Send Cons Home to Do Time, Says Paris Sheriff

It's more humane than prison, argues Peter Moskos

(NEWSER) - Prisons were invented to replace “barbaric” corporal punishment—but now, with our prison system failing, there’s only one thing to do: Bring back flogging. Yes, it sounds horrible, writes Peter Moskos in the Washington Post . But “America has a prison problem.” Namely, they cost too much money and they simply don’t work. Not to mention most people, when offered a choice between prison and the lash, will choose the lash. “Flogging, as practiced in Singapore or Malaysia, is honest, cheap and, compared to prison, humane.” More»

4 hospitalized with stab wounds; cause unknown

(NEWSER) - Some 200 inmates rioted at San Quentin prison last night, leaving at least four hospitalized with stab and slash wounds. Others suffered minor injuries. Guards, who fired non-lethal bullets and pepper spray to halt the violence, found at least 10 inmate-made weapons afterward. The cause of the fight, which occurred in the California prison's dining hall, remains unclear, the AP reports. The Marin Independent Journal notes that "various ethnic groups were involved." More»

Prisoners should be separated into weight classes

(NEWSER) - Bryan Caplan has what he thinks is an easy way to cut down on rape and brutality in prison: separate inmates by something akin to weight class. We already do so by gender and, to a lesser extent, by severity of crime, "but there's still a long way to go," Caplan writes for the Library of Economics and Liberty . "My proposal seems like an obvious and cheap improvement over the status quo." More»

(NEWSER) - Charles Mason has reached out to former music producer Phil Spector, sending the actress-killer fan mail in the California prison they now share, reports the New York Post. Manson, a mediocre musician before he turned cult leader, sent Spector a note via a guard that he wanted to meet and thought he was the greatest producer who ever lived, said Spector's wife, Rachelle. "It was creepy," she told the Post. "Phil didn't respond." More»

States opt for cheaper routes to justice

(NEWSER) - With the recession squeezing their finances, many states are opting to cut the high costs surrounding incarceration—meaning fewer criminals are heading to jail and prison, and more are getting out earlier, the Washington Post reports. Some states are sending drug offenders and drunk drivers to special courts that allow them to avoid jail; states are also shortening probation and making parole more available to those who are eligible. More»