Should we release elderly inmates who are physically unable to pose a threat to society?
107856
if it was a murder they did when they were in their twenties, and they are in their 70's, there really isnt much harm in releasing them. However, if they are like tookie williams who can still give orders to a gang or a mob, then by all means, yes keep him in jail for life.
779577
Yes very much so. Apparently people are not reasonable enough to handle have this privilege. Sometimes one bad irresponsible person ruins it for all.
648918
If released felons are not allowed to vote it is further evidence of the failure of the prison system to REFORM.  Punishment is but one reason people are incarcerated.  The prison also, protects the public from the criminal. Also the prison is supposed to rehabilitate, but many if not most people who work in the system would tell us that the efforts to rehabilitate are non-existant or laughable at best.  The experience of prison can actually "harden" a criminal and they become a repeat offender.  \nWhen the time to be served is completed, and the authorities release the prisoner then the judicial/penal system is communicating to society that the prisoner is now safe and can be brought back into society.  Some grey area emerges when the prisoner is released but is on parole and must report regularly to a parole officer.  Some in society might suggest that in this situation then, not all freedom has been restored, it is CONDITIONAL, and therefore voting privileges might be restricted until the parole period has been successfully satisfied.  \nOne might logically think that once a criminal has done the time and has been fully released (no parole) back into society that they should enjoy all the liberties of any citizen. Otherwise the system has by its own admission failed to reform, or rehabilitate, the prisoner and in turn the system has failed society.  I don't see this as "giving a second chance" as much as effecting change in the individual.
752704
As evil as it makes me sound...I agree with you.  I really think we should take any and all repeat offenders and put them on an island and let them kill eachother.  It'd be cheaper and less labor intensive than rehabilitation or the death penalty.  No matter what, I don't think these individuals shoud be allowed to live, it's just a waste of money and a threat to society.\nAs far as the mentally handicapped, I agree.  I think it's really a part of natural selection and evolution.  These people are the weaker links, and you're right, in nature they would be picked off, so why do we waste so much money and resources trying to let them live when most of them don't have the mental capacity to recognize what we're doing.  \nSo, I agree that it would be logical to put these people down.  However, ethically I think most people would have a problem with what esentially boils down to murder... if only everyone else bothered to think like us
69841
become a prisoner for someone .
1108737
Prisons should be terrible places where nobody wants to go but you better remember that most of the people who go in there get out at some point. \nThat is why you don't want to shamelessly brutalize them, and you want to provide them with the opportunity to correct and better themselves.  That way maybe there is a chance they might get out and go straight, not be a worse criminal than they were when they went in.
489349
I agree wholeheartedly, and think it is a shame.\n\nTo make matters worse, prisoners come out worse than they went in--due to being labeled--and due to being made to live among worse criminals.
889068
In terminal cases completely for it! We guarantee prisoners the right "no cruel and unusual treatment", but we force our own society to suffer needlessly when the end is going to be the same no matter what? Makes no sense. Also, if a medical abortion is allowed later in pregnancy to keep a child from a life of suffering, why force our elderly? Makes no sense.
46054
You can write to the inmates and ask them.  It really depends on their behavior as they can get out early if they follow directions.
636892
Shoot them. And noone should give them any crap for it either. A threat is a threat no matter what the age.
270209
No, because it doesn't deal with the underlying problem.  Solitary confinement doesn't resolve issues, it propagates them-people are social beings, excluding someone from human contact is a form of torture.
619151
These people are the most dangerous of criminals. While rehabilitating them sounds ideal in many of the cases studies have shown that it is impossible to do so. \nThese people suffer from a real medical illness. This is not something they chose to do. They do not make the decision to wake up in the morning and rape a five year old. It is something that consumes them.\nSo to say that they could change. Well that is fine and dandy. But truth has proven that in most cases they really can not. Sad truth.\nAnd as someone who was molested as a child I can tell you from experience that is something that you deal with your entire life. I will do anything to protect my children from going through what I have been through and the daily struggles I feel within myself and how they effect my relationships.
818678
We are all getting older and most of us will some day become "aged".  A society is known and remembered for how it treats its weakest and most defenseless, and the aged are certainly part of that group.   \n\nA society can support its aged by enabling them to retain as much dignity and independence as possible.  This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including establishment of affordable accessible housing and provision of home care services for those who can no longer quite keep up with the demands of running a household.  Meals on Wheels are important to many older people, as are special transportation services, telephone services for the deaf and hard of hearing, and assistive living devices such as "grabbers" to allow a person to pick up an item from the floor without bending, walkers, and various tools that make everyday tasks easier.  If each of us did a couple of hours a week of volunteer service to help the aged, their lives could probably be made much happier and less stressful and many more older people could continue to live in their own homes.  Kindness, caring and compassion go a long way and make a huge difference.\n\nThe aged need human contact and companionship, just as we all do.  Pairing elementary and high schools with seniors' complexes can often do mch to alleviate the loneliness of old age.  \n\nSupporting the aged is not the responsibility of governments alone, but part of the responsibility of all of us.  It is sometimes good to reflect, and to remember that the people we affect unthinkingly today may be our caregivers tomorrow.   Getting old is a fact of life.  My approach is to treat the aged of today the way I would like to be treated when I am old.
411268
That would be a NO!  It is illegal to restrain someone unless they are trying to hurt themselves or others.
115356
Generally, no; but any insane asylum needs to know how to make survival compulsory for their suicidal inmates. I'd think some of the more basic forms of learning could also be forced.
1020818
Not unless they are incapable of walking.
373235
Hell NO!  I have a very close member of my family in prison for a crime that he did not commit, I would not want him fighting over there, it is hard enough to stay alive in prison!