Kristen Cherye: America's Hardest Prisons- National Geographic Documentary

Source: Kristen Cherye-

Source: The New Democrat 

This is what happens when you house the worst of the worst together. You have all of these violent criminal inmates who see their time in prison as nothing, but survival. And making their lives as comfortable as possible. And I do not have a problem housing these people together to isolate them from inmates in other prisons who simply want to do their time and go home. Or make their life sentence or long-term prison sentence as comfortable as possible.  As long as these prisons are doing whatever they can to improve the behavior of these inmates. And showing them what life can be like if they behave in prison and give them opportunities and incentives to improve their behavior so they can prepare themselves for life on the outside. Or have a productive life in prison if they are doing life sentences. But if prison is nothing more than a zoo or warehouse for the worst amongst us and it just becomes about survival for the staff there, you are going to continue to see violent outbursts.
Source:Kristen Cherye

CDC's Worst Nightmare: Inside SuperMax

Source:The New Democrat

For me at least it is not a question of whether we need super max prisons or not. The answer is obvious of course we do with all of the violent inmates and criminals that we have and in a lot of cases inmates that are so violent and lack conscience so much that they can’t control their violent behavior. And even enjoy hurting people so of course we need institutions to deal with these people.

The question at least for me is how should we deal with these inmates. The status-quo would be do what we are doing as a country in most cases. Which is to warehouse them and hope they do not get worst and that these institutions the staff can deal with these people, or try to improve their behavior or give them an out from their destructive behavior. Incentive for them to improve their lives in prison in the time that they do. 

Rehabilitation so these inmates are easier to manage while in prison, but also for the inmates who get out an opportunity for them to be successful in prison so they can be successful on the outside and never have to come back to prison and based on the super max prisons that we have, I also believe the answer to this question is obvious as well. With how hard these inmates are to manage and how violent they still are while in these prisons.

That even super max prisons with the increase in security need to be institutions where inmates have opportunities to improve themselves. If for no other reason so they can be transferred to a regular maximum security prison. And have the opportunity to get better rehabilitated with better educational and work opportunities, so they can be productive, especially if they have a release date.

National Geographic: America's Hardest Prisons

Source:National Geographic Channel- with a documentary about America's toughest prisons.

"LOCKDOWN plunges head-first into the gritty world of America's most dangerous prisons. It's an unprecedented immersion into life behind bars; up-close and personal with some of the most hardened criminals in the world." 

From Nat Geo TV 

"If you like this movie , please LIKE , COMMENT , and SHARE it for your friend . Remind SUBSCRIBE my channel . Thank you very much !" 

Source:Discovery Full- with a documentary about America's toughest prisons.

From Discovery Full 

There's the old saying that if you do the crime, you should do the time. I actually agree with that and in a perfect, world (which anything run by humans is not perfect) that saying would be easy and correct enough. The problem is we obviously don't live in a perfect world. 

We need prisons and units for criminals who are not just still violent, but not ready to give up their violent criminal careers. But at the same time even for the worst of our prison inmates who have release dates, there needs to be some incentive for these people to get their lives together and have the opportunity to make productive, legitimate lives for themselves. Even if we will always need supermax prisons, we need to have inventive for those folks to at the very least get with the program in those prisons and have incentive to transfer down to a less secure prison, where they would have a real opportunity at getting real prison rehabilitation.

National Geographic: Prison Nation

Source:National Geographic- Prison Nation.

"With gangs and violence running our prisons, are inmates even more dangerous when they are released?" 

From National Geographic

Most prison departments in America (Federal & State) are called something like the Department of Corrections or the Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. I'm all for punishing convicted felons in America in prison. The number one job that any prison has is to punish convicted felons, especially violent felons, and violent felons that represent serious threats to any free society and are serving long-term sentences. But that punishment should only start at taking their freedom away. 

Once someone is in prison, how they serve their sentence and spend their time, should be completely up to them. They get with the program, follow the rules, their prison sentence should be productive and if anything beneficial, even if they're serving life without any possibility of parole, because they would have the opportunity to give back to society, even while in prison. 

But if prison inmates don't get with the program and just try to continue their criminal careers while behind bars, those are the inmates that the prison has to come down hard on. At that point, it's no longer just about taking their freedom away from society. But you need to take their freedom away in prison as well, so the staff can be as safe as possible, but the inmates as well who just want to serve their sentences so they can get out and not come back to prison. 

2/3 of all prion inmates are not just released, but end up back in prison. Which again gets to my original point about the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. You want less crime on the streets, let's have fewer inmates who break the law not just while inside, but in society once they're free from prison. Which is why we have to have things like education, counseling, job training, and real work for prison inmates where they can even make real money legitimately while in prison, so they have the skills that they need to live in a free society and be productive and not have to break the law to support themselves and end up back in prison at taxpayer expense.

A&E: Beyond Scared Straight (2011)

Source:A&E Network- this is from a clip of Beyond Straight.

"Beyond Scared Straight, the Emmy-nominated series that profiles unique crime prevention programs aimed at deterring troubled teens from jail, returns for its ninth and final 11-episode season.

Inspired by “Scared Straight!,” the Academy Award and multiple Emmy-winning documentary film by Arnold Shapiro, Beyond Scared Straight follows teens who pride themselves on bad behavior ranging from theft, drugs, promiscuity, gang affiliation, violence and arson. These defiant teens are forced to spend a day (and sometimes a night) in jail, interacting with convicted felons who give them first-hand experience of life behind bars with the hope that they see where the path of destruction they are headed down could lead them. Since the series’ inception in 2009, Beyond Scared Straight has profiled 331 teens in crime prevention programs in 29 prisons and jails across the county.

