quote:
1. No sentence should be longer than 18 years. In 18 years we go from a crying infant to a completely independent human being; so that should be enough time for someone to change who they are. If you're willing to throw someone in prison for longer than that, then I say just strap them into Old Sparky and flip the switch.

2. Prison shouldn't be an opportunity for them to form gangs and such; work them from can see to can't. They should be so physically exhausted that all they want to do when they get back to the barracks is sleep. Prison should resemble the first 45 minutes of Full Metal Jacket, minus the guns.

I know some will just fold their arms and say "I ain't doing that." That's fine, don't feed them, don't clothe them, make them sleep outside in the weather ... eventually they'll either come around or die.

3. After a suitable length of time of the intensive "physical training" (however long it takes to mentally break someone), if they've been behaved, allow them to spend a couple of days a week indoors, without someone yelling in their ear constantly, as long as they spend that time learning a trade, getting a basic education, taking a civics course - so they may learn their place in society, and so on. As they do well, reward them with more study days and fewer physical training days.

4. Towards the end of their sentence (last six months or so) allow the prisoners to live in an environment that more closely resembles the outside. They should see what it is like to go to work, get a normal paycheck, pay bills, and spend their extra money/free time how they choose. Let the parole board observe them during this period to determine if they've learned enough to safely re enter society.

5. Anyone sent to prison for a gang related crime should not be released into the same region from whence they came, and no two members of the same gang should ever be housed together.

Tell me where I can vote for you

Also, having read your thoughts alludes to the bigger problem that no one wants to admit. We already have some programs (state-run) that have a proven working system similar to yours. The issue is privatized prisons are more interested in making money off of victimless crimes than actually protecting society.

The vast majority of arrest and charges these days have little to nothing to do with public safety.