[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by Kim

An awful place used as a test facility for ideological brainwashing and torture for political prisoners, approved by the federal government and was only shut down because it was found out and there was a response to it. There were no major punishments for those responsible so far as I can see, no meaningful lessons learned by those in power, and what's more the government TO THIS DAY continues to violate international standards for prisoner treatment and violate its own laws regarding prisoners. And all of this is in addition to the fact that prison facilities are themselves awful, horrible systems that accomplish almost nothing worthy of praise, do more harm than any alleged good, and are a major part of modern day oppression of minorities.

It sounds like you have a better argument here, but the OP as it stands doesn't really say much other than "Look at this piece of shit that happened in the eighties. Let's write off the whole nation because of it."

For example, I know there have been a couple, if not more, specials on national news series/shows that have gone into prisons and dug into what it's like for inmates. It's not pretty.


Amake: What would be the alternative solution for crime, then?
No, that's not an attempt to say that prisons are the solution, but as it stands now culturally we seek out punishment and correction for those who have broken our laws. Something has to happen to see that justice is served. If it's not right to use prisons -- which considering the general stereotype of prisons and the actual facts of many prison situations it's not -- it needs to be some kind of facility or program. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume a large number of the population is opposed to the idea of criminals just hanging out at home or whatever after being found guilty. I would say this then runs into the same problem that makes prisons so awful: resources. No one is spending appropriate resources into a proper correctional program, instead making it more a focus on punishment, treating inmates like shit regardless of what they are in for, or in the wort cases trying to turn a profit off of incarceration, as noted already.
So let me go back to the question: What would you propose (or, if you prefer, have you read that others have proposed or implemented)? Then, realistically, is that a viability for the US?