Hard labor in jail would deter crime

Is jail the great deterrent it once was? For folks who don?t go there much, yes, it?s still a great deterrent. I wouldn?t want to go to jail and I?d say most of you reading this column feel the same.

Whether it be losing one?s freedom to come and go as you please, or getting beat down by inmates tougher and bigger, or having to be prom queen at the annual prison dance, there?s a long list of reasons for staying out of prison. The average person will avoid prison like the plague.

However, for some folks who have become institutionalized, jail is no longer that big of a deterrent. There?s a very thin line there between intimidation and institutionalization whereby a person can actually get somewhat comfortable sitting around 23 hours a day. I think most judges will tell you that once a person gets to this comfort zone, jail is no longer the deterrent to crime it was meant to be. And, if you will look at our jails and prisons, it?s the same people taking up cells all the time. If they dreaded it that bad, I think they could avoid being there more often.

With that said, I think we need a massive overhaul in how we treat repeat offenders. Like I said, the average person dreads jail and will do anything to avoid it. I think the same is true about criminals when it comes to something you and I do every day without thinking ? work.

To somebody institutionalized, work is truly a four-letter word. Instead of sitting in a cell all day, I think inmates should work a solid eight hours every day except Sunday. Having to go out and do tough manual labor, I believe, would give some criminals pause for thought when they realize instead of six months of confinement in jail they are looking at six months of hard labor.

Now I?m not talking about using it for humiliation like the old Alabama road crews. I?m talking about getting eight full hours of work a day of good old hard work. Actually, if I were in jail, I?d prefer the hard labor. However, I strongly suspect the regulars behind bars would choose the easy, yet restricted life, of being in a cell.

Why? Because most crime people commit is done in hopes of escaping actual work. Thieves and burglars steal instead of working. Drug addicts steal so they don?t have to hold down full-time jobs. Even wife beaters are often good-for-nothings who can?t hold down a steady job. Laziness is pervasive when it comes to the criminal element. I say we break the cycle.

Hey, if you don?t have enough manpower to guard inmates outside the jail, have them breaking rocks in the jail yard or have them dig a ditch one day and fill it in the next. I don?t care what it is so long as there are eight full hours worked in the elements every day. If you do this, I guarantee you recidivism rates will drop through the floor. Nothing better for rehabilitation than a sore back at the end of a hard day?s work.

Work is also great for restitution. If Clifford the Clepto can?t repay Billy Bob?s Bait and Tackle for shoplifting those lures then he needs to be sent out to dig up nightcrawlers and take out the trash for the business. Clifford sitting around in a cell with Billy Bob not getting restitution is a useless punishment. However, if you make Clifford face the music for his crime by having to get out there and make good for it, then maybe a lesson will be learned.

The only thing being learned right now as inmates sit around staring at the walls, is how they can get away with it next time.

Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].