Which state has the best prisons?  (Use whatever your favorite criteria are to define "best".)

I think it's one down in TX? It's where the prisoners are in a cement cell where they can not hear anyone or see anyone there food is given to them from a hole in the door they get there 30min's a day exercise in a nice 50 yard cement cell. The prisoners see no one have no one to talk to and nothing to do.

I think the are closeting it down because it has about 50% + suicide rate in there.

Colorado.

ADX-Florence, the federal "Supermax" prison where Ted Kaczynski, Aldrich Ames, Dennis Hanssen, Ramsey Yousef and other scumbags live their miserable rat-in-a-trap lives in utter isolation. The worst of the worst in a concrete 12 x 7 cell.

Interesting... but I was thinking about a state's entire system of prisons, not just one facility.

LA publik skools.

Define "Best". The most excecutions? The most inmates per capita? The best rates of rehabilitation? Prison industries? The best job of educating inmates? Give us something to go on. The fellas before have given you examples of the harshest prisons. I would say Texas is the last place I would want to be incarcerated in. They just plain don't mess around. There ain't much chance of getting any help to straighten yourself out though. But then again the length of sentences probably would mean you won't have to re-enter society anyway. South Carolina (I worked 2 years in a Prison Industry setting as a supervisor) had a Director from Texas & I saw what he did here. He now is doing the same thing in Florida. I'm not saying he or Texas is completely wrong, there just needs to be something for those convicts to strive for. Otherwise you just have a mean assed un-educated, no job skills criminal to release. There is a ballance between touchy feely systems and the retribution at all costs type systems. Just my opinion.

I think the ideal prison would have:

1) No escapes.

2) No criminal activity (assaults, homicides, rapes, drug use) going on inside the prison.

3) No violations of inmates' legal rights.

4) Zero recidivism.

5) Very low operating costs, including the cost of inmate lawsuits.

Obviously, no real prison system would be able to reach those ideals, but those are the goals (IMHO).  I suppose that someone who's worked in a prison system would have different priorities.

Striker, how would you rate your prison?  Put it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "Just a waste of money" and 10 being "As good as is humanly possible".

Note to self: Visit Canada to commit any criminal acts.  [}:D]

Guantanamo Bay.

I thinkj if you could find a system where the inmates would view it as a 5 or 6 on the 10 scale you might have a good mix. What I think you need in the system is basicly:
1 - Education. Get them a high school diploma while in there. Some states go overboard and allow college degrees. That's ok, but not on my dime.
2 - Drug rehab. Try to get them clean. It wont work for a great many, but you have to try.
3 - Job skills. They need to be able to earn a living when they get out. The Prison Industries can be a good way of doing this. One must have the type of jobs needed in the state. EX.. Air conditioning in southern areas. Yes, we all need car tags, but there aren't any jobs staming them out on the outside.
4 - Healthcare. Nothing fancy, just an honest to god sick call & simple meds.
5 - Food. Again nothing special, but if Tyson has some spoiled meat, we shouldn't feed it to the inmates.
6 - Controled movement. Nothing more dangerous than a bunch of inmates running willy nilly. Chow at a certain time for certain areas only. Rec time at a cedrtain time etc....
7 - No money on the yard. This helps cut down on drug smuggling and other crimes inside. Yes the method of exchange changes from cash to Cigarettes and cokes, but what C.O. would take 2 cartons of Marlkboro's to bring in a bag of pot?
8 - No conjugal visits. The spread of disease into or out of the prison is enough here. You have "punks" or "Kids" inside that perform for the inmates. Imagine giving that to a spouse or getting from a GF & spreading to the "Punks". Not to mention the probability of pregnancy. Last thing I want is another kid on the welfare rolls because his daddy is a convict.
9 - Uniforms. This helps to minimize the apperance of gang type clothes. Yea, they can still press theri pants one way, or leave one boot untied etc... but it also helps the C.O.'s to find contraband as there just ain't noplace to hide it Etc body orifices (see below).
10 - Pay the damn C.O.'s a decent wage. Most of the drugs in a prison is brought in by the C.O.'s. They are underpaid in most syt=stems, and do it to make a buck. Yes, you will have shitheads that will do it anyway, but you can minimize it. Remember that one of a C.O.'s jobs is shakedown. That is the search of inmates as they return from work or other activities. Imagine looking up someones ass for a living. You better pay me pretty well for that. Now know that this is only one small part of the job, but you still run the risk of having feces, urine or blood contaminate you during a shift.

There are more, but I never worked behind the wire. Just my opinion after seeing the worst of both sides. Inmates can at times be better that the C.O.'s , but I think I'll keep them where they are and work with the C.O.'.

Striker, You sre speaking from your experience in a Canadian prison system. My limited experience is in the South Carolina prison system. Tha starting wage for a C.O. here is just over $20,000 per year. You can check it out on their emplyment web site. [url]http://www.state.sc.us/scdc/employment/employment.htm[/url]

I merely stated what "I" think would make the basis of a good system. Some states do nove all of them some have more.
As to your attempt to state that due to my never being "Behind the wire" I am ignorant of what goes on,,, Bull. I have been there, just never worked it as a C.O.
I am aware of what a "set up" is. You don't think the inmates don't try to run one on you in a P.I. settting. Ha. Get a grip. There are dirty C.O.'s just as there are dirty cops. Nothing to be surprised at. As to conjugal, I believe in allowing inmates access to their family's, but here in the US conjugal tends to mean allowing sexual activities between same. I oppose that. You will undoubtedly know that that some prison systems in the past had less that "controlled" movement. "Willy Nilly" is an exageration. I realize they never have complete access to the whole prison, but some systems are more strict than others. Now, we really aren't that far apart in our views, and you may just work in the "Best Prison System" in the world, but I can assure you tha Southern Justice aint pretty. As to the ass issue, you call it what you want if it helps you get through the day, but it is part of the job...
i have a healthy respect for those that can and do guard the worst that society has to offer. I have had the bars close behind me while taking a crew back into Max, I didn't like it at all. I wouldn't do it for a living. Just don't think that I don't know what it is.

What's a "P.I."?

Guys, I started this thread to focus on the positive.  It seems to me that we, the public, usually only hear about prisons when something bad happens, so I thought that it would be interesting to focus on the best instead of the worst for a change.

P.I. is short for Prison Industries. I was a supervisor (teacher/babysitter/supervisor) in a printing operation. We did work for many state agencies and some non profit groups. Hell these guys tried to counterfeit in our shop. It sure was fun when the investigation came. There are others. Tire retreading, furniture, liscence plates, etc.... You name it and I bet some state has it. It sounds like Striker is in a decent system. Ours wasn't that bad before the Texas connection was made. The guy from there brought many good things, he just took away all the incentives.

The best prison system is the one the military has.