by Mr. Tiny Brain

Created on: January 22, 2009

Historically society has attempted to discourage crime by making the punishment so horrible that nobody would want to take the risk of committing a crime. In an age where people aren't afraid of death what can be done to scare them? What can we do in America where inmates consider lumpy potatoes to be "cruel and unusual punishment"?
Solution: We can take away the citizenship of anyone committing a crime with a weapon, or theft of more than two hundred thousand dollars, or rape, or any other violent crime. We can then offer third world countries the opportunity to house our convicts at a rate of pay per convict that's significantly higher than they currently average for their own prisoners. This rate would still tend to be far lower than the amount that we currently spend. An important point is that as soon as the person becomes convicted of a crime and a country agrees to house the criminal for the term of his imprisonment; he becomes a De Facto citizen of that country. He loses all American rights except the right of appeal. If appeals are made he would still be shipped out to prison, only to be returned if the appeal was successful. In the case of a successful appeal he would also have his citizenship restored. Additionally at the end of their term of incarceration, the host country would agree to allow the ex convict to stay in that country as a naturalized citizen.

The reasoning behind this is that not only will it likely be more of a deterrent to crime than our current criminal justice system. It will also save us a lot of money while providing meaningful employment to people in third world countries. It will also have the effect of significantly decreasing the rate of recidivism. It would be very difficult for these convicts to return to the United States.

For those who are concerned about prison conditions in third world countries, we can convert the massive surplus of container boxes to portable prison cells. Due to the trade surplus with China there are literally mountains of container boxes sitting idle near US ports because there's not enough demand for them to have them shipped back overseas. These large metal boxes could easily be converted to convict habitats that would not only provide for convenient transport to their new prison locations but could also be used to house the prisoners while they're there. It would even be possible to have the host country agree to minimum power, water, and sewage hookups in exchange for regular monthly payments that also cover the cost of keeping the criminal fed and confined. We could even have require blood samples or some other means to determine that these criminals are still alive and still serving their time.

Note that any crimes committed by these criminals while incarcerated in another country would be punishable by the laws of that country. In the event of escape they would be treated as any other criminal. They would be thrown in with the general population of the prison. Since the host country may not be pleasantly disposed to Americans it should be an added incentive for prisoners to behave.

If this was made into law on January 1, 2010 all criminals currently serving sentences would be unaffected. They would not have had warning of the possible loss of citizenship before committing their crimes. Anyone committing a crime after that date would be subject to the new law. States would not have to deport their criminals but the would be allowed to. As to the conversion of the container boxes the mechanics could be worked out by holding contests at the state or federal level with the winner receiving control of licenses to provide the portable cells.

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