tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post4486721165448373801..comments2024-03-28T16:22:14.888-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Bill James's prison reform ideaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63398657198164658532011-07-14T05:46:44.071-07:002011-07-14T05:46:44.071-07:00Presumably the idea of taking the 5 worst from upo...Presumably the idea of taking the 5 worst from upopular prisons (?) and putting them in Alcatraz hasn't occurred to Mr James.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-7184215644463709632011-07-14T04:00:27.959-07:002011-07-14T04:00:27.959-07:00My idea:
All doors inside a jail, except those to...My idea:<br /><br />All doors inside a jail, except those to individual cells, should be of the revolving-door type.<br /><br />Above each floor to which inmates have access, there should be a big open floor to which only prison wards have access, and the wards should stay there almost all the time. On this open floor, there should be motors powering the devolving doors, which can be stopped by remote control. Each ward should have a remote that can stop all revolving doors dead in their tracks. All other movement should be controlled by the wards by stopping/starting revolving doors on an individual basis.<br /><br />The prison floors should be so high so that prisoners can not throw stuff to the roof. The roof should be equipped by a lot of small holes, through which the wards can look, and throw down flashbangs if necessary.<br /><br />All prisoners should be housed in individual cells. <br /><br />Prisoners should not see the wardens if at all possible, and in the cases when wardens have to go down into the prison floor, the should wear face-covering masks (think motorcycle helmet) so that the prisoners can not identify them. Thus, the wardens do not have to worry about losing face. To the prisoners, the wardens should ideally be unseen, but all-powerful, entities.<br /><br />The solitary confinement should be used liberally, but many of the prisoners subjected to it should have access to TV, books, and other stuff to pass the time so as to limit the number of prisoners that have to be treated by shrinks.Swordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-5776563285789362072011-07-12T22:34:18.482-07:002011-07-12T22:34:18.482-07:00I would not want to be a ward of a Japanese prison...<i>I would not want to be a ward of a Japanese prison. I would refer you to Unit 731 (I think that's the ticket) during WWII in Harbin, China (and elsewhere).</i><br /><br />And, knowing of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald, I would not want to be in a modern German prison either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19418113565079245162011-07-12T22:32:25.943-07:002011-07-12T22:32:25.943-07:00A middle-aged white ex-con I interviewed about 25 ...<i>A middle-aged white ex-con I interviewed about 25 years ago said he really missed the old "rule of silence." He said the constant noise the blacks convicts made drove him crazy when he was last in prison.</i><br /><br />Not to mention all the Mafiosi singing in Italian....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53363976942189989532011-07-12T20:01:57.827-07:002011-07-12T20:01:57.827-07:00Was Bill James book good or not? Has a schizo reac...Was Bill James book good or not? Has a schizo reaction from the Amazon reviewers. What say Sailer?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81043285885325127732011-07-12T17:20:56.478-07:002011-07-12T17:20:56.478-07:00I would not want to be a ward of a Japanese prison...I would not want to be a ward of a Japanese prison. I would refer you to Unit 731 (I think that's the ticket) during WWII in Harbin, China (and elsewhere). The film, "The Men Behind the Sun" is quite informative on this point.nesbitnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-42895817352184730242011-07-12T16:38:21.036-07:002011-07-12T16:38:21.036-07:00Prisons in the old, weird WASP-run America:
http:/...Prisons in the old, weird WASP-run America:<br />http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/state/html/nyprisons.html<br />"Discipline was regarded as the key to success of the congregate prison, and one rule soon emerged as the key to discipline. That rule was silence, a silence so profound and so pervasive that it became the most awesome and striking feature of the fortress-like prisons of America. From their tour through Auburn, de Beaumont and de Tocqueville wrote:"<br /><br />"We felt as if we traversed catacombs; there were a thousand living beings, and yet it was a desert solitude."[7]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86349797566462785292011-07-12T16:07:37.844-07:002011-07-12T16:07:37.844-07:00Based on what I've seen in prison documentarie...