Some governments reduce the sentences of prisoners in exchange for their willingness to participate in self-improvement activities or to be of service to the community. In Brazil, for example, prisoners can reduce their sentences by reading books and then writing book reports. Another way for a Brazilian prisoner to reduce his or her sentence is by riding a stationary bicycle that is hooked up to a generator. The power generated charges streetlight batteries.
More about reducing prison sentences:
- The federal prison system in the US no longer offers parole, but it does offer prisoners a slight decrease in sentences if the prisoners behave well while incarcerated. The federal prison system also provides larger reductions to prisoners who have been approved for a 500-hour residential drug treatment program.
- Some prisoners can get a reduction in their sentences for reporting statements made by other prisoners to the authorities. If the authorities can use the information to solve a crime or successfully prosecute another criminal, the person who reported the statements might receive a sentence reduction or some improvement in his or her conditions.
- In the US, some state governments have passed laws to restrict giving time off for good behavior to prisoners who are incarcerated for violent crimes.
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Discussion Comments
Is the prison system for punishing or correcting? What is gained by incarcerating except some sadistic pleasure of the tormentor? How effective are the correcting services?
Even before that, how just is the justice system? Is man worthy enough to play God and pass judgment on another human? What are the chances of his being infallible? How about plots and frame-ups? How does the judge judge the circumstances of the crime while sitting in a comfortable room hundreds of miles away?
Prison is much too luxurious. It should be how it used to be: Your prison cell was a small stone room with a mattress. You get a small amount of food every day. You stay there for years, doing nothing.
Prisons now are more like vacationing spots. Cable TV, expensive meals, many activities. Some prisoners get more opportunities and have more money spent on them then I, a law abiding citizen, do.
Are the prisoners actually told what it is they are charged with or do they have to guess? Do the punishers then play 20 questions with the prisoner, harassing, torturing, destroying the prisoners family, relationships, opportunities to work en route. Do the punishers physically torture the prisoner violating international and U.S. law? Do the torturers come to love torturing human beings and the power that they derive thereby.
If the prisoner guesses that he/she has done nothing, is the prisoner then released from incarceration? Keep up your thought-provoking work. I recommend your site to everyone.
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