Prison reform needed, but not in any1s manifesto?

Xterminator · 23-04-2002 1:34pm #1

I think prison in ireland needs to be completely revisited.

It is not acceptable that it costs €100,000 per prisoner per year to incarcerate, and we get nothing back.

It is not acceptable that people are let out because there is not enough space.

It is not acceptable that drugs are freely available in prision, in fact a number ogf inmates become drug addicts in prision!!!

I think we should have different types of prison.

Remand prisons for people not yet convicted of a crime, but held without bail, or becuase they didnt want/couldnt afford bail.
These could be run by private security companies, group 4 etc, to cut costs. They would be the easiest regime, with prisoners allowed to wear there own clothes, allowed to have mobiles, granted daily visits for friends and family etc. (There would be a small wing for difficult /troublesome prisoners where they are excluded from main population.)

Next we could have the ordinary level prison.
To weed out drug use, there should be a mandatory blood tests each week. Clean prisoners are allowed visits by family etc in person. These prisoners should work 30 hrs a week minumin, earnings used to defray the expense to the taxpayer. This would give them the habit of working for a living, and a skill they can use when they get out. Education may be offered to those prisoners who dont have basic secondary education to get basic skills , and access to education facilites afterwork for those who wish to improve themselves could help.

CAB style asset seizure might be used to pay for costs also, with Flash cars, property holdings, and second houses liquidated.

Any non drug free prisoners in a different prison (or seperated wing of general prison). Where treatment is given, and drugs are basically not allowed in.
We can deny in person visits , instaed use large glass screens. CCTV placed in all areas of prison inc. cells, and all workers in prison to pass through a checkpoint where random searches will prevent smuggling in this way.
They would instead get treated eg methadone + counselling etc, and not allowed access to general prison population, so they can't get a clean prisoner to courier drugs.

Drug Prisoners should work if deemed able, and educated if needed.
If clean for 6 mths they could be allowed back into general population.

Sex offenders should receive treatment while in prison, mandatorly.

Young offenders could be placed in boot camp style prisions where they receive education, and dicipline, with drug and alcohol screening, and treatment if needed.

As a lot of them tend to be disturbed, counselling and group therapy should be part of the routine for all detainees, with 1 to 1 sessions with counsellors for those who need it too.

I would put an emphasis on rehabilitation, while trying to make prisoners pay for there own incarceration as much as possible (while not taking homes away from dependants etc).

X

swiss · 23-04-2002 2:00pm

I agree with many of the points you have raised.

It is not acceptable that it costs €100,000 per prisoner per year to incarcerate, and we get nothing back

No, of course it isn't, given the current prison population. However, the endemic problem I see with the prison system is the revolving door policy that has resulted in so many dangerous offenders left back out onto the streets after a ludicrously short stint behind bars. In order for more prison spaces to be made available, a huge investment has to be made. Similarly, a large investment will have to be made to bring the facilities you mention into operation.

This does boil down to how we deal with the issue of crime and punishment. We hear stories all the time of young offenders being 'left off the hook' by liberal judges, moved by piteous stories on the part of the offender. Consequently, the punishment is frequently insufficient, given the nature of the crime. Similarly, a lax prison environment can foster a culture of re-offending and drug abuse in prisons. To weed this out will take more than money. It requires an extensive rethink of how we class prisoners.

I agree that we should have prison imates work (if they are able) to pay for some of the costs of their incarceration. I don't know, however, whether or not this is constitutional (perhaps someone with a knowledge of law/constitution can tell me). In fact many of the reforms you outline could have constitutional repercussions, with the subsequent challenges that could ensue. That is not to say that I disagree, however. I think that it is time that our approach to offenders should become far more proactive rather than reactive.

Given that many people would be hesitant to spend large sums of money on trying to rehabilitate prisoners, (the benefits of which are disputed, it is unsurprising that it does not feature at the top of a party manifesto, when issues like health and the dwindling state of the economy are much more important to voters.

Many of our prisoners are hardened criminals. Call me narrow minded, but in these cases I do not believe that any amount of rehabilitation will stop these prisoners from reoffending. In this case, it would probably be better just to ensure they remain locked up for their term, make sure that they don't impinge upon the rest of the prison community, either through attempting to pass drugs or in any other way, and ensure they work (if possible) to help pay for their tenure.

Prison reform needed, but not in any1s manifesto?

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