Community service... alternative to jailtime
I just found this article, and thought it was very interesting.Britain's law enforcement has a project which offers community service as an alternative to jailtime. In order to get a first-hand look at the effectiveness of the program, British Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, assumed a false identity and posed an offender picked up for drunk driving. He secretly worked alongside common criminals for a day to promote the idea that supervised community service hours are much more productive than keeping a criminal in custody. The Chief Justice is a firm supporter of this project and insists, “I like to think that I am liberal, but that is not the same as being soft on crime. The idea that using alternatives to custody is being soft is wrong.” Prison overcrowding is a concern for the British government right now, and this program ought to help with that.
However, many government officials are upset over this 'publicity stunt' as they call it. Many argue that judges should assign punishments without bias. Many people believe that the service projects do not help deter criminals from committing another crime, and only give them more opportunities to do so by not holding them in custody. My opinion is that dangerous offenders (murderers, rapists…) should not be given the option, but it makes sense to try to have something productive as an alternative for shorter jailtime sentences. I have to agree with one of the reader’s comments on the site. Dhanraj, from Brasildon, Essex said, “Violent offenders, let them work with people seriously injured during assaults or robberies. Thieves, let them work with the really disadvantaged, the poor old lady who was mugged and stolen a pension from. This will bring home to them the suffering victims of crime have to undergo.” The offenders should work with and help people that are affected by the kind of crime they committed, to help them realize what it’s like to be on the other side of their crimes.
"Britain's top judge turns conman and serves a day's hard labour"
"'He is playing politics...'"
posted by Anonymous @ 10/08/2006 09:32:00 PM
2 Comments:
When I first read this, I completely concurred with you, but after thinking about it I have become a little unsure. Although, no matter what my opinion forms into, I don't think that highly dangerous offenders, like you said should even be given this option. On the other hand, with lesser criminals, I am not quite sure. I do not know if I would want any sort of criminal working in my community. Even someone who commits a minor crime is difficult to trust with anyting. I mean, you never when these minute and negligible crimes may develop into more serious and dangerous crimes. I suppose it also depends on the setting, and where exactly they are spending this time doing service. I guess, in the end, the idea is not so bad, but there would definately need to be several restrictions on who could take part in this program and possibly where.
I kinda like this approach to punishment, even if it is a bit on the soft side. When you think about it, neither system is entirely effective; abbie explains the shortcomings of Com. Service, but in the prison method, all that does is put all convicts in a common place, with gym equipment, maybe some reading material, and quite a bit of time on their hands. So some people go in bad, get suggestions from fellow criminals, pump some iron, and if they're truly modivated, try to find loopholes in the legal system, so they can come out worse than when they first entered. That isn't what always happens, in fact that's very rare, but the odds are there. Community service is in no way, shape, or form a viable alternative to time in the big house, but in some areas it makes more sense. Why put the drunk driver (with property damage charges) in jail when he can work off the charges? That way, the judge can force minor demeanors (tickets, minor theft, drunk driving, embezzlement, etc.) to work and put more destructive crimes (murder, rape, grand theft, etc.) in to the spots in jail opened up by the new system.
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