Life Sentence for Everyone

If I devised a prison system, it wouldn’t be ideal, mainly because it would be considerably more expensive than our current system. However, I think it would be more effective at not only punishing criminals, but also changing them into better people. Not by forcing them to change, but by exposing them to the consequences of their actions, and keeping them until they realize how their actions and way of life is negatively affecting themselves and those around them. It would be similar to how the scared straight program works. Instead of punishing juvenile delinquents, they are shown what outcomes can come from their actions. In the prison system, prisoners would be shown the effects their actions have already had. Murderers would not be murdered. This prison system isn’t about punishment but about redemption. Instead of telling prisoners they’re bad and they need to be locked up, it tells prisoners they’re good, and they need to see why what they have done is wrong. They need to understand the impact of their crimes and truly regret them. Murderers will be shown the entire funeral service and grieving family. Relatives, friends and anyone who knew the victim would be allowed—while supervised—to share their thoughts with the murderer. Then murderers would need to be shown what it is like to have a relative or close friend taken from them. They would be shown what it is like to lose someone. There would be less prison guards and more psychologists, working to change how criminals view crimes. Rather than seeing how their crime would benefit the criminal, they have to learn how their crime is hurting so many more people. They are taught a lesson in morality. In my prison, there are no sentences. You are not put in prison for a set amount of time. Everyone goes in and doesn’t leave until they are deemed fit for society. Some may spend the rest of their live in jail. Others, would learn their lesson, maybe after a few years, how their actions were bad. Once they accept responsibility for their actions, are sorry for what they have done, and all of this is confirmed by a psychologist, they can gain their freedom. Young kids making stupid mistakes would get out earlier, to be productive aspects of society; the most evil and cruel criminals would spend much more time. If they can’t see what they did was wrong, their jail time did nothing but anger them. Once they get out, they aren’t going to be any better. They are just going to go right back to their old ways. In my prison, people wouldn’t be able to just serve their time. They would have to prove that they can abide by the laws. Everyone is trusted to follow the laws until they break them. Then they have to prove that they can be law abiding citizens, and that their crime was an exception to their usual behavior, and not routine, nor will they be repeated.