Prison To Society

Having recently watched the documentary ‘Prison Nation’, I was moved to consider the problem.





I have previously documented my opinions on the drug problem in this country and will not further expand in this document.

It seems clear to me that the extended prison sentences in this country moved from a punishment to a ‘safety through separation’ model. The idea being that the prison sentence isn’t intended as a punishment but as a way to keep the ‘bad guys’ away from the ‘good guys’.

While this is logical on its face, there have been serious and costly ‘unintended consequences’. The incarceration rate in the US is the highest in the world. Our incarceration cost far exceeds any other nation. And worst… our system takes bad guys… makes them worse… then lets them go.

In our County Jail, there is a ‘point score’. This score is determined by the severity of the charges when an individual is arrested. There are 3 levels of security in this facility, varying levels of allowed commissary as well as an inmate ‘trustee’ program that allows for additional privileges.

This system works very well for encouraging good behavior, providing consequences for poor behavior as well as allowing for the enhancement of marketable job skills.

I do believe that prison does provide a punishment. One that is most often deserved. I do not believe that the new ‘extended sentences’ that were intended to separate individuals from society for the protection of society have provided any benefit.

So, the question always it… what do we do?

My proposal is a scaled up mirror of the system in our county jail. Once the punishment phase of prison is complete (about 1/3 of what most sentences have extended to), inmates would be eligible for an upgrade to the next level. I see this first level being a medium security facility that would resemble an army base with all required facilities on ‘base’ and housing similar to army barracks. All individuals would be required to have a job that benefited the ‘base’ and would be paid an hourly rate (25% of minimum wage) that would allow for the purchase of personal items.

Inmate rules in the facility would be clearly posted and failure to follow the rules would have the inmate returned to prison.

Following the rules would allow for continued privilege increases (maybe spanning 2-3 levels). Having reached the top level (and possibly based on total length of sentence) the inmate would be eligible for the next step.

This final step I envision as a small scale minimum security city. I see this as a private/public partnership that would put the inmates in a ‘city’ that as closely as possibly matched the real world. Again, inmates would be required to hold a job, this time through a private company, would be required to open a bank account, again through a private bank. Would pay rent to live in a studio apartment that would be privately owned. I envision (subsidized) private job training to be made available. I would also expect state sponsored ‘life skills’ classes to be mandatory as I expect many will need basic information to succeed even in this ‘controlled’ environment.

I envision 2-3 levels of advancement through this phase as well that allow for additional freedoms including ‘out-of-city’ passes. This gradual reintroduction into Society would not only educates the individual on how to survive the world as the rest of society does, but would provide a marketable job skill and allows the inmate to earn trust and respect.

This system would also ‘weed out’ those individuals not yet ready for the transition back to society by allowing those that cannot follow the rules to be sent back down levels.

Cost should not be significantly different from current costs. For the first level, a lower level of security will translate to a significant cost savings and the ‘quality’ of the facility should be minimum, nothing more than you’d expect at basic training. Not only to reduce costs… but as a motivation to further improve living standards through continuing to ‘follow the path’.

At the final stage, the ‘city’ should be nearly self sustaining. Through private partnership, inmates would be productive at a level to supports themselves. Costs would be limited to administration, and some education/training. Supervision would be similar to that of probation.

When released, transition would be as simple as a ‘move across town’ to take a better job.

I would also propose that legislation be enacted to make it easier for felons to get jobs. Many are afraid to even apply knowing how easy background checks are now to do.

We need to set people up to succeed.

Those completing this process will have the tools to succeed in society. They will not ‘have to’ turn to crime to survive. They will have invested much to reach the point of release. They will be much less willing to give that all away.

While I envision this as a voluntary small scale system to start with… I would expect the success to be so great that it could be eventually expanded to a capacity where success in the program was ‘mandatory’ for release. Under those circumstances, those individuals that could not prove that they could function in society would not be allowed to. Once the ‘punishment’ phase of a prison sentence was completed, an individual that is ready to return to society could do so much quicker… reducing cost to society.



So, far I have not heard any proposals that are even close to this one.

It provides a pathway for individuals to become successful members of society while increasing the overall safety to society and reducing total incarceration costs.



Everyone knows that something has to be done… this is that something.