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While the UK and much of the world struggles with overcrowded prisons, the Netherlands has the opposite problem. It is actually short of people to lock up. In the past few years 19 prisons have closed down and more are slated for closure next year. How has this happened - and why do some people think it's a problem?
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"In the Dutch service we look at the individual," says Van der Spoel."If somebody has a drug problem we treat their addiction, if they are aggressive we provide anger management, if they have got money problems we give them debt counselling. So we try to remove whatever it was that caused the crime. The inmate himself or herself must be willing to change but our method has been very effective. Over the last 10 years, our work has improved more and more."
He adds that some persistent offenders - known in the trade as "revolving-door criminals" - are eventually given two-year sentences and tailor-made rehabilitation programmes. Fewer than 10% then return to prison after their release. In England and Wales, and in the United States, roughly half of those serving short sentences reoffend within two years, and the figure is often higher for young adults.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday November 13 2016, @05:25AM
Community service is generally not free; there is a fee or per-hour charge, and it can be fairly stiff, several hundred dollars if not more.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 13 2016, @07:35PM
It all depends on where you are, how it actually works in reality. A judge might argue that you owe $500 and that you can work it off at fifty dollars per day - and award you ten days of community service. What it all boils down to is, you have performed 80 hours of labor, and you have recieved no cash to put in your pocket. Lawyers are good at using words to imply things that aren't true. The taxman will argue that in exchange for your 80 hours, you were "paid" $500, and he wants his cut, so you're doubly screwed.
“Take me to the Brig. I want to see the “real Marines”. – Major General Chesty Puller, USMC
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday November 13 2016, @08:37PM
Yeah, it's highly variable. In Los Angeles County, it costs you something like $5 for each hour of "community service" plus a service fee and as a punishment is generally preferred by the courts to straight-up fines, because it brings in more money.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.