<i>Based on what I've seen in prison documentaries, its obvious that there is no effort to keep real discipline in US prisons. The prisoners can basically talk to each other all day if they want to. Forcing them to be silent and to not interact with one another socially (on penalty of various types of punishments such as solitary confinement and caning) would probably get rid of most inter-prisoner violence, so why isn't this done? </i><br /><br />A middle-aged white ex-con I interviewed about 25 years ago said he really missed the old "rule of silence." He said the constant noise the blacks convicts made drove him crazy when he was last in prison.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10945687187707761972011-07-12T14:12:19.811-07:002011-07-12T14:12:19.811-07:00"Japanese prisons, IIRC, are fairly soft, inc...<i>"Japanese prisons, IIRC, are fairly soft, incredibly boring, and seem to work - at least with the Japanese population."</i><br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/3096844.stm<br /><br /><i>A man who spent four years in a Japanese prison for a crime he says he did not commit feared he would not survive his ordeal.<br /><br />Patrick Loughlin, from Penley, near Wrexham, spoke out on Wednesday following his release last week from Nagoya Prison, in Osaka after serving his four-year sentence.<br /><br />On the same day it was revealed that the deputy chief warden at the prison has been indicted on charges of fatally assaulting another prisoner.<br /><br />It was also reported in the Japanese media that this is the third time prosecutors have charged prison staff over allegations of fatal violence against inmates, with six wardens facing charges over two other inmates' deaths.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-80491134415424805072011-07-12T13:24:58.956-07:002011-07-12T13:24:58.956-07:00"I like Bob Whitaker's idea. Put the &quo..."I like Bob Whitaker's idea. Put the "unbreakable" ones in the desert and restrict water very carefully. Regular water delivery depends on progressively more compliant behavior."<br /><br />Well, Barack (II), we've got this thing called "The Constitution..."Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286755693955361308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54988780923079582242011-07-12T13:01:27.847-07:002011-07-12T13:01:27.847-07:00"Awwwwww, elvisd, I had no idea you were such..."Awwwwww, elvisd, I had no idea you were such a foolish romantic."<br /><br />Takes one to know one, sugar.alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14958611059030729965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66735437354004927232011-07-12T12:24:00.974-07:002011-07-12T12:24:00.974-07:00"You've got to get those prisoners good a...<i>"You've got to get those prisoners good and tired to sap the violent tendencies. Breaking rocks and tilling fields by hand would do the trick."</i><br /><br /> Southern jails did just that until the liberal courts gutted their ability to enforce the work requirements.Frend o'Frenzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500698971166980213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66573641464973531022011-07-12T12:16:52.543-07:002011-07-12T12:16:52.543-07:00"I have a prison reform idea: place a video c..."I have a prison reform idea: place a video camera in every call and every communial area of the prison, always recording to hard disk arrays kept for 30 days."<br /><br />Excellent!, and hire 10,000,000 government employees to watch all of that video.<br /><br />Problem solved, Barack.Truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286755693955361308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9258158376053110952011-07-12T12:13:06.122-07:002011-07-12T12:13:06.122-07:00I like Bob Whitaker's idea. Put the "unbr...I like Bob Whitaker's idea. Put the "unbreakable" ones in the desert and restrict water very carefully. Regular water delivery depends on progressively more compliant behavior.<br /><br /> In less constitutional societies, the "unbreakables" are simply shot.Frend o'Frenzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500698971166980213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45783653135316229162011-07-12T11:23:22.196-07:002011-07-12T11:23:22.196-07:00I'm an advocate of Squirrel Cage jails.I'm an advocate of <a href="http://thehistoricalsociety.org/jail.htm" rel="nofollow">Squirrel Cage jails</a>.C. Van Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09918883799053031223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-41585743943888624892011-07-12T10:00:49.278-07:002011-07-12T10:00:49.278-07:00Any discussion of prison reform needs to discuss t...Any discussion of prison reform needs to discuss the Texas prison system that was dismantled by the federal judiciary about 30 years ago. You're a fan of James Q. Wilson, and the Texas prison system is a centerpiece of his Bureaucracy.