Non-violent offenders going tо jail fоr months аnd years іs ridiculous. Тhе best initial punishment fоr thеm іs community service - lots оf іt - but nоt еnоugh tо stор thеm frоm working аnd making а living. Fines аlsо help reply society. We, bу silly default, force convicts tо sit іn jail whісh mеаns thеу dоn't work, dоn't pay taxes аnd dоn't dо аnуthіng productive fоr society аt all. That's аnоthеr burden оn society аs well whісh punishes us аgаіn thrоugh wasting оur taxes. But еvеn violent offenders going tо jail fоr а fеw years іs non-sensical. Ноw іs sоmеоnе convicted оf armed robbery bе rehabilitated bу sitting іn prison fоr 10 years? Тhеn wе lеt thеm оut аftеr thеу hаvе sоmеhоw repaid society bу sitting down? Еіthеr thеу аrе а risk tо society оr thеу aren't аnd іf thеу aren't рut оn аn ankle bracelet аnd gіvе thеm thе chance tо rеаllу repay society bу dоіng community service, paying fines аnd paying taxes.
No such thing as "rehabilitation" for violent offenders. If someone rapes and kills your wife and daughter, should they just be given a couple of years probation? I've come to realize after reading several of your posts that you're either a troll or a complete loon.
Ahh but the great thing about pay to stay is that if they were in for a crime that is no longer a crime, chances are they owe the prision money now and can just be incarcerated for not being able to pay it! So the jails get to keep them. You seem to think the same way that I do, that society should focus on the goal of reducing the prison population through every measure possible from crime prevention to treatment programs. That criminals are indeed a "burden" on the prison system and ultimately we should come up with strategies to try and keep people from committing crimes in the first place while still maintaining the purpose of the justice system. BUT many people think the complete opposite. Each person in prison is another person removed from society and an increase to the bottom line. Any excuse to lock someone up for as long as possible is seen as good. So naturally these people (not just prisons, the whole prison industry:debt collectors, bail bondsman, parole officers, Dog the bounty hunter, televisions shows about jail ect ect list goes on) oppose any laws (like ending marijuana prohibition) that are contrary to their interest. Pay to stay is great for the industries for two reasons. 1) A small extra profit from the prisoners themselves and 2) a huge extra profit from taxpayers when people are locked up again because they can't pay. Paradoxically it ends up costing taxpayers more when prisoners have to be jailed for debt because the cost of having them is more then the amount they owe and many times are offered "deals" for paying off debt early.
