More than anything else, our justice and corrections systems need hard labor for convicted criminals.
Crime is basically a shortcut to wealth. Criminals don’t have an appreciation for the long path to wealth that the rest of us have to tread.
Hard labor teaches offenders how it feels to work and get money the right way, something their parents may never have taught them.
It is true, a prisoner will work hard all day long and not see the full reward for his work because he doesn’t get a real paycheck. That happens when he gets out. But meanwhile his paycheck comes in the form of housing, food and security. In some programs, he could even build housing and grow food himself, thus relieving public expense.
This is how America healed criminals in the past. It’s time to do it again.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Formerly of Thurston County
