Prison System - Fritzl prison has gym, choir and tennis classes
Source - The Times
I'm sure most of you are aware of the story of Josef Fritzl. However, for me, his sentance raises questions over prison sentencing. Despite the fact that the prison he is being admitted to is one for the psychologically ill, here in Britain I also feel prisons are far too comfortable. Pool tables, televisions and playstations are standard and often, such as in the case of Frtizl, inmates are given the options to join the choir, study a language or particpate in other educational courses.Fritzl, 73, who was jailed last week for murder, rape, enslavement, coercion and incest after locking his daughter in his cellar for 24 years and fathering seven children by her, six of whom survived, is free under Austrian law to choose from three prisons that offer special sections for “psychologically abnormal” convicts.
According to his lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, he will select Garsten, a former Benedictine convent about 30 minutes’ drive from the house in the provincial town of Amstetten, where he held his daughter Elisabeth prisoner from the age of 18 and sexually abused her an estimated 3,000 times.
In Garsten he will be able to improve his English or study other foreign languages, as well as singing in the choir or training in a gym that is better-equipped than those of many hotels. As an inmate, he will be offered a wide variety of hobbies and entertainment, including tennis, darts and art classes.
I find this particulalry worrying. Prison, well is pretty self-explanatory. I would like to here the views of the board as to what conditions Fritlz should serve his prison sentence in. More importantly, how do the current prison conditions in your own country reflect that of your own opinion. I personally feel they are far too relaxed here in the UK. I am not advocating mindless extentions of punishment, rather the need for obvious lack of certain privileges. It is a difficult issue as there are of course moral implications as to the conditions inmates should be subjected to. Jack Straw promised in 2008 to crack down on "cushy prisons" but clearl he has not, as this article from the BBC explicates - "prisoners are too comfortable to escape."
The Telegraph recently publish an article exposing the complete failure of the Britsish prison system. It reads that "the prison record in this country[UK] is, by most international standards, appalling." It goes on to reveal that:
Is this attributable to the lack of severity in our prisons? I believe it is.Your views on the matter, whatever country you reside.We lock up more people than our neighbours and we have very high levels of reoffending. Two thirds of all prisoners are re-convicted within two years and half are re-convicted within a staggering 12 months. This comes at enormous extra cost to the police and the courts – and of course to us, the victims of repeat offending. In financial terms, it amounts to at least £11 billion a year.
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Originally Posted by Shyam
is a perfect example of the latter. If he were in a prison of my design? I'd stick him in an oubliette and let him feed on dry rice and well water for the rest of his life. No lights. No sound to comfort him. No company save for the rats and cockroaches. Not even the comfort of a bucket to contain his waste, or straw to lay down upon. He would die, cold, alone, and locked up like his daughter, the guards only learning of his death when the stench of his decaying corpse overpowers the ever present odor of his stagnating feces.