“While it is sad when a successful series ends, I’ve decided that it’s time for Beyond Scared Straight to come to a close,” said series creator and executive producer Arnold Shapiro. “I am so proud of the teenage lives that have been changed and even saved over our 83 episodes and six years of production. It gave kids who were heading down the wrong path a preview of their future and a road map on how to change it. Happily, the majority of them made life-altering adjustments to their dangerous behavior.”

Beyond Scared Straight is produced by Arnold Shapiro Productions for A&E Network. Executive Producers are Arnold Shapiro and Paul J. Coyne. Executive producer for A&E is Laura Fleury." 

From A&E 

"A&E Network presents "Beyond Scared Straight," a new series executive produced by Arnold Shapiro and based on his Academy Award and multiple Emmy-Winning documentary "Scared Straight!," that will profile unique approaches to juvenile crime prevention in prisons around the U.S. The series premieres Thursday, January 13 at 10PM ET/PT with a special 90-minute episode at a women's prison in central California. 

 

"Scared Straight!" has become an iconic name and a cultural phenomenon over the years. The film made a huge impact - showcasing the radical and effective juvenile intervention program that took place in a New Jersey prison. Since they were created, both the prison program and the film have turned countless kids away from drugs, violence and crime. The power of the original "Scared Straight!" program has inspired dozens of inmate-run intervention programs in men's and women's prisons across the country; and this series will showcase several of them.  Under the auspices of Arnold Shapiro, "Beyond Scared Straight" profiles the new approach to keeping today's kids from becoming tomorrow's convicts... 

Source:A&E Network- this is from a clip of this episode.

From A&E 

This is why I'm against warehousing our prison inmates:

There will always be prison inmates who are simply committed to being career criminals who believe that the laws in society don't apply to them and who believe they're above the law. And there will always be prison inmates who for whatever reasons never get with the program in prison and as a result end up doing a lot of their time in solitary confinement. Doesn't mean we should be giving up on people and accept the fact that their families have given up on them simply because they're not just in prison or serving long sentences, or even serving life without the possibility of parole. 

It's not so much that I care about the personal lives of our prison population, as I care about the lives of the people who live in the free world. If we want safer communities, then we need fewer criminals, especially career criminals, and people who go back to their criminal careers once they've finished their last prison sentence or got paroled. 

We also need to get to youth-at-risk before they become career criminals and longtime prison inmates. And showing them what life will be like for them as adults if they stay on the road their headed on and what life will be like for them in prison, especially in a maximum security prison and using the prison inmates there to give these juveniles those lessons is a great idea. 

Prison inmates, including lifers and people who are doing 25 to life, 40 to life, or life without the possibility of parole, shouldn't be treated like animals at a zoo. But instead given the opportunity to make their prison sentence a very productive one, not just for themselves, but for their families and even the opportunity to give back to society. 

We can do these things like education, not just high school, but vocational or even college, while they're in prison, as well as doing real work, like with these scared straight programs and other programs designed to prevent future career criminals and prison inmates.

Highlands USA: 'Life After Prison: Saverio Sammy Telesco's Story'

Source:Highlands USA- former long-term prison inmate Saverio Telesco talking about his life in and out of prison.

"After several bank robberies Saverio "Sammy" Telesco was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Telesco rehabilitated himself through his faith and has successfully re-entered society. He served 18 years and is currently on parole." 

From Highlands USA 

I'm not very familiar with the Sammy Telesco story, but what I've heard about him is that he's example of why we shouldn't be warehousing prison inmates, including people who are doing life without the possibility of parole. That instead we should treat them like human beings and treat them according to their behavior. And make it clear to them that their prison sentence will be exactly what they make of it. 

Prison inmates can either do very hard time and spend most of their prison sentence by themselves and barely be able to communicate with even their families, other than letters. Ot their prison sentence won't be enjoyable and feel like they're on vacation or even in the military, but it can be a very productive experience for them where they can get help correcting their bad behaviors and way of life. 

As well as get a good education and get the skills that they need to be successful once and if they're free again. As well as the opportunity to give back to society and do some real community service and work with young people who are currently on course to becoming career criminals and longtime prison inmates themselves.

Apollo Victoria: 'A Day Behind Bars'

Source:Apollo Victoria- welcome to San Quentin State Prison. No one will ever be offended if you never want to come back.

"At-risk youth take a day trip to visit prisoners of San Quentin as one of many activities coordinated by Rudy Corpuz of United Playaz, a non-profit youth organization based in San Francisco. The organizers, youth and prisoners give their viewpoints on the program and on prison issues." 

From Apollo Victoria

If we as a country would just address so-called you at risk while they are acting out in high school and so- forth, perhaps considering dropping out of high school, skipping class, hanging out with the wrong crowds, etc, as well as addressing the so-called wrong crowds, then we can prevent them from going to prison in the first place. 

We could get to the youth at risk, before they make even bigger mistakes in the future: jacking cars, selling drugs, armed robberies, raping girls, whatever the case may be. Get to them, turn them around before, make sure they stay in school, finish school and get a good education, so they are on course to have an opportunity to have a productive life legally and stay out of the criminal justice System the rest of their lives. 

If we could get to the youth at risk before gang recruiters got to them, they would understand that they don't need to steal, beat people up, get in fights, etc, and realize that if they just got educated, work hard and be productive in life, that they can avoid becoming criminals as adults.