hello A Jail that Might Actually Be Nicer Than Your Apartment

A Jail that Might Actually Be Nicer Than Your Apartment


Norway’s Halden maximum-security penitentiary opened in 2010 and features private rooms each with a flat-screen TV, private shower and toilet, fridge, fluffy white towels, and a view of mountainous scenery through large, bar-free windows. But wait, there’s a method to their madness.

The posh confinement is part of a larger, far different philosophy towards the penal system than what is found in America. The maximum sentence is 21-years (no death penalty) and prisoners are actually paid around $9 a day to spend their time outdoors hanging out with life-coaches and eating waffles – yes, really. Though not enough time has passed to properly gage the successfulness of this program it’s been pointed out that only 20% of Norwegian ex-cons commit repeat offenses within two years of release – as opposed to America’s 60% recidivism rate.

It’s also worth noting however that in Norway there are 74.8 people imprisoned per 100,000 residents, versus 236 inmates per 100,000 in the U.S. So the hardnosed tough-on-crime approach in America applies to a far greater sampling of people.

(Source: The Week)

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2 Responses to A Jail that Might Actually Be Nicer Than Your Apartment

  1. Daphne Gray says:

    OMG! I also heard they get their college education paid for. Here I am paying back student loan debt, disabled; live in a bug-infested apartment, floods, burglaries, homicides, etc. Gosh,
    these people have it better than some or most of us do. I have a friend, and
    she and her husband used to be prison guards. They left that career field a few
    years ago after getting numerous beatings from some heavy violent prisoners.
    They said prisoners have it better on the inside than we do on the outside and
    we taxpayers are paying for it all. It just makes me shake my head. Then we
    wonder why we work our hind ends off only to go home at night with a pile of
    bills going towards necessities. I have even heard prisoners are now allowed to
    have pets of their own or to train pets for the disabled. I think it is great
    for dogs to be trained, but I would not have my dog trained by a prisoner or my
    dog could end up dead. I would not trust them with my furry child.
    The system is messed up. What kind of punishment is it to get TV, good food,
    computers with internet, daily pay, and other amenities, which my friend and
    her husband say the prisoners have?
    I must give the Norwegian penal system credit as the prisoners that are released do little repeat crimes compared to America. However, American prisons are catching up with grand amenities,
    which the Norwegian prisoners already have in place. Maybe that is why crime
    keeps going up as everyone wants to go to prison. Why work when you can go to
    prison and get these wonderful services. Maybe that is why prisons are overcrowded.
    Maybe we are the dumb ones by slaving on our jobs when we all could be in prison
    and getting all these services. Please, do not take offense to the last
    sentence. We are not dumb.
    It is a crazy, crazy world outthere.
    For me, I would rather go to the funny farm than prison. Only joking of
    course. Well, poor mental health is on the rise too and mental health
    facilities are overcrowded.
    I think Uncle Sam has so much to do with this. They influence everyone’s minds. They take and take from us. They irresponsibly spend our hard earned dollar. They push us to the max so many folks end up in the Big House or the Funny Farm.

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