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Some related articles : California struggling with growing numbers of elderly prisoners |
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Don't Free Prisoners
IF YOU DO THE
CRIME, you'll do the time. Unless of course you happen to be an elderly
criminal, and you happen to be incarcerated in California while the state
faces its largest deficit ever. In that case, you do the crime and then
you get to walk free, at least if some of the state's number crunchers get
their way. Such a bottom-line approach to justice is not only inefficient,
it's downright idiotic. Proposals to
let elderly criminals out of jail before their sentences are up is hardly
a way to balance a budget, nor is it a responsible way to deal with the
state's aging prison population. While these detainees may not pose as
serious a threat to society as they did in their younger days, the fact is
they are criminals who were sentenced to jail as punishment for their
actions against society. Aging should not translate into a
get-out-of-jail-free card. Our justice
system, based on rewards and punishments, cannot be thwarted simply
because state revenues are in a slump. Justice is the backbone of our
society and it must be upheld, not dismantled because legislators do not
have the political backbone to balance a budget. Rather than
proposing the early release of inmates as a means of easing California's
budget crisis, legislators should reconsider the huge pay increase and job
securities recently granted to prison guards, who, coincidentally, have
contributed heavily to Gov. Gray Davis. It may also be time to truly look
at how our prisons operate and make them more fiscally efficient and at
the same time make prisoners do more work within that system. Not only will
our prison budgets benefit, as costs for what are currently contracted
services could be reduced, but the prisoners themselves can learn some
marketable skills and work ethics. A comprehensive, effective hands-on training program certainly can't hurt and, indeed, it could very well assist prisoners when they return to society, after they have fulfilled their entire sentence. Early releases won't solve the state's budget problems, but better use of existing money could ease the situation. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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