What are Federation prisons like on earth?

[The Rock]

I know that we saw a little glimpse of a Federation penal colony in the first Voyager episode, but we didn't see much. All we saw was Paris doing some kind of job.

With 24th century earth being the closest thing to a utopia, do you think Federation earth prisons would be like minimum security prisons? I mean they couldn't be like resorts, because they wouldn't want criminals feeling like they are on vacation. But they probably wouldn't be anything as close to brutal as today's prisons are, right?

 

[borgboy]

I'd think their prisons would be a lot safer, and there would be more of a focus on actually rehabilitating the prisoners. Not a resort, no, but you wouldn't have to be afraid for your life and safety.

 

[Tosk]

Paris was just fixing some electronic whatsit in the middle of a big garden. Seemed pretty nice to me. He had a leg-band on, so I'm guessing not much caging going on.

 

[T'Girl]

Ensign Ro seemed to be saying that her time in a Starfleet stockade wasn't a vacation. Prisons in the future would be like our in that there would be different levels, depending on a prisoners offense and how much trouble they were going to be after arriving at the prison.

Paris wasn't dishing up a lot of trouble and attitude.

But a prisoner who constantly attempted escape, assaulted the guards and other prisoners, vandalized the facilities, would not have the same treatment as Paris.

And consideration would have to be made for some of the super-powered beings that we see. Beings with hyper strength, extra mental abilities, psychic abilities, shape shifters, salt vampires, etc.

How would you go about keeping a Jem'Hadar in a cell for a protracted period of time if they really wanted out?

And if there was a criminal from a species who lived a thousand years, would a ten year sentence be all that big a deal?

 

[Melakon]

How would you go about keeping a Jem'Hadar in a cell for a protracted period of time if they really wanted out?

Deny them access to ketracel-white.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

How would you go about keeping a Jem'Hadar in a cell for a protracted period of time if they really wanted out?

Deny them access to ketracel-white.

A week or so of withdrawal leading to death isn't a very protracted period of time.

 

[T'Girl]

And don't they basically go crazy during withdrawl?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Yep.

And besides, there's no way one could capture a Jem'Hadar alive anyway.

 

[Melakon]

Well, I didn't say it was a perfect solution.

 

[Last Redshirt]

How would you go about keeping a Jem'Hadar in a cell for a protracted period of time if they really wanted out?

Seems more likely that they would kill themselves before being captured. I don't think the Federation has ketracel-white to give to them, and it's not like they're going to tell the Federation what's going on. I doubt the Jem'Hadar are really up-to-speed on the front.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

There is a maximum security Federation prison called Ananke Alpha, which was built to house the most impossible-to-hold inmates. The Founder leader from the Dominion War, for example, is there. It's largely automated and is located far from any planetary system.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I wouldn't say they're impossible to capture. Catch them by surprise and stun them and they don't have a chance to kill themselves. It would just be a LOT of effort and ultimately rather pointless. You'd probably have to keep them fully immobilised (presumably with force fields) or else permanently sedated/in stasis in order to keep them from killing themselves in the cell, and you'd certainly never get any information out of them, nor any interest from the founders in a prisoner exchange. Maybe Section 31 might try to use them for medical research, but I doubt a regular federation prison would ever see a Jem'Hadar.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'd say it would depend on the risk level of the prisoners. For minimum security, your level of freedom within the facility might be comparable to current prisoners, only with better medical care, better hygenic conditions, more nutritious food, and more safety.

Maximum security would probably be a bunch of moderately comfortable cells surrounded by forcefields.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would be very interested to know what the conditions at Ananke Alpha are like, and how they could possibly hold a Founder.

Obviously the prison would have to have some way of preventing them from changing shape (otherwise they'd escape), but how can this be done without harming them like what happened with Odo in Improbable Cause/Die is Cast?

 

[vulcan redshirt]

The device used on Odo probably didnt do any damage if used for a short time, so theres no reason why it couldnt be used for short term holding / restraint whenever access to their cell is required, but switched off at other times.

However, since a changeling has been able to assume the lifestyle of a space-borne lifeform, they obviously dont need to breathe. Maybe the best form of changeling prison would be a completely sealed cell with no doors or ventilation systems etc, with anything required in the cell being beamed in. A shapeshifting inhibitor device could be used temporarily if anything needed to be beamed out, or the prisoner needed to be moved or interrogated again.

Even in such a cell, I would expect that whatever provision that could reasonably be made for their comfort and intellectual stimulation would be made.

 

[Pondwater]

I think Federation prisons equate to minimum security country clubs. Even the psychiatric one Gul Dukat was kept was seemingly comfortable. And that guy was a mass murderer, even though he wasn't imprisoned for his crimes during the occupation.

 

[Push The Button]

I would assume that in the 24th century Utopia that is the Federation, you would still have criminals of every type, just not nearly as many as we have now. With basic needs met for every citizen, discrimination based on race, gender or species (nearly) a thing of the past, and the availability of free medical and mental health care, not to mention the vast educational and career opportunities, you're not going to see a lot of street gangs, drug cartels or organized crime families anymore. And if there really is no more "money", then there would be no more career criminals trying to scam or steal it.

There will always be screwups and outcasts of course (Harry Mudd comes to mind), but in far smaller numbers. Prisons really would be devoted to rehabilitation, and not to warehousing undesirables until their sentences had been completed.

 

[Stoo]

Yeah, exactly. Earth prisons are going to be less brutal places because there aren't anywhere near so many brutal people being held there.

Also, housing of prisoners of war is a rather separate issue.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

You can hold a founder just by completely surrounding her with a forcefield.

I wouldn't go as far as to say the prisons are 'Country clubs'. You don't get catered meals, you don't get to spend all day playing golf and laying around in luxury. But, you do probably get relatively comfortable surroundings with mediocre tasting nutritious meals, access to literature and an outdoor area.

There would be far fewer people in prison though, since there's no poverty there's less incentive for property crimes, since there's good access to mental health treatment there are fewer violent crimes. You'd probably have mostly crimes of passion, people just acting out and causing disturbances, people violating trade laws, things like that.

 

[Drone]

While lack of resources to administer them or physical space to house them would probably not be an issue, why not utilize holoprograms, at least for the prisoners' rehabilitative program methodology? It would give the staff wide latitude of choices in customizing individualized approaches depending on the type and severity of offense, as well as perhaps, how certain elements of an indivdual's specific background might be deemed to have played a role in leading them down the wrong path. Depending on the prisoner and the scenario involved, could be safeties on or off.


Pretty energy intensive I guess, unless the number of inmates in the particular facility was fairly limited. Still, perhaps worth a thought. As representative of an enlightened society, I doubt we would see any variant, technologically updated as it would be, of the Demolition Man programme though!!!