Correction official publicly admits his prisons don't work

Secretary of Corrections Eldon Vail told The Associated Press that even inmates who are locked up for non-violent offenses pose a risk to commit crimes once released from prison.

Now we all know that prisons don't normally "correct" anybody. Even though most of them are still called "corrections facilities."

But I thought it was kind of special that the head of my state's "correction" program would come out and admit this to the mainstream media.

There are still people who work to rehabilitate prison inmates. I know some of them.

But obviously, in my state anyway, the government gave up on the idea a long time ago.

Full article:

www.seattlepi.com...

reply to post by l_e_cox


well, I'm not sure how prisons work in the U.S but I have a family member that was in one over here(UK) and he said it was anything but punishment most of the time. They were given gaming consoles, T.V etc.

I disagree with that to be honest.

reply to post by l_e_cox


People do not care about inmates. I'm originally from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania. You should see what the local juvenile judge did to these poor children here. Check out en.wikipedia.org...

the correctional facilities were set up for failure frm the very beginning...they say that they use incarseration to rehabilitate the offenders...but few of none of the facilities actually rehabilitate anyone...they benefit the criminals...career violent criminals use their time to learn new ways to further their criminal life and the first timers the less violent ones get stuck with hardened criminals and in return the bad ones rub off and when they get out they are more likely to commit more violent crimes and get sent right back..its just an endless cycle that will keep repeating itself until DOC figures out that what tey are doing isnt helping anyone...

when the inmates are excluded from society their treated like sh*t. They need to be given love and confidence to get rid of the guilt and learn from their mistakes... or else they'll just continue to break the "law".

Prisons are NOT to rehibilate.....the exact oppisite as a matter of fact.

It is to provide a revolving door of cheap labor for IBM, K Mart, Toys R Us, JC Pennys, etc. These compinies and literally 100s of others us inmate labor at 17 cents an hour to make the products they dont make overseas.

Wonder why unemploment is so hi...........lol

What do you suggest,

gassing them all?

Originally posted by lastrebel
Prisons are NOT to rehibilate.....the exact oppisite as a matter of fact.

It is to provide a revolving door of cheap labor for IBM, K Mart, Toys R Us, JC Pennys, etc. These compinies and literally 100s of others us inmate labor at 17 cents an hour to make the products they dont make overseas.

Wonder why unemploment is so hi...........lol

Good point.

Food for thought: The US bans imports that were produced using forced labor abroad. Yet many goods, including clothing, electronics, furniture, etc., are made using inmate labor here at home in America.

The biggest problem faced by "corrections" in America, is the administrations and government have not figured out WHO they are dealing with. Most of the braniacs who come up with theories on how to rehabilitate the prison populations, have never set foot in a prison, or at the most have visited a low security facility. They perceive they know their targeted audience, but they don't have a clue.

When you have a 18 yr old convicted felon who has grown up knowing only gang life, violence, drugs, etc, how are you going to rehabilitate him, when he hasn't a clue what you are trying to teach him? You have got to start at square one, not just a few years back when his life of crime began. His whole world is consumed with violence, hatred, distrust, and until someone figures out how to defeat all he has known or been raised to believe is normal, the recidivism rate will stay the same.

The shallow programs they present in prison are a joke and a waste of our tax dollars. When you take 30 or so grown men or women, age 17 to 55, throw them in a room together with a teacher or mentor, and they are taught the basics of answering a phone, taking an order or assisting a customer, using a cash register and so forth, does ANYONE really believe they are going to get out of prison and accept a minimum wage job, when they can return home and average $500 to $???? a day? If you believe that a little love and kindness along with the most basic of skills will solve the problem, we are in big trouble.

I don't have the answer. Not really sure anyone does, but the problem will only get bigger if we do not come up with some answers soon.

reply to post by retiredTxn


You could not have stated it any better!! As a former Correctional Officer from the state of CA, I have seen first hand what CDCr has done to our once tough prisons....It is pathetic!
I worked at a maximum security prison, and had many well known nut jobs in my unit (Eric Menendez, Keven Graff, Andrew Cejas, etc). I must admit, after so many years of working around sadistic killers, I have become very anti inmate! But I was only around the worst that CA had to offer.....