Mixing violent criminals with non violent.

[Rageaholic]

Reading posts on fratching made me realize what's so wrong with the prison system. Those who commit non violent offenses are put in with the violent ones. So this means that someone who experimented with dope, shoplifted, or even wrote a bad check could be sent to live with serial killers.

A lot of these offenses don't even deserve jail. For instance, in my state, you could go to jail for not having proof of insurance. Yes, PROOF of insurence. It's a harmless mistake that can't hurt anyone and I'm pretty sure that information is stored on a computer. So again, why should anyone be punished for such a stupid mistake, let alone sent to prison?

The way I see it, prison should be reserved for those who harm others. Those who rape or murder? Fuck em, they show no regard for the lives of others and they deserve to be locked up (or worse). But why should those who make mistakes that any forgetful person can make be sent to prison. Especially with those with have actually harmed people and are capible of much worse?

[crashhelmet]

About the only places people with a misdemeanor or minor felony conviction will share a cell with a violent criminal is in a holding cell at the local police station. There is a reason we have minimum and maximum security prisons, county jails, and state prisons.

Yes, you might get someone arrested for domestic abuse or assault and battery sharing a cell with a drug dealer, but you're not going to get someone convicted of tax fraud locked up with a murderer.

The prison system is like the education system. Their funding is based off of the number of inmates they have and their ability to keep them safe and secure. They can't do that if they're mixing them in together, promoting violence.

[Rageaholic]

That makes more sense. I wasn't really sure how it worked, but from what I heard, it sounded like violent criminals and non violents were locked up together.

Still, I stand by what I say about putting people in jail over forgetting their ID or proof of insurence. There's a difference between making a harmless mistake and intentionally breaking a law. Give them points off their record, but don't jail them.

[BlaqueKatt]

About the only places people with a misdemeanor or minor felony conviction will share a cell with a violent criminal is in a holding cell at the local police station.

you may think that is true, it is not.

As of 2006, 49.3% of state prisoners, or 656,000 individuals, were incarcerated for non-violent crimes. As of 2008, 90.7% of federal prisoners, or 165,457 individuals, were incarcerated for non-violent offenses

you really believe that there are enough minimum security prisons to hold that many inmates?

WI's only maximum security prison currently holds over 800 inmates-it was built to house 541.

My step-father(bad checks) had a cellmate that was convicted of armed robbery and assault. Why? Because they didn't have room for him in minimum security.

The average burglary sentence in the United States is 16 months, compared to 5 months in Canada and 7 months in England.

[crashhelmet]

My step-father(bad checks) had a cellmate that was convicted of armed robbery and assault. Why? Because they didn't have room for him in minimum security.

I don't want to get into semantics, but armed robbery and assault can cover a lot. In some states, flashing a toy gun or simply making the victim think you have a gun can be considered armed robbery. If that convict shot or shot at someone in the events that got him arrested, I doubt he would've been paired up with your step-father.

Not saying it's impossible, just doubted because of how the system is structured. They'll rearrange the cells and pair up 2 violent offenders and hope they have enough respect for each other before they'll throw a lamb to the lions.