
The Allure of the Prison Break - danso
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/opinion/the-allure-of-the-prison-break.html
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tantalor
_It is human nature to want to escape. In Mexico, for instance, escapees who
do not break any other laws are not charged for anything and no extra time is
added to their sentence._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_escape#Punishment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_escape#Punishment)

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sgberlin
Same in Germany

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superuser2
For all the supposed incompetence of government, the Marshalls don't fuck
around. Look at Wikipedia's list of prison escapes - far as I can tell, no one
who escaped in the 21st century is still at large (other than Matt). Ususlly
it's hours, sometimes weeks, but they'll get you, even if it's 40 years later
in Mexico.

 _That_ is one of the most terrifying pieces of information I know. If you
believe the movies, breaking out of prison is most of the accomplishment. But
dozens of people manage to do that. It appars that no one makes it to the end
of their natural life before recapture.

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fiatmoney
Federal prisons are generally far better run than state prisons. I wouldn't be
surprised if they also select for a "higher quality" of inmate that's less
likely to try to escape.

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marknutter
Whenever I hear about someone who broke out of prison and/or is trying to
escape the long arm of the law I get a little sad when they are caught despite
how horrific their crimes are. Because it means that there's very little
chance that anyone can escape law enforcement regardless of whether or not
their crimes were just.

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coldtea
It's also because prison and what we call law might not be the most "justice"
there is. It's mostly revenge.

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rayiner
And? Retribution is a basic human instinct. The point of the criminal justice
system is to manage that instinct in a large population. If you think about
criminal justice only in terms of deterrence and rehabilitation it makes
little sense to spend so much effort on what probably doesn't have much effect
on would-be or convicted criminals.

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coldtea
> _The point of the criminal justice system is to manage that instinct in a
> large population._

Mostly in places with "old testament" attitudes towards morality. For contrast
consider cells and prison quality in a place like Norway or Sweden for example
(including prison time), compared to the US or some place in Latin America...

There have been many philosophical justifications by judicial philosophers and
political experts on justice systems in various countries, and deterrence and
rehabilitation are more often than not the stated goals.

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nmb
[tangentially related] 99% Invisible did an episode on the design of bank
heists: [http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/breaking-the-
bank/](http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/breaking-the-bank/)

~~~
ddrum001
That was a great story, and it speaks to the fact that tropes like prison
escape, bank heist, and marooned on an island appeal to some human instinct

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blfr
Why would you ever hire women to guard men? I see absolutely no upside and
massive risks.

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omegaham
A few reasons:

1\. The benefit of a larger talent pool to recruit from is easy to measure,
and the drawbacks (having to fire a large number of them and increased
contraband in the prison from said compromised COs) are harder to measure.

2\. It's politically unpalatable to segregate by gender.

The vast majority of female COs wash out within their first year; either they
can't take the pressure, or they start showing favoritism toward the more
charismatic inmates. The reason is pretty simple - women are fucked with more
than men. For whatever reason, when a male CO gigs an inmate, the inmate knows
that it's The Man keeping him down and not the man. In contrast, when a female
CO gigs an inmate, the inmate tries harder to get out of it because he
perceives weakness. As a result, more female COs crack.

This actually happens with _all_ staff, not just guards. Nurses, instructors,
whatever - all of them get routinely compromised. It's a very, very difficult
problem to hire people for relatively low wages, stick them with people who
have nothing better to do, and expect everyone to remain professional.

The optimal male CO is an unthinking robot. "Sorry, you violated Rule 131. I
have to write you up. No exceptions." In contrast, the optimal female CO is a
"crazy dyke psycho bitch" who takes pleasure (or appears to take pleasure) in
making prisoners' lives hell. They won't respect a woman who acts otherwise.
Again, this is because inmates respect The Man but take it personally when a
woman tells them No. So, the woman has to show that she will not ever let them
off because she enjoys making them suffer.

Source: Girlfriend worked corrections for a while. Her "prison attitude" is
hilarious.

"I prefer corrections to bartending. When customers at the bar sexually harass
/ assault you, you have to smile and take it. When inmates sexually harass
you, you put them in solitary and forget to refill their pain med
prescription. Whoops."

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soup10
Real answer: prisons are horrific and nobody in their right mind wants to work
there so they take whoever they can get

Also your girlfriend sounds crazy, nothing funny about abusing people

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rayiner
Nothing funny about sexual harassment and assault either.

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bruceb
Prison break is the ultimate hack and underdog story.

There are 800+ law enforcement officers, trained canines, and the national
news media searching for 2, now 1 guy who has few resources except his brain
and body. Not surprising they make great movies.

Unfortunately in real life the protagonist is almost always a bad guy.

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sliverstorm
_Unfortunately in real life the protagonist is almost always a bad guy._

I wonder if successful prison breaks select _for_ or _against_ guilt. You
know, like maybe actual criminals are more likely to be able to run a prison
break, while a chump who was framed won't have that ability.

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h4x3r
Dosn't this remind any one of Prison Break (TV Show) ?

@ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455275/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455275/)

