A 2-Tier Prison System Would Deter Repeat Offenses

I have a proposal to aid in the overcrowding situation of our county prisons.

In the hope of returning criminals to the outside world as useful members of society, our prisons today are complete with professional counselors, three square meals a day, exercise spaces, TV lounges and a modest work program, all at no cost to the criminal. To a street-hardened criminal, this could be a pleasant change from his everyday existence, so the prisons fail as a deterrent to crime.

Yet there are those who run afoul of the law for reasons that are correctable or changeable. They should be given every opportunity to understand their problems, be given aid in correcting them and returned to society as useful members. This requires the professional counselors and a positive environment to achieve that purpose.

And so I propose a two-tier prison system.

The Tier 1 prison, for first offenders, has every facility necessary to help the criminals understand their problems and work through to a correction so that at the end of their incarceration, the probability is high that they will not return to the prison system.

The Tier 2 prison, for (repeat) offenders, is a bare-bones facility. No TV, no radio, no newspapers. In other words, no contact with the outside world. No lounges or recreational areas. The manual work is long and hard. The prisoner’s whole world during incarceration is his work space and cell space. Everything just short of cruel and inhuman punishment (as rigorously defined).

I believe the institution of the two-tier prison system will serve both aims: returning those to society who can be reclaimed and acting as a deterrent to those who cannot. It may also cut down on the need for additional prison facilities.

AL SNIDERMAN

Mission Viejo