We need a little less concern for time served (attendance, shall we call it) and a lot more for achievement (passing the tests and doing the homework, shall we call it) in our penitentiaries. Yes, our prisoners should not be released simply for having filled an allotment of time. They should not be released until they achieve goals that are set for them.
What is the purpose of a prison? Should it not be to reform the convict? Why, then, would we release a prisoner without an indication of change? If the goal is change, the reason for release should be that there is reason to believe a change has taken place.
Ours should be an achievement-oriented penal system. Prisoners should graduate, in a very real sense.
We need this change not only for their sakes -- not only so they will keep themselves out of trouble in the future -- but for our sakes. If we are taking these folks off our streets because they endanger society, we should not put them right back on unless they can provide at least some assurance they have changed.
The sentencing should spell out the changes that the prisoner must demonstrate. These changes should be written right into our penal code.
Let's say we have someone who attempted murder, who ran over a person and then stabbed him multiple times with a screwdriver. A violent crime, indeed. I would say, he needs to learn not to react with violence when displeased with others. He needs to know weapons of any kind (whether they be cars or guns or screwdrivers) will not be resorted to resolve a dispute. Nor will violence be resorted to to settle a dispute.
I think of Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui, who was convicted for the screwdriver-stabbing crime described above, and how once in prison, he got into a fight, blackening the eyes and bloodying nose of the man he fought with. Garcia-Jauregui is said to have been instigator of the fight. It is clear, then, he had not learned violence is not to be resorted to to settle a dispute.
The penal code should state that the violator must acknowledge the crime, express remorse, and pledge not to to involve him or herself in such activity again. The penal code should say the prisoner will not be released if he or she displays violence as a way of solving a dispute, or getting his or her demands met. Nor shall the prisoner be released if he or she expresses a desire to commit violence as a way of solving a problem.
Classes or counseling time should be given the prisoner, teaching again and again, in this way and that, that you do not respond to situations with violence. The prisoner could be given work study assignments. For example, he or she might write a story on how a person got into a confrontation, but did not resort to violence.
And, when the classwork is done, and the lesson learned (and the time served), the prisoner graduates.
sounds like a good idea to me
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