<br /><br />Good call, I remember skimming that book sometime in mid-90's, and remembering how successful that system was when he compared it to the California and Michigan state prisons if memory serves. The federal judges blew up a successful prison system, what a shocker!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-26017542147166344232011-07-12T09:22:39.555-07:002011-07-12T09:22:39.555-07:00"Beyond just the racial angle, and ethnic bas..."Beyond just the racial angle, and ethnic based prison gangs, the Scandinavians have an enormous amount of social control over every aspect of daily life. That extends yes to prisons. In ways unthinkable here.<br /><br />Read anything by Ibsen, it's like from another planet. Americans have so much mobility and anonymity that we crave recognition and just notice, for anything. Hence ... Facebook and crummy reality shows. Scandinavians like Japanese wish above all not to be noticed, hence inward-directed behavior. The huge social controls allows lots of capital to be used in things other than prisons and such -- but like everything else has a downside. Social rigidity is such that it is shocking to most Westerners."<br />While it's certainly possibly that Scandinavia is a more controlled society, I would like to see som evidence for your theory. <br /><br />By the way, I'm very confident a far greater part of the Swedish population have Facebook than the Americans. Reality shows have been quite big in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, too - we're talking about very Americanized socities. <br /><br />Norway and Sweden are nations with a powerful state. One the other hand, they do not have the same degree of cultural/religious pressure as, say, rural Alabama. <br /><br />I'm personally very critical of Swedish society in many ways, but your way of describing it is more based on right wing clichés than real observations.Howard Hughesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19627687710192530272011-07-12T09:14:15.535-07:002011-07-12T09:14:15.535-07:00Jodie's idea is original and sounds plausible....Jodie's idea is original and sounds plausible.<br /><br />Problems:<br /><br />prisoners who are disabled, fat schmos, have diabetes or whatever would not be able to generate kilowatts on equal footing with healthy prisoners. The Supreme Court wouldn't allow a system of imprisonment that discriminated against the unfit. So you'd have to classify prisoners and only make the healthy generate the kilowatts. The others would do time. Which would allow for manipulation and leave the unfit population needing a solution--the prison population is significantly unhealthy and a lot of physically or psychologically damaged guys are just as violent as their healthy peers, perhaps more so.<br /><br />The kilowatt solution would cost. Got to install all that equipment, and pay the medical bills when guys get joint problems or whatever.<br /><br />The kilowatt solution relies on prisoners being forward thinkers who are able to make sacrifices now for the long term goal of getting out earlier. Need to tweak the incentives to also have lots of short term stuff.<br /><br />What about going the other way? Instead of having them fatigue themselves into good behavior, what if you fatted them into good behavior? Lots and lots of junk food. Milk shake machines in every cell (not really, but that's the idea).<br /><br />Actually the real solution is probably just the old-fashioned one of beating the shit out of criminals instead of sending them to jail.<br /><br />-osvaldo M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-879056666311352532011-07-12T09:02:52.375-07:002011-07-12T09:02:52.375-07:00I read an article a few weeks back that stated the...<i>I read an article a few weeks back that stated the US had the highest percentage of prisoners of any nation and that roughly half of those incarcerated where there because of the war on drugs. I'm surprised Sailer never discusses this issue since he sometimes delves into libertarian topics.</i><br /><br />Kinda old hat. G**gle "broken windows policy" or similar. Basically, it's easier and more straightforward to catch crooks with their illegal substances than it is to catch them murdering the competition or intimidating the citizenry.<br /><br />Then there's the fact that gov't loves the war on drugs. They love insoluble problems they can turn into crusades (drugs, poverty, racial gaps, foreign basketcases, etc). Actually they love the (permanent) funding and power they get from them.