Better off in jail?

Prisoners Fear Freedom in Crisis-Hit Europe
 
Excerpt:

"When you're released from prison you become a social leper...or low-skilled ex-con" he told CNBC.

"If I had a pound for every person I've met who said to me "I thought prison was going to be the hard bit," he told CNBC.

"At least in prison you have a roof over your head and food in your stomach. The moment you walk out of prison you become a social leper, a low-skilled ex-con - you are completely lost and you become nothing."

With 75 percent of employers saying they would reject someone with a conviction, Bath told CNBC that it was extremely hard for ex-offenders to return to the "straight and narrow" and find a job in a society where even the most skilled and experienced workers cannot find employment.

Indeed, with most prisoners reported to be "financially excluded" even before they enter prison and a third having no bank account, according to research by the Civil and Social Justice Survey, the chances of "going straight" and returning to a decent a law-abiding way of life when no-one will employ you is slim, Bath told CNBC.

Comment: Some violent criminals should never be released. Most non-violent (exluding the Thomas Petter / "Bernie" Madoff level of offender) will ultimately be released. Some jobs (I'm thinking the finacial services sector) will not hire ex-cons.