Prison Reform

From Pete Ashdown Campaign Collaboration Wiki

Our prisons are in a sad state. They are over crowded and dehumanizing and do little to reform the criminal. We must re-examine our justice system to make sure it is fair for all. For inmates who are serving less than life sentences the prison system should be used to correct their behavior so that upon release they will become productive members of society. Until we have this as our goal our prison system will be ineffective.

Additionally, many federal facilities can be made virtually self-sufficient. By cutting prison amenities and utilizing prisoner labor when practical, the cost of operating the federal prison system can be drastically reduced. Room could then be made in the budget for repairing old prisons and constructing new ones in order to house the current population in safe and humanizing conditions. Though some characterize prison labor as "cruel and unusual" it, in practice, improves the prisoners' sense of self worth and leads to decreased recidivism. The use of prison labor has been widely successful where it has been applied (such as Maricopa County, Arizona's minimum security chain gang) and is on solid constitutional footing. Section 1 of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution states that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." Prisoners allowed to be idle for years or sometimes decades often turn to prison gangs that only escalate criminal behavior. Prisoners who work eight hours a day inside prison, leave prepared to work in the outside world.