So Cali's prisons are too full . . .

[Jacie]

. . . and they've been ordered by a judge to reduce the inmate population, by a lot.

And if that isn't problem enough, the state government is broke and can't pay people.

I guess that rules out Governor Arnold from trying my social engineering experiment concerning prisons and the people that live there.

I figure that if it costs about $30,000/inmate/year then why not just pay the criminals that money not to break the law in the first place. Anyone that did so would then go to prison and lose their allowance. This would in effect be both incentive and deterrent.

I realize all you working stiffs recoil in horror at the thought of paying the low lifes not to do what all right-thinking and moral people do all the time for nothing. I throw this idea out there for you to chew on because it seems that going to prison isn't doing much to deter crime. Maybe we need to try something radically different.

[Flagstaffsooner]

That's just wrong.

I suggest creating a penal colony for all states and put a big fence around it. Let the cons survive on their own. texass would be good for that.

[badger]

Oklahoma had a law long ago that ticked off neighboring states. Prisoners were free to go if they signed a pledge to never, ever set foot in the state again. It not only deterred criminals from committing crimes in Oklahoma, it kept the bad guys away, period! Of course, the penalty for coming back was severe. I believe it was death, but I am unsure.

Of course, California could just stop showing off Alcatrez like a tourist attraction and reopen it for biznezz.

[badger]

I've read some reports on the Cali budget. It seems that Cali residents wanted everything, but was unwilling to pay for any of it and thus, the trouble that they've been in ever since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001 or so. So basically, you have tons of unions that refuse to give anything (think auto unions before the bailout talk), screaming soccer moms that cry wolf at the first sign of a community pool closing... and nobody willing to pay taxes to increase the necessary revenue to fund more teachers, more prison guards, and yes, more pools.

States could learn a lot from Oklahoma. No, not HB 1804, but rather, the RAINY DAY FUND. Require that whenever there's a budget surplus, there's debt payage offage or money put away for years of shortfalls and huge debts. It should be required in all states. If Gray Davis and Co. saved money back when the dot coms took off in Silicon Valley, they might have been better off when the bubble burst.

[IBleedCrimson]

That's just wrong.

I suggest creating a penal colony for all states and put a big fence around it. Let the cons survive on their own. texass would be good for that.

i smell a reality tv show!

Survivor: Penal Colony. 10 Men and Women living in the largest penal colony on earth, Texas, have to survive under the harshest conditions on the planet. Surrounded by longhorn fans, and the most violent felony offenders throughout the country, the last contestant not voted out of the colony, shanked, or raped* wins 1 million dollars (dont forget to pay taxes). Watch the drama unfold Sunday night at 7pm ET!

*CBS is not responsible if you get shanked or raped.

:pop:

[soonermix]

so they should institute my idea.
on any trial that involves the death penalty or some sort of similar offense then just have a noose hanging in the court and let the defendent in the noose during the reading of the vertict. if they are found guilty they kick the stool right out from under them right then and there if they are not guilty they get to go on their merry way. there .... nobody goes to prison either way overpopulation solved.

[fadada1]

USC may look at this as an opportunity to increase this fall's enrollment numbers.

[tommieharris91]

I've got 2 ideas, and both are pretty unlikely to be popular here.

1: Do what badger said and increase taxes. They're California after all, they want the state government to provide a lot to the people, but they don't want to pay taxes. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

2: Legalize it and release anyone who was put in jail on possession and sale charges. That will probably take the prison population down 10%-20%.

[tulsaoilerfan]

They should just execute a few of them

[Curly Bill]

They should just execute all of them

FIXED

[soonerscuba]

We could make a penal colony or pay felons not to be caught committing crime, or we could release non-violent drug offenders. Either or.

[Curly Bill]

We could make a penal colony or pay felons not to be caught committing crime, or we could release non-violent drug offenders. Either or.

..or we could have all you libs adopt and rehabilitate one apiece. :D