A Vote for Open Prisons

Article and comments in favor of the use of open prisons in Scotland - or at least in favor of not holding the prison service responsible for the crimes committed by prisoners released on furlough. The author makes a good point that if the prison services were to be held accountable for inmates released "negligently," no inmate would ever be released.

To be critical, in this argument, he does not seem to differentiate between inmates released on furlough and those that are released due to the expiration of their sentence. In the first instance, prison officials have to make a judgment call as to whether to release an inmate on furlough - that's where negligence enters the picture. Once the prisoner's sentence expires, he has a constitutional right to be released - negligence cannot be an issue.

But he has a point - and this may in fact be why many states no longer release inmates on furlough. The public outcry over crimes committed (and let's face it, the high recidivism rate doesn't exist because every ex-convict is a saint upon release) would be great - as it apparently currently is in Scotland.