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Jail: Rough Road or Easy Street? Amenitites Important, Prison Officials Say
The Hartford Courant ^ | 4 August 1997 Page A-1 | by Dana Tofig

Posted on 06/06/2002 2:17:50 PM PDT by vannrox

Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:36 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Correction Officer Charles Robinson stands at the edge of the gymnasium at Cybulski Correctional Institution. From his vantage point, he can see across the room.

In front of him, a handball smacks off a wall of the gym, creating a rhythmic cadence with the grunts of two inmates. Prisoners are shooting hoops on the other end of the expansive room. The metallic clang of weights echoes through the gym.

Some would look at this scene as an example of a weak prison system, full of fun for convicted felons. After many years as a guard, Robinson sees it differently.


(Excerpt) Read more at strengthtech.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS: basketball; college; inmate; jail; library; lifting; management; nofril; official; prison; radio; television; weight
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1 posted on 06/06/2002 2:17:50 PM PDT by vannrox
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To: vannrox
Back in the old days prisoners got their exercise working on chain gangs.
2 posted on 06/06/2002 2:22:02 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: vannrox;Cagey;SeeRushtoldU_So
Sheriff Joe Arpaio for President!!!
3 posted on 06/06/2002 2:26:30 PM PDT by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
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To: vannrox
Prisoners in Wi. have better access to education, medical and dental care, and Wi. prisons have more amenities than VA Hospitals..from what I've seen.
4 posted on 06/06/2002 2:29:27 PM PDT by joesnuffy
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To: vannrox
If the objective is to make it easy on the guards, one way to do it is to keep the inmates happy. However, I somewhere got the impression the objective was to punish and/or rehabilitate. In either case, a secondary objective MUST be to convince the convict he does NOT want to return to prison after release.

"Amenities" would seem to fly in the face of (at least) the secondary objective.

It's little wonder we have the highest per-capita prison population in the free world. From the sound of it, it's not hard to imagine prison being preferable to being on the outside for a lot of the misfits of society.

5 posted on 06/06/2002 2:36:22 PM PDT by newgeezer
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To: vannrox
This is just insane.

Prisons are supposed to be for punishment. They are NOT supposed to be day camps. The idea behind prison is, it is supposed to be a place where you do NOT want to return.

The ONLY things inmates are entitled to are:

The square meals a day.

A bed.

Medical and dental care.

Classic works of fiction (e.g., Moby Dick, Les Miserables)--restricted.

Visits from lawyers and relatives---but NO conjugal visits.

Newspapers.

Mail.

Clean prison uniforms.

That's it.

Period.

6 posted on 06/06/2002 3:20:18 PM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Houmatt
Geneva Convention standards are good enough for our POW's then they are good enough for criminals.
7 posted on 06/06/2002 4:03:34 PM PDT by GailA
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To: WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
Joe Arpaio is a grandstanding maroon, but he does get some things right. I can't fault him on the tents or chain-gangs.

He spends most of his time and money on empty media stunts, though, and makes his deputies lives hell in the process.

AZ prisons, btw, have no more weight rooms. A huge inmate was caught on tape swinging a 45-lb bar like a bat, killing another con in a gang-related hit.

8 posted on 06/06/2002 4:03:49 PM PDT by Britton J Wingfield
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To: GailA
Geneva Convention standards are good enough for our POW's then they are good enough for criminals.

Bleep the Geneva Convention.

9 posted on 06/06/2002 4:11:53 PM PDT by Houmatt
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To: vannrox
The cons run the joints to a great degree and the a$$hole, can't-get-a-job-anywhere-else guards are doing life on the installment plan, eight hours at a whack.

The guards are human vermin, just like most of the prisoners.

Keeping things quiet is in the interest of both.

To steal a line from the G-Man, just who and what did these "correctional officers" ever correct.

They're connected boobs who couldn't get a job anywhere else, so it is in their interest to make sure their charges are happy.

And just where do those convicts get the cigarettes and drugs from, hmmm?

