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People jailed for life have usually done some pretty nasty stuff. Getting old is a prospect a lot of their victims were spared if that's the right word. And li

People jailed for life have usually done some pretty nasty stuff. Getting old is a prospect a lot of their victims were spared if that's the right word. And life becoming more miserable as we age is an experience not confined to prisoners. To my mind an old folks home can be an experience that must be not too dissimilar to prison. We like to have a benign view of old people but horrible young people don't become nice old people. I don't like the thought of inflicting yet further misery on old people by having these people joining them. There should be old folks prisons for old prisoners.

djsumdog 9y ago
In much or Europe, murder carries 15 to life vs the US where it's 25 to life. I do realize it is a serious crime; the most serious crime when you deprive another human being of the ability to live. There is no way to ever pay that debt, but at the same time, 25 years is a very long time. 15 years is your birth to a drivers permit. It's enough time to go from a high school diploma to a PhD. It is a significant portion of one's life. > People jailed for life have usually done some pretty nasty stuff. In America there are many people serving insanely long terms for even lesser crimes. In places with three strikes laws or point systems, people can be serving over 20 years for low volume drug distribution. Incarceration does not make a better or safer society. It just creates a new slave class. America has the highest percentage of prisoners of any other country on the planet. It's also the only high-income/western country with the death penalty. It indicates something is terrible wrong with our justice system. Unless they're child molesters, many of the elderly in prison are in a condition where it is almost impossible for them to physically harm anyone again. What does society gain by not letting them spend the last few years of their lives dying humanely?
- barking 9y ago
  If people are in prison who should not be in prison, that's a different thing. You mentioned murder. Personally I don't believe that murderers should ever be released. The fact that we do so sends a signal that murder is bad, y'know, and we give a life sentence and all, but we don't really mean it, particularly if it wasn't a 'bad' murder. Hypothetically, I would not be happy if my elderly father was in an old folks home and in the next room was a convicted murderer. By all means though, let's have prisons that are essentially old folks homes with secure fences around the grounds and treat the inmates as decently as possible.

djsumdog 9y ago

In much or Europe, murder carries 15 to life vs the US where it's 25 to life. I do realize it is a serious crime; the most serious crime when you deprive another human being of the ability to live. There is no way to ever pay that debt, but at the same time, 25 years is a very long time. 15 years is your birth to a drivers permit. It's enough time to go from a high school diploma to a PhD. It is a significant portion of one's life. > People jailed for life have usually done some pretty nasty stuff. In America there are many people serving insanely long terms for even lesser crimes. In places with three strikes laws or point systems, people can be serving over 20 years for low volume drug distribution. Incarceration does not make a better or safer society. It just creates a new slave class. America has the highest percentage of prisoners of any other country on the planet. It's also the only high-income/western country with the death penalty. It indicates something is terrible wrong with our justice system. Unless they're child molesters, many of the elderly in prison are in a condition where it is almost impossible for them to physically harm anyone again. What does society gain by not letting them spend the last few years of their lives dying humanely?

barking 9y ago
If people are in prison who should not be in prison, that's a different thing. You mentioned murder. Personally I don't believe that murderers should ever be released. The fact that we do so sends a signal that murder is bad, y'know, and we give a life sentence and all, but we don't really mean it, particularly if it wasn't a 'bad' murder. Hypothetically, I would not be happy if my elderly father was in an old folks home and in the next room was a convicted murderer. By all means though, let's have prisons that are essentially old folks homes with secure fences around the grounds and treat the inmates as decently as possible.