Video Games Banned from Prison

[absolut_mac]

make them WORK

The ACLU would scream blue murder (and sue) because they would say that it was *cruel and unusual punishment*!!!

The ACLU would rather have all criminals back out on the street if possible, otherwise at least living an easy and enjoyable life untill their release date.

 

[apple2991]

The ACLU would scream blue murder (and sue) because they would say that it was *cruel and unusual punishment*!!!

The ACLU would rather have all criminals back out on the street if possible, otherwise at least living an easy and enjoyable life untill their release date.

Yeah! How dare the ACLU define an easy life in prison as one in which you have some sort of protection from being beaten or raped by the inmates, being beaten or raped by the guards, and not being worked 16 hours a day because there's nobody you can go to, have food that isn't infested with roach eggs from the kitchen, have a basketball hoop, etc?

That'd be way too easy.

Oh, wait.

 

[absolut_mac]

Yeah! How dare the ACLU define an easy life in prison as one in which you have some sort of protection from being beaten or raped by the inmates, being beaten or raped by the guards, and not being worked 16 hours a day because there's nobody you can go to, have food that isn't infested with roach eggs from the kitchen, have a basketball hoop, etc?

Actually, I don't think that anyone would complain about the ACLU if they just stuck to that, but unfortunately they don't - if the ACLU had their way the prisoners would certainly have a cushy stay in prison.

Just my opinion based on their past track record, your mileage may vary.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Actually, I don't think that anyone would complain about the ACLU if they just stuck to that, but unfortunately they don't - if the ACLU had their way the prisoners would certainly have a cushy stay in prison.

Just my opinion based on their past track record, your mileage may vary.

Can you link to some examples? As we are finding out here, the story sometimes goes much deeper (thanks, Chanoc)

 

[markjones05]

i woulldnt mind being locked up with my xbox.

 

[apple2991]

i woulldnt mind being locked up with my xbox.

Yeah, just you, your xbox, and 1499 other, much larger, angrier, and probably hornier men.

 

[wdlove]

Yeah, just you, your xbox, and 1499 other, much larger, angrier, and probably hornier men.

That is certainly a big reason for not wanting to be in prison. There currently isn't anything in prisons, even items that the ACLU want that would cause any that I know want to be in prison. It's just that sadly for many entering prison is living better.

 

[absolut_mac]

Can you link to some examples? As we are finding out here, the story sometimes goes much deeper (thanks, Chanoc)

You want examples of the ACLU filing frivolous law suits, or more specifically filing law suits that some prison sentences are *cruel and unusual punishment*? Either way, I'm sure that a google search will find no shortage of either.

Personally I have no problem with prisoners expecting three clean reasonably healthy meals a day in a reasonably safe environment. From there they should then be divvied up into the severity of their crimes. Those that have a possibility to be reformed, should receive the appropriate counseling etc.

But violent repeat offenders who are a danger to society - Charles Manson, Ted Bundy types - should receive no such luxury and should be subject to harsh manual labor as punishment for their crimes until they die in prison. The key word being punishment.

Of course others probably disagree with me, and they are, of course, entitled to their opinion. I honestly don't think that there is only one correct way to deal with prisoners in situations like that.

In fact, the history of prisoners and their treatment is virtually always changing, from prison to prison and even country to country as society tries to deal with this seemingly insurmountable problem.

 

[Mechcozmo]

If the inmates earned the right to play videogames (like in chanoc's post), then it is fine by me. They are not coming standard in the cell, you know. It is at least an incentive to follow a system to get your reward through legitimate means, which seems like something pragmatic in a prison system.

Ah... well, at least that makes sense. Still, having a guaranteed meal and a guaranteed bed and a guaranteed place to go to the bathroom and exercise... the people that go to prison for those reasons should be the ones deprived of it. Here in San Diego, some guy walked into a store, told the man behind the cash register to hand over money, only took a $20 and then proceeded to sit and wait for the the cops to come. Something wrong there?

If you go to prison for a crime that is more than just an excuse for having a more comfortable life, and show that you don't want to be there, then amenities are fine. I can understand a person who made a bad mistake and now wants to get out of the gutter.

But I cannot understand allowing people who are repeat offenders to continue to live like other inmates. Why not make their life harder? Show them that life sucks, but if you keep on stealing, etc. then you aren't going to get anything nice. Solitary confinement comes to mind-- for people that cannot be trusted with the other, nicer, parts of the prison, allow them to sit and think about what they did in a room that is not pitch black, but just slightly dimmer than a normal room. Don't allow anyone to talk to them and keep it very quiet for them. Let them think. They may not like it, but after 72 hours you can get a lot of thinking done.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Ah... well, at least that makes sense. Still, having a guaranteed meal and a guaranteed bed and a guaranteed place to go to the bathroom and exercise... the people that go to prison for those reasons should be the ones deprived of it. Here in San Diego, some guy walked into a store, told the man behind the cash register to hand over money, only took a $20 and then proceeded to sit and wait for the the cops to come. Something wrong there?