10 posted on 06/06/2002 4:45:54 PM PDT by metesky
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To: vannrox
"Our men and women went to Saudi Arabi {for Operation Desert Storm} and lived in tents, and they didn't even commit a crime," Arpaio said. "Why would someone complain about putting convicted prisoners in tents?"

I'm with Sheriff Arpaio on this one. There are military barracks that are not as nice as the description of the prison above.

In addition, prison is supposed to be a deterrent, but it may be a step up in lifestyle for some. Where's the deterrent in that?

11 posted on 06/06/2002 5:22:19 PM PDT by Calico
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To: vannrox
"Nearly 400 inmates at the tent cities rioted in November, setting fires and holding 11 guards hostage before getting a forum with Arpaio about the conditions at the prison."

They should have put all 400 of these inmates in stocks for the rest of their time there. The ringleaders of the riot should have been put to death - by hanging - in front of the rest of the other scumbags.

Society doesn't owe them a damn thing.

12 posted on 06/06/2002 5:27:58 PM PDT by fogarty
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To: Houmatt
Why the f*ck should they even have a bed and access to literature? Give them their choice of religious material (bible, quran, torah) and that's it.

We need to reinstitute hard labor into the system. These scumbags need to be breaking rocks with hammers for 10 hours a day.

13 posted on 06/06/2002 5:30:27 PM PDT by fogarty
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To: WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
And now, "Cool Hand Luke" is coming to mind.
14 posted on 06/06/2002 5:58:58 PM PDT by Cagey
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To: vannrox
A law firm here in Moron county Kalifornia tried to donate law books that were not quite current to the San Quentin prison law library some years back and were told they didn't need them because they had the most up to date info on cd-rom already! Keeping prisoners occupied with all the amenities is no different than parents who park their kids in front of a t.v. playing video games or watching a show. It just means less work for the parent/prison personnel. I do think they should have access to educational material if possible giving the individual a realistic alternative to crime but they should pay for it through work programs. Give them a little incentive if possible.
15 posted on 06/06/2002 6:15:09 PM PDT by amstaff1
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16 posted on 06/06/2002 6:15:45 PM PDT by Bob J
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To: Britton J Wingfield
Being in Arizona, you would know far more about the Sheriff than I........I just like the fact that he doesn't coddle the inmates.........

On a side note, I can't believe you don't like guacamole......... ;^).........

17 posted on 06/06/2002 6:30:10 PM PDT by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
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To: vannrox
The Coventry Solution was used effectively by the Brits--ship them to Australia.

I have proposed fencing off (with a triple-electrified death fence) 100,000 square miles of Dakota Badlands. Perimiter patrols with dogs and orders to shoot to kill.

You break the social compact, you are given a survival kit and a parachute. "Adios--don't come back."

In other words, remove the felons from society, permanently.

It is cheap. We can abolish the death penalty, which will make Alan Arkin happy.

Why not?

--Boris

18 posted on 06/06/2002 6:32:27 PM PDT by boris
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To: vannrox
Prison is to easy crimnals aren't afraid of going back. Have thr prisoners bust rock into gravel under the hot sun. sell it to the local county road commission
19 posted on 06/06/2002 7:58:33 PM PDT by miscout
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To: fogarty
Why the f*ck should they even have a bed and access to literature? Give them their choice of religious material (bible, quran, torah) and that's it.

We need to reinstitute hard labor into the system. These scumbags need to be breaking rocks with hammers for 10 hours a day.

Actually, I do not have a problem with these scumbags sleeping on beds, or widening their minds with a little Charles Dickens or Edgar Allen Poe. I just do not want them to have access to current fiction, or things like lawbooks, so they can further tie up the justice/prison system with frivolous lawsuits aimed either at their jailors or their victims/victim's families.

As for hard labor, you are preaching to the choir. Of course they should be put to work. I was really focusing on the living conditions.

20 posted on 06/06/2002 8:44:14 PM PDT by Houmatt
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