San Quentin’s not as nice as it sounds…
Did anyone see the Louis Theroux programme from San Quentin Prison last night? I am not normally one for much TV, but this was intriguing so I thought I’d watch it. And I don’t think I’ve seen a more upsetting piece of TV in quite some time.
I thought he spent a bit too much time on the prisoners’ love interests – whether or not transsexuals who find straight partners on the inside will carry on with them on the outside. I don’t care about that. Good luck to ‘em, but I really don’t care.
I found the interviews with lifers very distressing though. I almost wanted to cry when I saw Anthony, barely more than a boy at 21, a huge, limbering, orange-suited prisoner at the beginning of a sentence of 50 years-to-life. A twenty-one year old starting a fifty year stretch. I can’t even imagine what those numbers mean in reality.
He was advised by the guard not to show any weakness, to get his head down and do his time quietly. But how can a kid of that age even contemplate fifty years? If he lives to the end of his sentence he’ll be 71 years old. A whole life gone in the blink of an eye. I know he’s a murderer, and someone’s family has lost a son and a brother to a brutal crime, but where’s the hope in a system where simple kids are lost forever in a metal cage and an orange boiler suit? And where’s the justice in a world where the prisoner himself seems unable to comprehend his predicament, talking as if he’ll be out in a fortnight, and hailing from a community where it seems almost expected to either die in a hail of bullets, or fire them in the first place?
Anthony was hard as nails at the start of his interview. I think by the time Louis Theroux had finished with him, and put in straightforward words the fact that he was going to be incarcerated for the rest of his life with angry and dangerous men, he was virtually in tears. Tears which showed weakness, and probably made his life even less bearable.
I know these are bad people. Dangerous people whom society needs protection from. But do we not have a duty to rehabilitate as well as to punish? Do we not have a duty to give these prisoners a structure to their day, a job of work and a reason for living? Twenty three hours a day in an empty cell with screaming maniacs round every corner. It seemed like hell. Another prisoner, David Silver, sentenced to 500 plus years (with 11 life sentences on top) and calmly safe in the knowledge that he’s never going to be released. Having to exercise in a cage for his own protection, and telling us all how he rationalises his situation by taking comfort in not having to deal with life’s problems like losing your job or finding food or shelter. He’ll be looked after til he dies, he says. True, but surely prison should be about more than that, even if the prisoners themselves need to be in it forever. Crimes may render people unfit to walk free in society, but it doesn’t render them unfit to be humans.
A distressing programme all round, I thought.
Rick
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have your say
Hello Rick,
I read your comments with interest. I found Louis Theroux’s program enthralling and felt damned glad I
wasn’t
in there with the prisoners. However, I disagree with your perceived sentiments. As a society,
we have become far too soft. Prisons aren’t designed to be pleasant establishments - San Qunetin is my vision
of how a prison should be. Horrible and foreboding. a place whre no-one would ever wish to go to.
Rehabilitation is a waste of time for most. Any punishment should mirror the crime. A life sentence should carry a mi
a minimum sentence of 25 years. Prison life should be one of hard labour with luxeries few and far between (and must
be earned)
I hope Gary Newlove’s killers really suffer in jail…for a very long time
Hi Andrew, and thanks for your comment. Comments are always appreciated.
I didn’t mean to suggest that prisons should be pleasant places. Far from it, we need to make sure that they are places where criminals are sent for punishment. Luxuries should indeed be limited, and the thought of prison should be a deterrent to any potential criminal.
But I think it is wrong to say that we shouldn’t try to rehabilitate. Prisons should be more than just places where we leave people to rot. We need to attack the causes of crime - the fact that for a lot of people lacking in skills, opportunities and qualifications there is little hope of them escaping their old ways on release, especially if they’ve become embittered by a system that’s doing nothing to help them.
I agree that punishments should fit crimes, but surely the ultimate point of any punishment is three fold - First, that we give the victim some semblance of justice. Second, that we punish the offender. And third, that for the victim, the offender and society we do our utmost to try and make sure that the chances of repeat offending are minimized.
Having said that, I am just as frustrated about high profile crimes as you. The Gary Newlove case is absolutely tragic. I can’t begin to comprehend how his family must feel, and despite having no connection to the incident at all I am absolutely incensed that it should happen. I am so angry and upset at these people who laughingly attack innocent by-standers protecting their own family. I was disgusted and upset at the whole thing, I must say. And thankfully, and rightly, Mr Newlove’s killers are being sent to prison for a very long time. Away from their families, friends, all the joys of life. They will only be released if judged fit to rejoin society, but when they do I hope we have prepared them well for it.
