This is an idea I’ve toyed with from time to time. It sounds extremely conservative, even though I’m liberal on most issues.
I think our present prison system suffers from a basic flaws. We tell inmates they have a debt to society, and then release them after they’ve done their time.
To me, it would seem an inmate is someone that has shown incapable of living withing society’s norms. I would therefore like to see the system changed so that the criminal bears the reponsibility of demonstrating his ability to reintegrate society.

So I would like to see introduced a series of measures making the offender responsible for his/her rehabilitation. For example, drug testing would be mandatory. Any inmate unable to remain “clean” while on the inside for at least a year would be denied freedom until that condition is met. Any inmate engaging in violence, would see his/her sentence prolonged as a result, until we are satisfied the person does not pose a risk of engaging in such behavior.
Does the idea sound too radical, or is it just common sense that an inmate should not reintegrate society until he/she has shown willigness to live by its rules?

I know there is overcrowding in the prison system, and lawyers who would scream bloody murder but all that asside, would such a system make more sense?

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