Should there be "parole"?

[Black Wolf]

Sorry if there is already a thread about this, I searched "parole" and couldn't find anything.

Is there any reason to keep "parole"? If you have been convicted of a crime, should you

- Serve the entire sentence, unless you're good the entire time

- Serve the entire sentence, and if you're good, you simply do not prolong your sentence.

If the choice were as simple as that, I would pick the latter. But it isn't that simple in our current system.

In our current system, you can:

- Get an education

- Give lectures

Here, this guy has not only been abstained from violence, but he has displayed benevolent behavior

Should parole be kept? Or is it okay to get rid of it.

[Tenzing_Shaw]

Here, this guy has not only been abstained from violence, but he has displayed benevolent behavior

Should parole be kept? Or is it okay to get rid of it.

I don't know how good of an example this is. It seems to me that the "criminal" here acted morally after a failure of the state to protect rights: there was objective evidence of imminent danger to his loved-one and the police would not take action. Assuming that the given article has reported the situation objectively, I have no problem with this man's action, and I think the only thing he did wrong was to get caught. I do find your question about parole interesting, and I am not sure what the correct answer is.

[DavidOdden]

The function of parole is to allow a wider range of punishments under the law, so that prison terms are variable. Parole makes it possible to release a generally good man who lost control of his emotions and violated someone's rights after a shorter term in prison, while keeping deliberate and vicious rights-violators in prison longer. The problem is that post-incarceration behavior doesn't necessarily tell you much: it tells you that an inmate can't even keep from bashing his cellmate long enough to get released on parole. Better-selected sentences after conviction would be the best solution, but the answer isn't necessarily obvious based on what is know at the time of the trial.

[mrocktor]

Since "good behavior" should be the expected behavior, I consider a proper system would be to have all convicts serve their full term and extend that term whenever they behave badly. This system achieves the goal David mentioned (i.e. keep the deliberate viscious criminals in jail, let the incidental criminal out after he has served his term).

[Jake_Ellison]

Since "good behavior" should be the expected behavior, I consider a proper system would be to have all convicts serve their full term and extend that term whenever they behave badly.

You mean have a new jury trial every time someone floods their toilet in prison, or just ignore the whole idea of people having the right to a fair trial before having their freedom taken away?

[mrocktor]

Format your question as something other than a straw man with an insult attached and perhaps you'll get an answer.

[VcatoV]

Since "good behavior" should be the expected behavior, I consider a proper system would be to have all convicts serve their full term and extend that term whenever they behave badly. This system achieves the goal David mentioned (i.e. keep the deliberate viscious criminals in jail, let the incidental criminal out after he has served his term).

This is true, though I think you do not see another intention of parole. There was a saying once, "You go into prison a pacifist, you come out a better pacifist; you go in a criminal, you come out a better criminal." While I don't agree with that entirely, it gets to the point. If you know that you have 10 years to sit in prison, and you know that you will be free in 10 years so long as you remain "neutral" (don't cause any problems, but don't necessarily reform either), then many times the criminals will think about how they got caught, how to avoid it, or how to change their "basic" behaviors without changing the main reasons behind why they committed the crime in the first place. Parole is a "reward" for good behavior, an incentive to encourage prisoners to reconsider their ways and actually begin the process of acting like a good person.

In short: parole is a good idea, but not properly implemented in today's society.