Before I get into the new prison idea, I will say this new prison idea HAS to be coupled with death penalty punishment. And there should be mandatory death penalty if convicted of certain crimes. Premeditated murder: DEATH PENALTY. Rape of a child under 13: DEATH PENALTY. Premeditated torture: DEATH PENALTY. Some crimes are too wicked to ever come back from. No painless lethal injection either and no privacy; public hanging (10 different button pushing executioners, so none knows which button worked).
In my research into Norwayâs criminal justice system I stumbled into the case of the mass shooter that killed 77 people, mostly children, in 2011. When he was sentenced in 2012, the maximum allowable sentence was 21 years (this is for any type of amount of crime). Later I think they moved it to 30 years. Since Norway is so small, nearly every citizen knows someone affected by this event. When you read through the comments sections, many Norwegian people are bitterly unhappy with their justice system in this case. Many of these people vow that if the killer is ever released he will be âdisappearedâ by any number of hurt parties. The killer already went up for parole in Dec 2024 but was denied. Kill 77 people and be up for parole after 13 years? I donât understand how anyone could defend this systemâŚ
NEW PRISON SYSTEM
This new prison system utilizes a better understanding of human nature and psychology and in some ways utilizes the militaryâs âbreak them down, so that you can build them back upâ methodology.
Step 1 (Shunning) After sentencing, the prisoner is taken to the prison and put into a âtower.â The tower will be constructed similar to how a fire lookout tower is constructed in America, only without the outer balcony. (Theoretically, to save costs, individual cell cabins, not towers, could be built on a hill overlooking the prison yard)
There will be many such towers, but they have to be placed far enough apart from each other to prevent the prisoners from talking to each other and to prevent them from communicating with anyone on the ground. The entire time they are in the tower, no in-person human will speak to them. Robots on a track will deliver them meals. There will be cameras above them and they will have a whiteboard and marker to pass messages to guard staff in case of medical emergency. There are also methods of monitoring vital signs for health purposes that can be installed in their cell.
They will have a view of the prison yard where the Step 2 prisoners will be visible to them, but they will not be close enough to interact. A few times a day, the TV in the tower cell will turn on and there will be videos played that have messages about their crimes, what they did wrong, and how they can improve themselves and become the type of person society needs them to be. All videos will have AI voices, not real human voices.
Their length of stay in the Shunning phase will depend on their overall sentence. There is a certain period of years before the body mostly releases past trauma, which for me is about 2-3 years before those past memories no longer trouble me. So the thinking is to keep the prisoner isolated long enough to let past trauma leave their body, without any negative influences that can come from other prisoners or guards.
The psychological effect could be described as letting the prisoner know that they arenât wanted or trusted in any part of society (even the step 2 communal prison) and that even communication with other human beings is a privilege. They get to see other people from far away so they feel that the ability to be close is a privilege. We want to facilitate their desire to earn the trust back by internalizing the video messages.
A secondary effect from this type of Shunning method (no human communication) is that we can also protect our guards from feeling like they have to be the punishers of the wicked. I donât believe it is good for them mentally to be in the mode of dishing out justice. This can lead them to narcissistic traits and damage their personal relationships. I once had a neighbor who was a guard at a prison and he bragged about how he could âbeat the shitâ out of prisoners without repercussion. I lost all trust for this guy after that.
Many of the negative effects that have come from previous use, by prisons, of putting someone into âsolitary confinementâ are due to the unhealthy conditions of the cell into which they are confined. These prisoners donât get fresh air or interaction with sunlight which are mandatory for the body. They replaced the sun with dangerous phosphorescent lighting and gave inmates chemically processed food, neither of which helps to rebuild a body into someone that can be trusted by society. I believe the fire lookout tower style cell can solve all these problems traditionally created by solitary confinement. Direct sun from south facing windows or indirect sun from north facing windows. Computer controlled openings in Windows can allow passage of fresh air. Heating and cooling can come from the base of the tower when necessary. The cell can be circular with the bed in the middle to allow the inmate to walk around the cell for exercise.
Step 2 (Community) At this stage the prisoner is introduced to the communal prison. This has to be a reflection of a somewhat-well-functioning society. Step 2 prison will utilize lessons learned from notable prisons around the world, such as Cebu prison in the Philippines where the inmates have mandatory choreographed dance exercise time, and this greatly assists with making a harmonious prison. Prisoners will have a schedule emulating a 5 day workweek, but the work will be maintaining/cleaning the prison, growing their own food, cooking/serving the food to others, and also choreographed dance exercise. Videos with messaging will continue in this stage, but can be watched communally. No outside media will be allowed as the messaging from Hollywood is always questionable.
Guards donât need to yell or act aggressively towards inmates in Step 2, they just ask an inmate to do what is requested. Prisoners who break serious rules in Step 2 will be sent back to Step 1.
The psychology of this phase is that they have earned being in Step 2 by successful completion of Step 1, and they will want to work hard to achieve Step 3. They will learn about how a harmonious society feels (perhaps they have never experienced this).
Step 3 (Preparation for re-introduction) This part of the prison will be partially modeled after Halden and Bastoy prisons in Norway. Each prisoner gets their own room and will spend their workweek still doing maintenance on the prison, but also learning and practicing some job skills, such as automotive repair, cooking, etc. Prisoners act more as mentors than guards. The costs must be lower than what is spent on Halden or Bastoy as this is one of the bigger criticisms of Norwayâs prisons; I believe a new system can get similar results at a much lower cost. Prisoners who break serious rules in Step 3 will be sent back to Step 2, or Step 1 if necessary.
Prisoners will spend a maximum of one year of their sentence in Step 3 (or less if their overall sentence is short). Halden and Bastoy also face criticisms of being luxury resorts for inmates, and so our new system will avoid this by only allowing a small percentage of their sentence to be in Step 3. Example: a guy convicted of manslaughter and given 20 years, might spend the first 3-5 years in the Step 1 tower cell, 14-16 years in Step 2 communal prison, and 1 year in Step 3.
Regardless of the sentence length, all prisoners need to successfully complete the minimum amount of time in each of the 3 steps. There will be no shortening of sentences for âgood behaviorâ or anything like that. I believe that shortening of sentences is always a slap in the face to victims.
