city would not be as safe as it is now.

The mob gave out free turkeys at thanksgiving. Ah well then they are alright.

Back on topic while the prison system here is incredibly lax the US equivalent is horrendously cruel. The death sentence which is fundamentally wrong, children locked up, solitary confinement and huge sentences for crimes where life is not lost.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/californian-prisoners-prepare-for-hunger-strike-1.1446682

the_syco

kneemos wrote: »

I don't want to prisoners treated like animals no matter what they have done,it doesn't deter crime and reflects badly on society.

As opposed to an easy life, better access to education than those on the outside, and free rent.

padser

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I'm in favour of the DP.

The death penalty has no place ina civilised society. Period.

There are many many reasons for this, but the easiest one to explain is that all legal systems are fallible and therefore every single jurisdiction that has the death penalty executes innocent people.

SHOVELLER

True.

Also the death penalty has been no deterrent whatsoever.

the_syco

SHOVELLER wrote: »

True.

Also the death penalty has been no deterrent whatsoever.

I think the death penalty actually works out dearer than life imprisonment. Also, most of the people on death row don't have much regrets.