老澳门开奖结果

As 2011 comes to end, we鈥檙e taking a look back at the year in criminal justice. Over the next few days, we鈥檒l run a series of blog posts on the developments, good and bad, that have shaped our justice system 鈥� from overincarceration and sentencing policy to the treatment of prisoners and capital punishment. Read the series here.

As we bid adieu to another year, we can鈥檛 help but reflect that, when it comes to prisons and jails, this year witnessed some terrible ideas. Below are our contenders for the worst prison idea of 2011. , and come back in January to find out which idea snagged the dubious prize: Worst Prison Innovation of 2011.

The Contenders

1. No Lunch: . On Saturdays and Sundays, inmates in 36 Texas prisons will receive one meal between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., and a second meal between 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. 鈥� and no meal in between.

This sort of idea fires up 鈥渢ough on crime鈥� politicians, especially when state budgets are tight, but cutting back on food, as 老澳门开奖结果 National Prison Project director David Fathi told the is nothing less than short-sighted. In fact, eliminating lunch could leave inmate blood sugar levels low and tempers high 鈥� never a good idea in the fraught environment of a prison. Cutting out lunch is also out of step with the practice of other states and standards set by the American Correctional Association.

2. Gouging Families: allows the Department of Corrections to charge family members and other visitors who want to see prisoners a $25 fee. Visiting loved ones is hard enough without the new charge because, as the New York Times reports, family members 鈥渋n many cases already shoulder the expense of traveling long distances to the remote areas where many prisons are located.鈥� New fees just make it harder.

Aside from prisoners鈥� families, public safety will be the victim of the new law. Empirical evidence shows that prisoners who stay in touch with their families are less likely to commit crimes after being released. In fact, just last month, by the Minnesota Department of Corrections reported that 鈥淸o]ffenders who were visited in prison were significantly less likely to recidivate.鈥� We should encourage contact between prisoners and their families, not make it more difficult by extracting fees.

3. Robo-guards: . As the Los Angeles Times reports, these robo-guards (or should we say guard-bots?) are designed to act as 鈥溾�榝riendly robots鈥� that will not just guard prisoners but keep an eye on their well-being to boot.鈥� And they may be used for matters that require something of a human touch 鈥� like detecting suicidal behavior. In fact, , the robots supposedly are 鈥渋n touch with prisoners鈥� emotions, sensing aggressive or suicidal shifts.鈥�

Robotic correctional officers have yet to hit the U.S., but American correctional facilities have rolled out their fair share of misguided new devices in recent years. Several jails have turned to 鈥�,鈥� which prevents incarcerated individuals from even laying eyes on their family members 鈥� except through a video camera. And as we reported in 2010, the Los Angeles County Jail has 鈥渋nstalled an Assault Intervention Device 鈥� an invisible microwave-beam weapon originally developed by the military 鈥� as a way to subdue inmates by focusing a microwave beam on them to make them feel 鈥榠ntolerable heat.鈥欌�� Let鈥檚 hope the next step isn鈥檛 turning suicide monitoring over to droids.

So which is the worst prison idea of 2011 鈥� no lunch, gouging families, or robo-guards? You decide 鈥� go to our to cast your vote, and come back for the results in January!

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