Rick
I would like to start off by saying that I found Louis Theroux: Behind Bars fascinating, it was just a pity the documentary didn’t touch more on the harsh realities of actually living in a prison like San Quentin.
Anybody who thinks prison life is too soft needs to read the Human Right Watch Commission report. Particularly maximum security prisons in America. If Mr. Saunders had much sense he would realise that in general, it’s the criminals who commit the less serious crimes that are the ones who really go through it.
Besides, research carried out by the HRW commission strongly suggests that overly restricting and degrading conditions can be counterproductive entirely, that is to say that already tormented individuals leave prison more messed up and a bigger threat to society.
I wholeheartedly agree with Richard Baums sentiments on rehabilitation although I wonder how realistic an idea it is in the first place. I mean, to survive in such violent surroundings you would surely have to lose any sense of conscience or morality or reasoning. That is if you don’t want to be exploited or gang raped of course. Those who already lacked the aforementioned virtues are probably lost causes anyway. They don’t and will never want to be rehabilitated.
I agree that it was a distressing program however I often feel that society in general has a very uncaring approach towards prisoners and their lives. Reminds you of the saying “you don’t know what goes on behind locked doors”. Once someone is thrown behind bars they’re forgotten about completely. Nobody cares.
I’m not suggesting we praise these people in any way but they are still human beings. Besides, as I have mentioned earlier, to lock someone up, and throw them into inhumane conditions surrounded by violent gorillas can have a totally counterproductive effect on society.
They are in prison for a reason!! they committ a crime and they pay the penalty! thats exactly how it should be. I doubt they are prepared or ready for such a harsh place but i doubt many families are prepared when they loose a loved one, an innocent loved one, caught up in some maniacs, twisted plans…..lock them up, its where they belong!
I saw the doco and thought it was a good insight into life behind bars. I have 3 younger brothers, all of whom are in prison and all have been back and forth since the age of 15. I can tell you that it aint as black and white as you all think. Alot of people are caught up in a cycle, it starts at home at a young age, abuse all their lives, grow up in a bad neighbourhood, everyday told you are nothing and worthless by your parents. Its no surprise that these people brought up in these surroundings go off the rails, and i dont think that we should throw these people in jail and let them rot and waste our tax money. Also in regards to what rick wrote, i too felt for Anthony, he did say that he was innocent and i dont think that we should disregard that as i am aware of how flawed the system is in the states, thousands of people are wrongly convicted every year, some spend over a decade before they are proven innocent and some are compensated for it( when i say some i mean few). Prisons are a mess, you throw a bunch of people in a building that lack social skills some are murderers without remorse and guards turn a blind eye, cos its just the way it is…..Then an inmate gets out who has not been rehabilitated one bit, in fact his hate for the system has grown since being locked up surrounded by criminals so he goes out and offends again, and sometimes may even kill….because prison teaches you not to care anymore!
and thats the truth.
Rush
yes interesting comments and a very good reason not to vote liberal. You would probably let them all out after a bit of a ticking off… some of those people were beyond help in which case the old key throwing away thing is probably best for society.
It has been recently played again and I found the program excellent…Prisoners knew what they were doing was wrong so in my opinion they should be made suffer…thats the way it should be. Out and in and out and in obviously they dont care and probably should just be kept in for good, but don’t you think getting out would be a good thing?? San Quentin is how a prison should be.
If you took your blinkers off and stopped having selective hearing/vision you would have learned that most of these people were repeat offenders (David Silver was in the correctional system since he was 11) and I doubt very few of them didn’t know they was up for a spell inside before they did whatever crime they done, in fact most of them in the gangs expected to go inside….let me ask you a question, Would you like murderous, big, limbering 21 year old Anthony or the “holding the head in a tub of hot water” torturer David Silver living next door to you or your family?
It’s people like you that have no idea of life that has taken the Great out of Britain.
It’s easy for you to say these words, but you’ve never been there or lived it.
The bleeding heart stuff needs to go.
Take it from someone who has lived it…you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Hey all,
I am from Germany and I saw this docu, too. I think it was a great documentation.
Never saw such a good doku in tv.
Think all this imates have to be there. They have to learn about their mistakes.
Regards
Jasmin