<br /><br />SvigorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36226151519696927552011-07-12T08:56:54.637-07:002011-07-12T08:56:54.637-07:00"Prison violence, and prison rape, are purpos..."Prison violence, and prison rape, are purposely maintained by the system as a method of controlling the white population. Liberal rule rests on violence and intimidation that can only flourish with official support, or at least official indifference."<br /><br />I don't doubt that at all. If I recall correctly, there was a lawsuit a few years back by an inmate who claimed that the prison staff refused to protect him, and actually punished him for coming forward to ask for protection against rape. I don't know the outcome, but I think it was in Louisiana. The warden supposedly told him to "toughen up."<br /><br />I heard an NPR report on the California prison system that went on and on about the deterioration of the system over the last 40 years, without mentioning one time that the demographics of the state and the system have changed drastically. They bemoaned the sharp increase in violence, the fact that the system is no longer a model of reform where prisoners were able to receive an education or learn a trade, and the fact that the system is now a financial mess, as opposed to forty years ago. Yet they refused to mention the obvious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73977230873781814382011-07-12T08:54:59.456-07:002011-07-12T08:54:59.456-07:00Most US prisons are split up into 'pods.' ...Most US prisons are split up into 'pods.' The inmates in the pods don't have much communication outside their pod. Pod assignments are made on the basis of violence levels, etc.<br /><br />There is still some interpod contact, of course, but then there is a significant amount of interprison contact too. Having lots of little prisons wouldn't make much difference. At least, that is my gut call.<br /><br />The crude segregation we do into min, medium, and max security prisons actually works pretty well. "Club Fed," for example, is the way it is because those guys aren't going anywhere, aren't going to cut each other up, and aren't going to trash the facilities that you give them. So maybe what the situation calls for is more centralization of our prison system across county and state lines, so we can have more gradation. 10 classes instead of 3.<br /><br />The commenters who say that working as a prison guard screws you up are mostly right. It doesn't usually make you a psychopath, but it wears on you in one way or another.<br /><br />-osvaldo m.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66635777431276435862011-07-12T08:49:40.833-07:002011-07-12T08:49:40.833-07:00I have a prison reform idea: place a video camera ...<i>I have a prison reform idea: place a video camera in every call and every communial area of the prison, always recording to hard disk arrays kept for 30 days.</i><br /><br />And when the recordings consistently show a close-up of a smear of feces right around the time of an attack, put the guy intimidated into smearing it there in the hole for 30 days.<br /><br />SvigorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66148942058141480052011-07-12T05:03:32.888-07:002011-07-12T05:03:32.888-07:00"If most inmates are of around equal size and..."If most inmates are of around equal size and strength, there will be less bullying."<br /><br />Size isn't the issue.<br /><br />Among high impulse control men age is more important and you want to protect the younger from the older.<br /><br />Among low impulse control men the younger ones are the most dangerous and the small ones are worse because they're more likely to use a weapon.<br /><br />I imagine most people have some experience of *drunk* white blue-collar guys. If you imagine that lack of restraint then the gangsta yout are like that all the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9158662661056815892011-07-12T03:21:00.987-07:002011-07-12T03:21:00.987-07:00This article is based on the absurd premise that v...This article is based on the absurd premise that violence and rape in our prisons is undesired. How is that even plausible?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36545240701492513832011-07-12T01:16:01.450-07:002011-07-12T01:16:01.450-07:00"Also for the ones that say small prisons are..."Also for the ones that say small prisons are expensive, it is bullshit."<br /><br />back on planet earth, building and maintaining new prisons for several MILLION inmates is expensive.<br /><br />if they want to though, the norwegians are free to use their oil money to pay for the construction of a few hundred new prisons in the united states. they can start with, say, a 2 billion dollar grant to the state of california? how does that sound my fine scandinavian friend? wonder how long it will take mexico to fill those cells.jodynoreply@blogger.com