On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 00:46:36 GMT, "Richard Hertz"
wrote:

It warmed my heart when I moved to the south a few years back to see convict
road crews doing work. Now, maybe it costs us more to pay the guards to
watch them and for insurance, etc, but at least we get something out of it.

My two ¢:

Convict laborers displace regular workers. A far better solution
would be to teach them the meaning of the word 'restitution.' That
way they truly pay for their crimes, and their victims are
compensated.

But the prison systems have become cash cows for private enterprise.
Prison operating contractors have no financial incentive to
rehabilitate inmates. Quite the opposite, there is incentive to
create more inmates, so that more prisons will be built and
Wackinhut's business will increase. Corporate self interest is at the
root of many of society's ills.