Ben Carson Is Concerned That U.S. Federal Prisons Are Too Comfortable

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM/Washington Post

According to Ben Carson, the problem with American federal prisons is that they're just too comfortable for the prisoners' own good.

"I was flabbergasted by the accommodations -- the exercise equipment,
the libraries and the computers," he said in a speech Tuesday to teenage Republicans in Arlington, Va., according to the Washington Post.

Carson said he learned that "a lot of times when it's about time for one of the guys to be discharged, especially when its winter, they’ll do something so they can stay in there." He also added that "a lot of people that we incarcerate don’t need to be incarcerated."

Following his speech, Carson told reporters that U.S. prisons may be too comfortable, according to the Washington Post. "I think that we need to sometimes ask ourselves, 'Are we creating an environment that is conducive to comfort where a person would want to stay, versus an environment where we maybe provide them an opportunity for rehabilitation but is not a place that they would find particularly comfortable?'" he asked.

-snip-


Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-prison-too-comfortable

[randys1]

1. I wonder if he thinks there arent enough Black people in prison too.

[Snotcicles]

3. Maybe he should spend a couple months in one, than report back. nt

[DLnyc]

24. Exactly!!!! n/t

[BlueJazz]

2. "the exercise equipment, the libraries and the computers,"

Ah...there's like 764 things that they can't do..

[JohnnyRingo]

21. Next thing you know....

..prisoners could better themselves behind bars and find a new life after parole.
Carson wouldn't want that, not on his dime.

[christx30]

4. I kind of agree with him in that

a lot of people in prison don't need to be there. People arrested on non-violent drug offenses need to be in rehabilitation for addiction, and not in federal or state prison.
But comfort is not a problem that needs to be "solved". Those things he mentions are there to keep inmates active and engaged on rehabilitation. Otherwise, they focus on things like gangs, and murdering other inmates and guards.

[Dopers_Greed]

5. "...an environment where we maybe provide them an opportunity for rehabilitation..."

If prisons didn't have that stuff (books, computers, etc.), it would just get substituted with more violence and drug use.

Which of those would provide more of "an opportunity for rehabilitation"?

[47of74]

6. Obviously he hasn't spent time in prison.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

7. And this is a highly educated man? What a fucking idjit!

[Paladin]

9. This "highly educated man" is a lunatic.

Whatever intellect he possesses is thoroughly blocked by his insane political viewpoints. That applies to his supporters, as well.

[groundloop]

8. He must have meant a prison for 'white collar' criminals & politicians

[muntrv]

10. Hey Ben! Go stay a few nights there!

[cstanleytech]

11. Same guy that said "a lot of people go into prison straight, and when they come out, they're gay" ?

Or is that a different Ben Carson?

[MMTampa]

18. Same guy...

Becoming Gay while serving your sentence is just another "flabbergasting accommodation" offered in your more upscale prisons...

[jtuck004]

12. Perhaps we should send thousands of his pictures to people in prison, let them know

how concerned he is about their plight, see if maybe they can find someone to vote for him.

Or contact him for support.

It's a great platform. Prison overcrowding is due to...winter.

[dembotoz]

13. A special kind o stupid

[Diclotican]

14. DonViejo

DonViejo


If Ben Carson is concerned with how federal prisons is to comfortable - then I suspect he would go off his beans if he had been in Norway - Michael Moore did a movie some years ago - when he also was in Norway - but he hesitated making this part of the movie - as it was made as a extra-material on the DVD - as he stated later - if he had getting this on the finished movie - he would have been getting i serous problems - as the audience might believe he would be outright lie about the conditions in Norway's prisons... But we have to do something right - when the reactivation prosess in Norway is lower than 20 percent - in the States - it is more than 50 percent for every inmate...

By the way - Bastøy, as the Iceland is called - is a place who have been the place for many different things over the years - it was started as a boys home - where kids who was troublesome could get help - an education and maybe hinder them in geting into a lifetime of crimes later on.. Sadly it was aslo a place where the grown ups who should help and guide the kids - often was of the opposite meanings - and the stories about how the kids was treated harshly if some of the guards wanted it - was scaring kids for generations - even after Bastøy was closed down in 1980.... For kids it was a place of horror often... But as a modern prison - it have a whole different tonage to it - thankfully..

Diclotican

[ck4829]

15. "especially when its winter" I don't know, maybe because people need heat, food, and shelter

It's not brain surgery.

"not a place that they would find particularly comfortable"

Yeah, it's called 'outside of prison, after their sentence is over, and they've paid their debt to society' for a lot of ex-cons.

That's the problem, maybe that needs to be addressed.

[olddad56]

16. Yeah, if they aren't violent seespools where every prisoner is afraid for their life everyday...

and all the convicts re-enter society more fucked up that when they went it, then prison just isn't doing its job.

[gregcrawford]

17. Carson may have been a great doctor...

... but he's a shitty human being. The point, Benjamin, is to REHABILITATE inmates, not to make them even angrier criminals when they get out. Jesus, what an asshole!

[Orsino]

27. Being a great doctor is a lot of work.

Carson has found a way to get paid for less than nothing.

[Thor_MN]

19. Has Ben Carson ever been in a prison? Prison movies don't count.

Maybe Ben could go to a prison, remove the "accommodations" and then spend a week occupying the newly found "free time" that the prisoners have. I bet they could find some things do with Ben.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. What??? We let prisoners have books????? WTF???

Seriously, Carson is a fucking idiot.

[YOHABLO]

22. How could this guy have ever been a neurosurgeon? I think he has some faulty synapses.

The things this man has said makes me wonder about his sanity. I mean really.

[catnhatnh]

23. Time for a call-out...

Carson said he learned that "a lot of times when it's about time for one of the guys to be discharged, especially when its winter, they’ll do something so they can stay in there."

OK Ben-who exactly "taught" you this??? I will guarantee this asshole cannot back up his claim and you might want to hint that an off the record chat with a single unnamed felon ain't gonna get it...

[TexasBushwhacker]

25. They found out a long time ago

that decent accommodations and food lead to less violence. Violence is expensive. There's the cost of treating injuries and the cost if additional guards at higher pay. Unless the prisoner is in for life without parole,:education and skills trainng cuts down on recidivism. It's amazing just how stupid some educated people can be.

[Orsino]

26. Dude, do you even Hippocratic Oath? n/t

[Jimbo S]

28. Dog Whistle! eom