Anyone interested?

[northernwalker]

I am interested in debating topics of interest on a weekly basis. People may post, invite their friends to post and suggest topics to be discussed as you please. You do not have to be on my friendslist to debate, though I will be happy to add you.

The rules-
1) All posters must be civilized. Obscenity and insult should not take the place of wit.
2) Anonymous posters are not permitted, nor are sockpuppets and trolls.
3) "God wills it" is not a defensible argument. If you are explaining a belief, that is one thing. Trying to shut down debate with this is not permitted.
4) Invoking either Godwin's or Snacky's Laws is only acceptable in discussions of WWII or high school.

First topic- Rehabilitation vs Retribution.

Should prisons focus on rehabilitation or retribution? Should we encourage job training and skill building, or concentrate on punishing offenders?

Comments

Re: random thoughts

[northernwalker]

It seems to me that paying someone to attempt to rehabilitate a criminal can be just as cheap as trying to punish them. Now, I think that sometimes rehabilitation and retribution can be all one big package. For instance, in the case of white collar crime, making white collar criminals learn and practice a manufacturing skill would be punishment, but also be a way of teaching many white collar criminals what it means to work for a living. (Yes, I'm prejudiced.)

You radical librarian you. ;)

And making that white-collar worker see what the people on the line go through wouldn't hurt, either. Good idea.


Prevention comes in many cases where the criminal sees it as punishment-- for instance, laws that say that someone with a domestic-abuse record can't own a gun.

Molly Ivins once suggested promoting knives over guns for several reasons:
1. The odds of being killed in a drive-by knifing are minimal.
2. Ricochets while cleaning not an issue.
3. We'd all get more exercise chasing down our targets.