I said they shouldn't be forced to work to the benefit of the people keeping them locked up.
That is absolutely wrong. And it absolutely does not help anybody except the person profiting off of their labor.
It absolutely hurts everyone else. Including the prisoner and society.
if the people keeping them locked up is society, then it absolutely is a benefit. Nothing is 100% and there are positives and negatives to most everything in life. To say there is absolutely no benefit, is simply not true.
I do not think you are giving enough value to peace of mind of law abiding citizens, that a repeat criminal is not on the street. As evidenced by our history. Most would prefer to pay more to keep these ilk off the streets, than pay less and have the potential for more cRime to continue to more people.
so once locked up, they can then do some civil duty work that benefits those they committed crimes against. Society.
Now dont misconstrue my opinion on this as thinking its the only thing that should be done. All convicts should also have access to rehabilitation needs. Like mental help, etc.
I was in jail once. For almost a month. South King County. For breaking a law that has since been made legal.
It was super laxed. Got to play basketball everyday. Play games and watch tv. It was almost like an adult summer camp. Large room with bunks and tables and board games, etc. jail is not as intimidating as it should be. I was busted with less than a gram of pot and i was in the same room as a rapist and two robbers at gun point. We had the same routine.
To me, this is the breakdown. Yes, thier sentence may have been longer, but we were being punished the same for completely different crimes.
There should be a complete breakdown of every convict as to the nature of their crime, their mental headspace, their history, etc, to determine what they need.
This doesn't happen near to the scale it should if we actually want to be successful at rehabbing criminals.
But some criminals will be deemed sadistic regardless. Some people believe in only anarchy and or self gratification at all costs. And those folks can weed eat the highway shoulders for all i care.