Philosophy

When someone commits a mortal sin he in effect forms a league with death. He becomes the slave and prisoner of death until he asks for forgiveness of his evil act. He is not released from this prison until he repents. Even then the sinner must go to confession to a priest (or perfect his love through the inner most mansion of his soul) before he is totally released from the grip that mortal sin places upon his soul.

Thus, one could say that someone who commits a mortal sin must first repent of his evil act and then he must receive rehabilitation before he is allowed into God’s paradise. Getting out of the prison of death and hell is the sinner’s responsibility, not God’s.

If we do not model our prisons with a type of system where the responsibility of getting out prison rests with the prisoner, (not some politically appointed parole board) then we do not have proper control of our prisons. If our prisons are just dungeons of incarceration and not centers of learning and rehabilitation, then we do not have proper control of our prisons.

It is Neanderthalic to believe that a prison should be used for punishment of criminals. It is barbaric to put someone in prison with little or no hope of ever being released.

He is not released from prison until he repents of his evil.

This is the key to putting the responsibility for release from prison on the prisoner and preventing career criminals from being released from their incarceration back into society – where they can again commit their foul deeds.

I believe that we should do away with capital punishment and just keep convicts in prison until they have repented of their crime. That is, the convict should remain in prison until society can be sure that they will never again commit the crime for which they are incarcerated. I believe that the proper course of action regarding our prisons would be to take those prisoners who have rehabilitated themselves and allow them to assimilate themselves back into society.

However, we cannot just let a convict out of prison whenever he or she claims that they are sorry and that they will never again do their foul deed. Nor can we lock someone up for the rest of their life and forget about them. Both of these extremes would be the wrong course of action.

Once convicted of a crime a person should be sentenced to an appropriate, minimum amount of time in prison and upon completion of their sentence, if he or she can demonstrate that they have rehabilitated them self, then they should be released from their incarceration. If not, then the prisoner should remain in prison until he or she can demonstrate that they have rehabilitated them self.

However, we must have some kind of proof that they have truly rehabilitated themselves and not just playing some kind of game in order to get out of prison. I believe that certain requirements should be met before someone is let out of prison. If these conditions are not met then the prisoner should not be let out of prison, because he or she has not truly rehabilitated them self.

Of course, once the conditions are met then there should be no reason to keep such a person incarcerated, no matter what their crime. For if they meet the proper requirements then society would be assured that they would never again repeat their crimes. This puts the release of prisoners on the shoulders of the prisoner himself, not some politically controlled parole board.

Statistics have shown that a very large percentage of prisoners are uneducated. They are either illiterates or functional illiterates. For many of them it was this lack of education that caused them to end up in prison in the first place. From this one should be able to get a good idea what the first requirement ought to be.

The first requirement that a convict should fulfill before getting released from prison is an increase in his or her education.

For example, if the prisoner does not have a high school education then getting a regular high school diploma – not a Government Exit Diploma – should be a minimum requirement.

If the prisoner already has a high school diploma then he or she should obtain, at a minimum, another two more years of schooling than already possessed – either trade school or college. If the prisoner already has some college then he or she would have to obtain a bachelor's degree or higher degree from a reputable college or university before being released.

A lack of employment is another major cause of crime. Therefore, the prisoner seeking to be released from prison should receive training in some form of vocational skill or skills which would give him or her employment upon release from prison. If the prisoner already possessed a vocational skill before being incarcerated then he or she should obtain a second vocational skill.

Also, the prisoner should have to apply for a job in the new skill and have been accepted for future employment in that field before being released. If the prisoner has not received any vocational training while incarcerated then he or she should not be allowed out of prison.

A third requirement is that the prisoner should make some form of compensation to the actual victim(s) of the crime or the victim’s immediate family. Those prisoners who have not made some form of recompense to their victim(s) or the victim’s immediate family should not be allowed out of prison.

(If the prisoner makes a large sum of money while incarcerated or any other large sums of revenue are generated from publishing stories of the crime then the actual victim(s) or victim’s immediate family should share in these proceeds. However, distant relatives and distant ancestors and descendants who have not been directly victimized by the convict’s crime should not share in any reimbursements or revenues generated from revenuse generated about the crime.)

Fourth, before being released, the prisoner should receive counseling of some kind, particularly if a violent crime was committed. The type of counseling would depend on the crime, the prisoner’s age and the age of the victim(s), whether any weapons were used when the crime was committed and other such things.

How much counseling the prisoner has received while in prison should also be considered before he or she is released from their incarceration. Finally, the opinion of those doing the counseling of the prisoner’s attitude toward their crime and toward their rehabilitation efforts needs to be considered.

Before being released, the prisoner should be free of any and all sex, alcohol and drug abuse (SAD abuse) problems, gambling addictions or any other abusive problems or addictions that he or she may have had before being incarcerated.

A prisoner should be able to demonstrate that he or she was a model prisoner while incarcerated, that he or she was a positive asset to the prison while incarcerated, and that he or she would be a model citizen upon release. That is, the prisoner should be able to demonstrate that once released, he or she will not fall back into the same type of criminal life style he or she had before being sent to prison.

If the prisoner joined a prison gang or some form of hate group while in prison, if he or she participated in any form of violent demonstrations while in prison, (non-violent strikes such as hunger strikes should not necessarily be considered as proof of refusal to rehabilitate), if he or she violated prison rules while in prison, then these types of actions and similar actions should be used as evidence that the prisoner is not ready for release from prison.

The above requirements should be prerequisites for anyone whose appropriate, minimum amount of time in prison is an extended length of time in prison – say for example more than ten years. For those who have been sentenced to a shorter prison term – say for example less than three years – then their prerequisites for parole should be somewhat less demanding.

These are just some of the requirements that I believe that a person should fulfill before being released from prison. Those who have demonstrated that they would be productive citizens and who have served an appropriate or minimum amount of time incarcerated should be released from prison – no matter what their crime was originally. There is no reason to keep a rehabilitated prisoner incarcerated when he or she can be released from prison and be an asset to society.

I also believe that by following such a course, society would be rid of habitual criminals. There would be no career criminals on the streets as such a person would never be released from prison. Because being paroled from prison would be up to the prisoner actually rehabilitating him or her self. If the prisoner did not rehabilitate him or her self and prove that he or she would never again commit their foul deed then he or she would never be released from prison.

I believe that each prison should have its own set of laws voted on by the prisoners and its own governing body of elected offices composed of model prisoners who are being considered for parole. (Of course, the warden of the prison should be allowed a veto power over any law or prisoner that obstructed justice.)

I further believe that each prison facility should be self supporting. The inmates of each prison should collectively work together to produce a product for sale on the open market or offer some type of service to the local community.

The profits from such sales should go towards feeding and clothing the prisoners, maintenance of the prison facility, the salaries of the prison guards and other costs of running the prison itself. Taxpayers should not have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of prisons.

Any excess profits should go into a general fund for distribution to the victim(s) or the victim(s) immediate family – not the distant relatives – of those prisoners incarcerated within the facility and to those inmates who are being considered for possible parole.

Finally, a prison should not be a place where someone who broke the law is sent solely for punishment. Rather, a prison should be a place where someone who broke the law is also sent to learn how to get along in society without breaking the law. It is barbaric and Neanderthalic to believe otherwise.

Government and Prison Reform