If you go to prison for a crime that is more than just an excuse for having a more comfortable life, and show that you don't want to be there, then amenities are fine. I can understand a person who made a bad mistake and now wants to get out of the gutter.

But I cannot understand allowing people who are repeat offenders to continue to live like other inmates. Why not make their life harder? Show them that life sucks, but if you keep on stealing, etc. then you aren't going to get anything nice. Solitary confinement comes to mind-- for people that cannot be trusted with the other, nicer, parts of the prison, allow them to sit and think about what they did in a room that is not pitch black, but just slightly dimmer than a normal room. Don't allow anyone to talk to them and keep it very quiet for them. Let them think. They may not like it, but after 72 hours you can get a lot of thinking done.

But why not also address those types of individuals need/desire to want the "comfort" of prison by making honest work worth more. So that everyone regardless of job skills can have some form of "decent" life? Obviously the prisoners work crappy jobs, at next to nothing wages, so there must be something wrong in society that we are forcing some to commit crimes in order to have it "better" than in the streets.

 

[mactastic]

Seems to me like there ought to be two seperate prison systems. One for people who will be (hopefully) rehabilitated and sent back out into society, and another for those who are there for life. Also perhaps further segregation between violent and non-violent offenders might be a good idea. It seems kind of silly to me that a 20-something who gets sent in for a drug offense or a non-violent theft type crime gets to rub elbows with some REALLY experienced violent criminals. In that type of situation, do you think the non-violence of the one will rub off on the other, or is it more likely that the violence of the older prisoners as well as the institution itself will rub off on the non-violent offender?

My understanding is that many people leave prison a more informed criminal than when they came in.

 

[markjones05]

Yeah, just you, your xbox, and 1499 other, much larger, angrier, and probably hornier men.

Maybe the horny inmates would take out some of that pent up frustration elsewhere if the girls of DOA were doin time with them!

 

[greenmeanie]

tough

if you are in prison you dont deserve to play video games!
you want to play video games dont goto prison

Interesting, I've often found video games to be a great escape from he real world, that allows me to relax and take a step back from real life for a bit.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/01/25/videogames.prisons.ap/index.html

 

[greenmeanie]

or

or better yet dont break the law and not have to worry about rubbing elbows with bubba

Seems to me like there ought to be two seperate prison systems. One for people who will be (hopefully) rehabilitated and sent back out into society, and another for those who are there for life. Also perhaps further segregation between violent and non-violent offenders might be a good idea. It seems kind of silly to me that a 20-something who gets sent in for a drug offense or a non-violent theft type crime gets to rub elbows with some REALLY experienced violent criminals. In that type of situation, do you think the non-violence of the one will rub off on the other, or is it more likely that the violence of the older prisoners as well as the institution itself will rub off on the non-violent offender?

My understanding is that many people leave prison a more informed criminal than when they came in.

 

[greenmeanie]

oh please

oh please you make your life the way you want it!
dont cry me the story they have it bad.
they could have chose school,college etc etc it was up to them to better themselves!

But why not also address those types of individuals need/desire to want the "comfort" of prison by making honest work worth more. So that everyone regardless of job skills can have some form of "decent" life? Obviously the prisoners work crappy jobs, at next to nothing wages, so there must be something wrong in society that we are forcing some to commit crimes in order to have it "better" than in the streets.

 

[chanoc]

or better yet dont break the law and not have to worry about rubbing elbows with bubba

Lots of unsuspecting people go to jail everyday for crimes they are innocent of commiting. Lots of people inadvertently break the law and go to jail.

 

[chanoc]

oh please you make your life the way you want it!
dont cry me the story they have it bad.
they could have chose school,college etc etc it was up to them to better themselves!

Take a trip to your nearest ghetto and show them a better life, since you have the answers. Does everybody get the opportunity to go to school? Does school really secure a good job if jobs can be outsourced? If you make 5.15 an hour can you really survive?

So how's life on the upper hillside?

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

But why not also address those types of individuals need/desire to want the "comfort" of prison by making honest work worth more. So that everyone regardless of job skills can have some form of "decent" life? Obviously the prisoners work crappy jobs, at next to nothing wages, so there must be something wrong in society that we are forcing some to commit crimes in order to have it "better" than in the streets.

They tried that once. It was called Communism. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work.

Mandated wage increases mean 1) fewer jobs to go around, 2) higher prices to the consumer, or both.

This is why better education and better job skills are rewarded with more money. But the cold hard reality of it is that some people just aren't cut out to be anything but bus drivers or fry cooks. I know that makes me sound like a horse's posterior, but that's how it is. If we remove the incentive for bettering yourself, then who would want to?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

oh please you make your life the way you want it!
dont cry me the story they have it bad.
they could have chose school,college etc etc it was up to them to better themselves!

