To those of us in the States, it's a fairly familiar sight to see convicts and defendants wearing fetching orange jumpsuits both on TV and picking up trash on the highway. Now it seems Britain is following siut (hoho), but some civil liberties groups are protesting that defendants may not get a fair trial if forced to wear the suits, and it could be detrimental to the rehabillitation of young offenders.
BBC story
They say that uniforms degrade people. The US justic system has no problem with that aspect. Yet in Britain and in the non-public schools here, we put out schoolkids in uniforms. Are we trying to degrade them too? I'm getting confused. :???:
I've heard many a time in the UK that we are "too soft on prisoners", giving them nice clean cells and regular hot meals etc. I assumed that whilst people moaned about it, prisoners in developed countries were generally treated in the same way. Well we went on a tour of the Ann Arbor Police Department today and the toilets in the cells were
unbelievable. And I would hazard a guess that this is one of the better police stations to be taken to in this area :shock: I don't exactly disagree with the idea that the prisoners don't need to be overly comfortable and I guess the bog was technically clean, but I was just very very surprised.
I guess if they haven't been convicted there may be an argument. If they've been convicted then they forfeit their rights.
It does seem Britain is being dragged kicking and screaming into the present. No one minds being on camera just about everywhere, but everyone gets their knickers in a twist at the thought of 90 day detention on terrorist investigation.
It's all beyond me, but then I'm old enough to remember when policemen were respected and gave you a clip round the ear, or told your parents you were out of order and then they'd give you a clip round the ear. When teachers were paid a reasonable amount and were feared and respected, and yes, it may have had it's drawbacks, but political correctness and tolerance are two things i no longer have much time for.
I want to see courts in Britain open to the idea of sentence being passed and then the victims, or the victims relatives being allowed to speak and tell the convicted person exactly what they think of them. But I'm weird. I actually think the victim gets overlooked. The old song of "society made me do it" doesn't wash anymore.
They say that uniforms degrade people.
I'm sure that reassures the military of the world.
I don't think I was ever very keen on wearing a school uniform when I was a kid. The school down the road from us never wore one - probably one of the few state schools in Britain not to.
Really it was just another way to get in trouble, as if there weren't enough ways, Your Socks aren't White, You're Wearing Trainers, Your Skirt Is Too Short etc. I suppose it could be argued that it stops children wearing revealing clothing or gang colors, but so long as a dress code is in place, I don't think there's too much to worry about letting children express themselves through clothing. I'm not sure if the UK thinks it's degrading children, but many professions have to wear uniforms, military, police, fire dept, NHS nurses. Hey, even boy scouts and girl guides do, and that's voluntary.
Funny you posted this as I was reading yesterday a review in the Chicago Tribune about Bad Girls (on BBCAmerica) and the writer was amazed to find out the UK lets prisoners wear their own clothes, make-up and jewelry. I do think that if someone appears in court dressed in a jumpsuit they automatically look guilty to everyone. I realize there is the issue that they can escape, but with all the leg irons and chains and stuff I'm surprised anyone is able to.
Haven't really been to a UK jail. Went to the Boulder County Jail once to bail someone out and it stunk. I'd say they don't want to pay out too much on the janitorial staff budget. I was only in the waiting area in between a bunch of women that belonged on The Jerry Springer Show and some loud frat boys that obviously hadn't been to bed yet.
Whatever happened to the arrows on the suit convict carb?
I have no problems with school uniforms, no, they are not perfect, but they do hold back the tide of "well this person is wearing these clother which cost $1000 so obviously I need them" which I get from step-daughter all the time, and I don't think teenage girls should be walking around around at 12/13 with their crotches and tits hanging out...which I also see at my stepdaughters school.
If they wanted to humiliate them, they could make them wear cute pink with fluffy bunnies on.
They say that uniforms degrade people.
I'm sure that reassures the military of the world.
and of course cops and cocktail waitresses .
People on trial, here in the states, do not wear the prison gear for their trial. They already have one "false" piece of evidence against them in that they are accused, it is not evidence but it colours the perception. To wear prison clothes further colours the perception. It is the particular uniform that is degrading, not uniforms in general.
Annie, I think that the victims and families have no place in the punishment phase. The courts are charged with providing uniform punishment. Where two people commit identical crimes, they could be sent away for different stretches because one pretty little victim told a sob story and the other, a large homely victim, simply enumerated the facts.