[Callum]

Maybe the guy's going overboard... But he's got the right idea.

The thing that shocked me most in all the articles wasn't any "inhumane" measures taken by the sheriff... It was the fact that prisons are required by law to have cable TV! Many many honest, hard-working people can't afford cable TV, but those who have murdered, raped, etc have it by law! I myself only got cable a couple of years ago, and my family is not poor.

Porno, cable TV, weight rooms... I'm not an expert, but I'd hazard a guess at them not being among those "inalienable rights".

When I was a kid, if I did something wrong, I was punished. I was shouted at, sent to my room without supper, grounded, and if it was something pretty bad, I was smacked. I am convinced it has made me a better person. A friend of mine was caught by his parents doing cannabis (for the third time). His mother went out the next day and came home with a complete, expensive, Michael Jordan basketball kit. How does this make sense? Sure enough, within two weeks he was back on the pot, and is now taking ecstacy every weekend.

It's the same thing, in my mind, with how prisons seem to be. "Look how nice we are to you. Seeing as we've done you this great big favour, do you think you could do one for us, and not kill anyone again?"

Prisons here are hell holes. We still have capital punishment, even for relatively minor crimes, like possession of 100g of marijuana. Look at which country has the higher crime rates.

And for the record, while poverty and a hard life may drive people to petty theft and other minor crimes... It does not drive them to murder or rape. That comes from the person themselves.