So you dismiss openly the idea that family and in a very broad sense, community do not play at all in the fabric that makes up the desires and abilities of an individual in some part?

All too easy to place the blame on the individual for failures of society to do what is right.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

They tried that once. It was called Communism. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work.

You might want to look at the definition of communism before throwing around a divisive word:

n.
A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
Communism
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.

Not sure what kind of economic system it would be called for "living wages" to be paid to those willing to work; some words do come to mind - moral, just, and maybe Christian?

Mandated wage increases mean 1) fewer jobs to go around, 2) higher prices to the consumer, or both.

This is why better education and better job skills are rewarded with more money. But the cold hard reality of it is that some people just aren't cut out to be anything but bus drivers or fry cooks. I know that makes me sound like a horse's posterior, but that's how it is. If we remove the incentive for bettering yourself, then who would want to?

Oh that song and dance again - "As long as I have mine - I could care less how it hurts other people".

Evidently in your area bus drivers are poorly paid. In our area a vast majority of the bus systems pays better than the "living wage" of $18 an hour for a family of four to "just make it".

In my criminal justice class so many years ago, it was mentioned that a contributing cause of crime and incarceration was the lack of hope in bettering their lot in life. Also our lack as a society to address the issues to make a poor/bad community better, since those with the money pay the most taxes and want those tax dollars mostly spent on them. IMO, simple Greed.

 

[nef919]

Who is paying?

I just skimmed the article, but I didn't see anything that said that the govt was paying for the gaming systems.EDIT:I just reread the article. Games were paid by the profits from the canteen sales. In other words by the prisoners themselves as the products for sale in the canteens are for sale to the prisoners themselves at a decent profit I might add./edit My experience is with the Puerto Rican prison system (Commonwealth of the US) where things are based on the US prison system. (As evidenced by most of the forms and regulatios. They are mostly poorly translated from the originals and some even have the US form numbers on them.) But in PR if the institution and module you reside in allows tv, and gaming systems, then a person on your visiting form must bring you a new in the box tv, fan xbox or whatever it is. No only that but it must be from the list of allowed brands/models. Even this is still based on the receiving guards whim.
Prison if a difficult place to be regardless of what type of ammenities you may or may not be allowed to have. Having been encarcerated has given me a different perspective on things. I personally don't think that having movies, video games and decent food would have made it any more bearable. (Although hot water would have been a huge step forward).
Before the comments of you got what you deserved start coming in I was given a 6 month sentence for not having a firearms permit. I had one though it had been expired for 15 days due to a typo on the actual permit by the issuing agency. I was arrested the day I went in to renew the permit. Which according to all the dates on the paperwork I had was still 5 1/2 months away. The judge said that although it was a clerical error, it did not change the fact that I had no weapons permit for those 15 days. Think what you will.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Before the comments of you got what you deserved start coming in I was given a 6 month sentence for not having a firearms permit. I had one though it had been expired for 15 days due to a typo on the actual permit by the issuing agency. I was arrested the day I went in to renew the permit. Which according to all the dates on the paperwork I had was still 5 1/2 months away. The judge said that although it was a clerical error, it did not change the fact that I had no weapons permit for those 15 days. Think what you will.

Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you have or can get a pardon or expungment or whatever it is called. Your case is one of trying to make some sense of the prison system and how we treat criminals in general. You could have chosen to come out worse for the wear.

Still does not change some feelings that prison should void as much as possible of the things on the "outside". I am not saying that basic TV, movies (ala Shawshank Redemption), decent living conditions and food should not be given. After all criminals are still human beings. More time and money needs to be spent on rehabilitation and education, so that prisoners can come out better than they came in.

 

[wdlove]

Prison if a difficult place to be regardless of what type of amenities you may or may not be allowed to have. Having been incarcerated has given me a different perspective on things. I personally don't think that having movies, video games and decent food would have made it any more bearable. (Although hot water would have been a huge step forward).
Before the comments of you got what you deserved start coming in I was given a 6 month sentence for not having a firearms permit. I had one though it had been expired for 15 days due to a typo on the actual permit by the issuing agency. I was arrested the day I went in to renew the permit. Which according to all the dates on the paperwork I had was still 5 1/2 months away. The judge said that although it was a clerical error, it did not change the fact that I had no weapons permit for those 15 days. Think what you will.

I'm very sorry to hear of your problem. It seems that this is a case where common sense should have been applied. Such as no prior record and having had a legal permit. A clerical error should have been taken into account. Sounds as though you got a unyielding judge. So how long was the sentence?

There does need to be assistance and training for inmates. There should be punishment. Second most important along with safety should be training of the inmate to prepare for a successful release. They need to be prepared for life outside with job skills.

 

[greenmeanie]

HAHA

isnt everyone in prison innocent LOL

Lots of unsuspecting people go to jail everyday for crimes they are innocent of commiting. Lots of people inadvertently break the law and go to jail.

 

[sjpetry]

"The poker" is not a place to play.