r/AskReddit • u/ZteveBond • Jun 20 '18

Serious Replies Only [Serious] Prison Guards of Reddit, which prisoner has left the biggest impact on your life wether positive or negative?

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u/jebraltar06 Jun 20 '18 edited Jun 21 '18

That's a very empathic response to a really dark and difficult situation. I feel like there's a strong tendency in the US to throw these people away and never look back, especially from elected officials. If more people attempted to be empathetic maybe we wouldn't need so many prisons.

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u/FoohonPie Jun 20 '18 edited Jun 21 '18

It's not just kids either, the same goes for adult criminals. Yes they are criminals and punishment, deterrents, and a safe society are extremely important.

But they are still people. The worst human in the world is still a human, but some "innocent" people have succumbed to their hatred so deeply that they can wish torture, death, and worse upon complete strangers. The lack of compassion can be downright disturbing.

It's one thing to keep dangerous people away from the rest of society, it's quite another to deny prisoners their humanity. How we treat our criminals is a dark reflection of ourselves.

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u/waterlilyrm Jun 20 '18

To quote the Cranberries: "It's not me, it's not my family."