Loop

Normally I would defend the US in regards to this, but we actually do have this problem now and it's only getting worse. Debtors prisons officially went away a century ago, but 20 years ago, they unofficially came back. It started in Alabama, because of course it did, but now it's in literally half of all prisons and jails in the US. It's a sick joke, as prisons don't actually collect any significant amount of money from the inmates. Technically the inmates can't be sent back merely for owing money, but part of the requirements for parole or early release are that you have gainful employment. Legally speaking, this means no "under the table" jobs, i.e., the work that's being paid off of the record books, so there's no way to avoid having the government garnish the wages. Good luck trying to get your life back together if you can only find menial, low paying work even before the government takes a huge chunk out of it. Is it any wonder that recidivism is so high?

But there is something we can do. First, be aware of the problem. Second, be aware of which politicians are actively working to expand this atrocity or to fix the system. And third, obviously, VOTE if you are able.

I heard Denmark's prisons do not even allow prison rape. Without prison rape, is there even any punishment involved? Especially with Private Prisons which don't even help prisoners suicide.

@Humility
Are you seriously suggesting their prisons should allow prison rape?
Sure, prison is meant to be a punishment, but the end goal should be to reform prisoners and make them suitable to be released back into society, not make them wish they were dead.

It certainly isn't a good look when you've got a guy with a Nazi Germany avatar questioning your ethics (not that my avatar really means anything, mind you).

@Zenon Sarcasm is dead…

@cmL
Ah..
Poe's law seems to be dead too :/

@Zenon I had to look that up... yes, true.

@Zenon Reform is for sissies. Prison is 3 hots and a cot and all you gotta do is let big Bubba play with your butt.

Can you imagine what reform would take? You would need to offer free adult education, cheap housing, transportation and seal criminal records.

That would make prison better than anything offered in the free world.

And as Charles Dickenson said, the poor should rather die than go to prison.

@Humility "And you will starve again, unless you learn the meaning of the law!"

@BenjaminGeiger les miserables :O

Saw a few comments about USA prisons, but it's even worse.

You know that free lawyer the state provides? In states and counties (I believe, not my country) getting your free lawyer may require money. So imagine not being able to pay a $20 parking ticket, you can't afford a lawyer so you get a state appointed one. That one has a good few minutes time to prepare your case because they're overworked, so they'll go for a plea. Then you get a bill that you can't pay so go back to start, do not pass go, you do not receive even $20.

In other situations it's the *parole* (I think that's the correct term) office(rs) that costs money. Now with a criminal record (you did plea guilty after all) you can't get many jobs and even if you do, the office(r) sets the appointment. So you have a choice between keeping your job, not meeting the parole officer and going back to square one, or loosing your job and not fufilling the parole terms etc; go back to start, don't pass go, no $2 (but you do still get send the bills though).

I'm sure you can find a better explanation video on YT, but they're basically deptors prison even though that was banned ... say 190 years ago? Not sure on the exact date, I'm thinking 1830s

@tiaxanderson Yes, its absolutely rigged! The "justice" system in the U.S. is a joke.

I can go ALL DAY about why its a joke! But in a nutshell, the system is what it is, because the morally smug "This is a Christian Nation!" politicians who call the shots think that charity and forgiveness are "communist" and "satanic"; that too many people still believe more in "keep them off the streets and were they belong" then "we need to find ways to get them to become better people" (and even still, our warped materialistic thinking twists that too "we need to find ways to MAKE them productive people"); and most of all, the U.S. never really ended slavery -- we just repackaged it into a from of "rehabilitation" and just ignore that its doing way more harm to society than good.

@tiaxanderson True, except the traffic ticket part. You can't get a court-appointed attorney for things like that, only for the kinds of crimes that land you in jail. (Murder, rape, sexual assault, theft, etc.) Traffic violations are treated differently and are handled in a different court than the criminal ones are. You _can_ bring in a lawyer, but you have to hire them and pay them completely on your own.

While you can end up in jail over unpaid traffic tickets, the crime that lands you there is not paying them, not the traffic violations on their own.

@Manabi Ehhhhh, that might depend on which area you're focusing on. A Driving While Intoxicated charge can end up requiring a public defender where I work. In fact, I've done files for people who've ran up an impressive list of nothing but traffic related violations. Usually, it's the family and property court related matters that are separate from our criminal focused office. Ending up in jail can depend on how severe and how frequent the charges are.

@tiaxanderson How about this: in many parts of the US, the police can seize money and valuables from a person. They don't even have to charge that person with a crime when they do so. The person will then be required to prove ownership and pay a fee to get their stuff back. If the person can't afford to pay the fees, the county keeps it. This is completely legal, and in most cases police are given incentives to do this.

... Is that a teardrop tattoo on the Faroe's face?

@Zenon WHAT DOES punctuation IM ONLY 12 and IM Just in 7th grade and i MIGHT be GOOD in ENGLISH but not THAT much

@Jonkaa0108
Try using google, little one.

@Jonkaa0108 Wait, why does your age say "11" then?

@ABCEastPonymon OH i FORGOT to update

@Jonkaa0108 Oh ok

@ABCEastPonymon
That number doesn't update itself.
btw I'm 44 now.

@Jonkaa0108 i feel you i am 13

I don't see where the problem is. People can't pay taxes, you send them to prison, you make them pay for their time at prison, they can't pay, you send them even more time to prison, then you discover that by the practice to indenture servitude you can make them pay their debts... indefinitely
Indenture Servitude, it's not slavery if it's legal and has another trademark name :P

There is a game called Stellaris where you can purchase slaves in the galactic market and make them pay for their freedom. Sadly for them there is certain extra charges and freedom always has a high inflation rate

That sounds like peonage.

@Schattensturm That just sounds like slavery with extra steps

@Jarl_Alf That is the idea

@Schattensturm I've never found slaves that helpful in Stellaris, generally I want to increase my diversity early to be able to properly colonize more planets and you can only do that through full integration of other species. robots make a far better underclass as their production is an addition on top of normal pop growth.

@hackerjack Filthy xenos, EXTERMINATUS!

Alternatively, jummy genmodified livestock!

@cmL Xenoburgers, best burgers on the galaxy :P

@hackerjack Slaves are for fun, mine and of my species. Someone needs to work on the mines and not every Xeno can be a Xenoburger :P

A comic on Thursday how nice
Also maybe make them work the money off?

Also it looks like Faroes Island got tear drop tattoo while in prison

"Very Recently" means it was abolished in 1994.

The teardrop makes me want to watch crybaby again.

Where did you get that bad idea from the privately run prisons in some of the southern state here in the US. Wow Denmark you are better then that, and so is the USA. At least you would think.