Out Sourcing Prisoners to Siberia

Salta Grande, Chile - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

Forty two nurses working in California prisons made more than $ 1 million each in the last six years. The top earner, who worked in a prison near a small agricultural town, averaged more than $250,000 per year during the same period. -- Michael B. Marois, Bloomberg News

Free trade abolishes tariffs and increases marketing efficiencies between cooperating countries. Agreements like NAFTA emphasize production and regional advantages, but the concept can be applied to the penal system, as well.

The penal system in the United States is inordinately expensive and neither punishes nor rehabilitates effectively. Recidivism rates remain unacceptably high despite ambitious efforts to prepare prisoners for life after the penitentiary. Dangerous prisoners are released before the conclusion of their sentence due to lenient laws and activist judges whose concept of cruel and unusual punishment defies common sense. In summary the process is a farce; it costs far too much money and does not accomplish the objective.

It is time to rethink the issue and apply economic theory to a social problem which squanders too many resources. The remedy is obvious when one asks the following question, “What country has the experience incarcerating prisoners inexpensively and discourages future criminal behavior after release?”

Russia. Russians have a no nonsense approach to housing prisoners, and they are very good at it. Their experience spans centuries from the czars to the Gulag. Siberia’s vast expanse offers plenty of fresh air for prisoners and opportunities for hard work without the distractions associated with living near urban areas. Sophisticated facilities built to prevent escape are not required, since once on the lam, non Russian speaking prisoners have virtually no chance to survive the hostile Siberian climate. Best of all, Russians do not employ union guards and medical staff who receive generous pension benefits and overtime inflated wages. Neither do they subscribe to the illusion that given unlimited resources even the most recalcitrant prisoner can be rehabilitated .

The American prison system is a revolving door. Prisoners come and go then return again and again. Prisons are not dreadful places where one would never want to return under any circumstances. Siberian prisons with long bitterly cold winters and lack of amenities emphasize deterrence.

To the delight of the ACLU and a suitable compromise for those supporting capital punishment, the controversial death penalty would be abolished and replaced by life imprisonment without parole. Lengthy appeals and moral hand wringing instantly would cease. The death row convict, who cost millions to execute, would become a historical footnote, and Americans would no longer be thought as Neanderthals by sophisticated Europeans.

Sexual predators and child molesters, who often recommit licentious crimes when released from American prisons, would be kept in the general prison population, where they would learn to foster adult relationships. Businessmen, coaches, clergy, teachers, blue collar workers, and riffraff alike would received equal treatment and have time to reflect on the seriousness of their heinous acts. Once completing the sentencing period, there would be compelling reasons to behave themselves when reintroduced to the general population.

Russian penologists have little sympathy for gang members and their heavily muscled bodies which intimidate guards and other prisoners. 1500 calories a day and a generous amount of hard labor build lean physiques and discourage wasting energy in petty turf battles. Conjugal visits would be impractical with wives and girl friends living so far away, and Russian wardens traditionally take a dim view of such dalliances.

To implement the program the United States and Russia simply would contact to out source prisoners. In this win-win scenario the Russians profit since income exceeds easily controlled costs, and the United States’ financial obligations plummet in relation to current expenditures. After sentencing the prisoners would be transported to Russia and transferred to prison deep in the Siberian woods. Life would be routine, difficult, and often uncomfortable, but not cruel. State governments whose budgets are bursting due to skyrocketing prison costs would soon insist on similar opportunities. Word would quickly spread, “There’s a new sheriff in town.”