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Andrew Wiggin

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How can we reform the prison system?

This talk demonstrates that many felons have much potential. So the question is really quite simple, but broad, how can we reform our prison system to take advantage of this potential?

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Topics: potential prison reform
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  • George QT

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    Feb 25 2013: The whole concept of (legal) justice is wrong. In our current legal system (what ever country you pick up), some one commits an offence and what we do? put'em in jail! or even worst: kill'em!, in other words: "punish them". but true justice has 2 goals. First: to repair the damage as soon and as far as possible, when ever possible or otherwise compensate the victim. And second, rehabilitate the offender and restore it to society as a productive member. So is not the prison system what you need to reform, but the whole judicial system, and not only to reform it, to rebuild it from the ground up. If you really seek justice, there must be a more intelligent, economically viable and fair way to deal with offenders, prisons should only exist for cases where there is no (psychological) hope for the offender to be restored to society as a productive decent citizen.

    I just recall, someone told me long ago, that in the Lacandon community southeast of Mexico, when a Lacandon Indian kills another Lacandon Indian, their law doesn't put him on jail, instead of that, he must work his field and feed his family and at the same time work the field of the dead man and feed the family of the dead man. I think this is more clever way to deal with offenders, and it achieves both goals, it compensates the victim by giving them security, and forces the offender to be a productive member of society.

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