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Friday, August 24, 2007

Norway - Where only volunteers go to prison.

There is no prison overcrowding problem in Norway because it seems that in that country, "doing time" is optional. About 20% of convicted criminals simply fail to show up to serve their sentence.

According to Aftenposten:
The dilemma facing the prison authorities is that failure to show up at prison is not yet illegal. Although Parliament has passed new legislation making it a criminal offence to skip prison, the law has not yet been implemented and until it is, prison authorities can do nothing but hope that the criminals will eventually show up at the prison gates.
What really amazes me is that apparently 80% of the convicted criminals voluntarily show up to serve their sentences!

1 comment:

Ken Lammers said...

You need to come out to Wise, Virginia for a few court sessions. Furloughs, late reporting dates, bonds for people who have been found guilty - all pretty much daily happenings. And the vast majority of the offenders show up at the jail when they are supposed to.

If you think about it, the situation's almost the same with bonded defendants. Considering the number of bonded defendants who are going to be found guilty and sent to jail/prison, it is amazing that they almost all report to court when they are told to.