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Sadly the only way to a make a difference, presuming you're in America, is to get a movement going to reform the penal system. The reason it's sad is that for m

Sadly the only way to a make a difference, presuming you're in America, is to get a movement going to reform the penal system. The reason it's sad is that for many Americans the point of prison is punishment rather than rehabilitation. So they're happy with people going through hell, 'cause you know, they deserve it. Your best bet is to find an existing rights group to pursue the changes. It will be a hard sell since the US moved to a private system. This means that the states and fed will have less direct control of things. More red tape and contract negotiations.

wtvanhest 12y ago
The two big issues in the US prison system are: 1) Treatment of prisoners 2) Number of people in prison As a country we need to improve treatment and reduce the number of people imprisoned quickly. If there is anyone located in San Francisco or northern south bay that wants to get together and do a hackathon with the focus of building something that generates either awareness or solves a particular problem we should meet up for coffee. I can meet anywhere in the Mission to discuss it. (Contact info in profile). I am currently swamped running my business but I would figure out a way to take a weekend off to build something.
- stefantalpalaru 12y ago
  the revolution will not be appified
  - eevilspock 12y ago
    i agree, but in a world where "going viral" determines what people pay attention to (almost always stupid shit), maybe figuring out how to make socially valuable things go viral is an important approach.
ams6110 12y ago
Though the US has some private prisons, they are a minority by a wide margin. And other countries use them as well; the UK has 11% of its prisoners in private prisons and apparently are working on expanding (according to Wikipedia). The county jail referenced in this piece is almost certainly not privately owned.
- smtddr 12y ago
  A position similar to yours has been countered on HN before... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8562786 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8562786
afarrell 12y ago
> find an existing rights group to pursue the changes. If you're fine hanging out with a mix of Christians, Agnostics and Atheists who occasionally quote scripture in support of their cause, check out the Quaker Prison Fellowship.

wtvanhest 12y ago

The two big issues in the US prison system are: 1) Treatment of prisoners 2) Number of people in prison As a country we need to improve treatment and reduce the number of people imprisoned quickly. If there is anyone located in San Francisco or northern south bay that wants to get together and do a hackathon with the focus of building something that generates either awareness or solves a particular problem we should meet up for coffee. I can meet anywhere in the Mission to discuss it. (Contact info in profile). I am currently swamped running my business but I would figure out a way to take a weekend off to build something.

stefantalpalaru 12y ago
the revolution will not be appified
- eevilspock 12y ago
  i agree, but in a world where "going viral" determines what people pay attention to (almost always stupid shit), maybe figuring out how to make socially valuable things go viral is an important approach.

ams6110 12y ago

Though the US has some private prisons, they are a minority by a wide margin. And other countries use them as well; the UK has 11% of its prisoners in private prisons and apparently are working on expanding (according to Wikipedia). The county jail referenced in this piece is almost certainly not privately owned.

smtddr 12y ago
A position similar to yours has been countered on HN before... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8562786 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8562786

afarrell 12y ago

> find an existing rights group to pursue the changes. If you're fine hanging out with a mix of Christians, Agnostics and Atheists who occasionally quote scripture in support of their cause, check out the Quaker Prison Fellowship.