I am for it. Make them work for their upkeep.

i agree with you fully :)

Thanks.

Someone just forwarded to me, so sorry for the late reply.

This is an idea that should already have been implemented. Prisons generally have large amounts of area around them that are also owned by the state, some don't but most do. These could easily be used to provide all the food, clothing (yes cotton can be grown everywhere), and even the water (wells) for the needs of the prisons. If they wanted exercise why not hook-up some exercise bike that helped run a generator or something. Also the extra savings from food, clothing, water could easily bring prisons into the 21st century with solar panels. That way the only expense would be guards. Although, if you grew enough to have a surplus, you could always sell it to help pay or pay for the guards.

Could they possibly be self sufficient completely?

yes yes yes i agree with you fully that is what i am talking about what not? why not let them do all this it would save so must of our money

Currently the 2.2 million (estimate, probably more) people inhabiting our prison system cost around 60 billion dollars (also estimate, again probably way more). Doing anything to offset the outrageous cost would help.

Edit* Current figures put the per prisoner numbers at around 300,000 dollars. Thats for every single inmate. What if they had to pay that back, not 100% but lets say after they got out (if my other plan didn't work for some reason) they had to go back to the community where they came from and do community service. I don't mean community service such as going to visit people in nursing homes or such. Yes thats needed, but children of today can easily make up for the waining numbers if their parents gave them a nudge that way.

that is a good idea never thought about that good one :)

I have to many ideas, and not enough avenues to take them...

oo i know what you mean no one will lessen to us, i that we all could tell them how to save some money but they will not lessen to us, i am glad to see there are more out there like me but i think we are the lowest ones on the food chain :)

by and far...

:)

people have changed over the years and some of those sheiff's might get hurt if you place some of those large weapons within a terroist hand .. HUMM

maybe :)

men and women who commit crimes against society should be less privileged than those who obey the law. So yes, they should be caused to earn the benefits they receive. Do away with weght training equipment, TV rooms, etc, and make them actually pay for the crime.

i agree with you thank you :)

let em work! Instead of cable and weightlifting let them provide a service to the commumnity free of charge

good idea i agree thank you :)

I think instead of the humiliation they would get from the chain gang we just open capital punishment to a lot more crimes than just murder like rape , drug offenses , strong armed robbery those sorts of crime and than the CRIMINALS wont be humiliated .Am i the only one who understands our prisons are NOT filled with the wrongly accused the have no rights they are CRIMINALS and if we were truly barbaric we would execute every last one of them to save money , they will never be rehabilitated they are animals and don't play well with others .

i do see your point thank you :)

i am a die hard liberal democrat and I think this is an excellent idea. They should pick up trash on the freeways, help farmers pick their tomatoes and lettuce, they should clean graffiti off everything it ends up on, they should pick up cigarette butts off the center divide of the freeways, reorganize junk yards, whatever tasks need to be done that will help society instead of just take away from it. They should stop paying prisoners to do any work at all, thats ridiculous when you think of the cost for each prisoner annually. Hell, they should make them pay their own way in prison too, by doing all that labor. Pay their way, and until they pay the debt, they can not be paroled.

good idea and i agree with you fully thank you :)

Not a bad idea, but being able to learn how to be self-sufficient doesn't seem like punishment, but over-all the community contributions and co-operation it takes to do this sort of thing, could be a positive influence and work towards building good character.

yes it would thank you :)

They have work release programs.

only for they one who have a few years to go they all need to work :)

Chain gangs originally had lifers. Do you want someone who has no going home date to work on your roadways? Prison is for long term sentences.

at least they would by working not sitting in a cell on a computer talking to little girls or boys or watching TV or making phone calls to little kids or making friends that do not know who they are :)

They are also killers.

but you never know who you are talking to that is why you do not give any information out to just anyone :)

No attack on you. While I have no problem with prisoners working and raising food, I am opposed to the chains for humanitarian reasons, besides there are two issues; the chains and the work program. Chains are outmoded anyway because electronic devices can do the same job and without the discomfort and humiliation. When will we realize that out whole penal system is outdated and cruel? We tend to fill the jails and prisons with people who are not violent threats to society at great cost to us all and no real rehabilitation for the inmate and end up overcrowded and having to release people who are a threat. Our courts are overloaded, too few public defenders who can't spend the time on a proper defense and we get 30 second sound bite justice. We need a complete overhaul. Let's spend out time on the real bad guys and fewer pot smokers. A guy who steals a loaf of bread to feed his hungry children can be made to work it off while a guy who robs the same merchant at gunpoint or worse may get time served and parole somehow seems like we have our head up our arse. In my state it costs we taxpayers about a $100,000 a year to house a prisoner. This is bull. They go in, are forced to join a gang to stay alive and not be raped and come out a choirboy? What have you been smoking? What did we get for our $100,000 a year?

NOOOOOOOOO That is a barbarian system that should never have been and God knows who will be on that chain gang. Let's move forward into rehabilitation to give people another chance if possible.

if they work in prison then when they get out they will at least know that they can work to make a liven

""make them plant and pick there own "corn, peas,carrots, potatoes"""

they've done this before .. and it was a great sucess - but they got greedy and corrupt
just like they are now - that's why drugs are allowed into prisons

because the people who run them ? Make good and extra money....

""so please do not attack me personally""

Whoa ... unplug ... ha ha ha - this is SodaHead .......
it's gonna happen - actually - it's like that everywhere .. not just here.

oh ... I think they should be made to work in a factory on location
12 hours a day to manufacture ...... goods for America ....

I'll go for eight hours. This becomes a fine line between the mixing of public tax money and profit driven enterprise. I'm not stupid, I know what happens but we can set the bar a bit higher and try to find honest people. I knew one once.

""I'll go for eight hours""

I was being light with 12 hours ... I think they should do 16 hours a day ...

""This becomes a fine line between the mixing of public tax money and profit driven enterprise.""

well ? We certainly have a hell of a lot of prisoners and this work ethic will rehabilitate them in a positive way.

i agree with you :)

great idea i agree fully with you thank you :)

Thank you .. but like I told Old Poet
I was being nice with 12 hours
I think they should do 16 hours a way - 6 days a week - 1 day off for religious beliefs

this will train their minds to be more stable .... upstanding - better - less criminal

i agree with you fully :)

1) All prisoners should be engaged in some kind of useful work, which most would prefer anyway to being locked up all day. They might also learn trades and find jobs more easily when they are released.
2) Particularly violent offenders could be made to perform more difficult tasks, long hours, strict discipline, severe punishments if they do not obey their male AND female guards, a good way to learn to respect women.
3) There are far too many prison inmates in America, five to ten times as many as in other Western countries, as a % of the population of course. Fines, suspended sentences (which mean "don't do it again"), decriminaliaztion of victimless crimes should be considered.