Free Range Jailbirds

This pod is awesome!! This reminds me of the birth of Australia. lol
Does it work? great question...since we know our prison system is inherently flawed and just produces more pissed off criminals. But as innocent as this place looks...it scares me that the argument could also be made that it would open up the door to a form of more extreme "labor camps".

With 1 in every 100 people incarcerated in the U.S this might be a nice option.

Only 5 have escaped in the last ten years! that's an amazing statistic! It sounds like such a great concept, yet I don't see that happening here anytime soon.

i love this concept and completely agree with it.

As someone in a state that has a prison system that is horribly awry (California) such a holistic approach is really fascinating. I was recently transcribing some interviews with prisoners that have a "privilege yard" and it was the same kind of idea -- gives them motivation to works towards something, much like remaining on this farm and not going back to closed prison. You had some great interviews and most importantly, a really original story here. It really makes you think. Good work!

This was the best! In the US we use prison as a business- sweatshop labor that creates hardened criminals and sharpens their skills rather than offering options that could be used. The only thing that would have been better would be if they were offered the opportunity or option to go into organic no gmo farming! I loved it and I will spread the word- maybe one day we'll have a majority of real social programs instead of real social problems.

BRAVO!!! Hopefully this impacts someone in a high position in the united states so we can experiment with this type of rehabilitation.... the key is having them serve at least half there sentence in a traditional prison.... excellent pod!!

Someone said "with 1 in every 100 people this would be a great idea".
And, how exactly would we pay for that?
Sure costs are less- but building prisons like this for millions, even thousands..... it's just not going to happen. Not anytime soon.

The reason prisons like this [and see, 5 star prison] can even be a plausible idea, let alone happen, in these European countries is because they don't have 1 in every 100 people jailed, and so their resources [money] aren't already stretched thin.
This wouldn't happen here, not for decades. Not until there is a total and complete reworking of the system [like jailing non-violent criminals for decades, and violent criminals sometimes for less, etc etc].

It's a great idea, and sure we can "take note". But nothing like this will happen until A LOT of other things change.

Man this is a very tnteresting Pod! Good job!

Great story! There is a lot of truth to the philosophy behind this. "If you treat people around you good they will treat you good back. What you do to your surroundings you do to yourself." Although it is not likely that the US would replicate this exactly, there are some things that could be done now that would help.

It may sound crazy but this is my thought. If prisoners were given a pet to take care of they would have a sense of purpose while in isolation. Pet therapy is very affective. An animal's love is unconditional and doesn't judge. When the pet returns the love, they will learn to open up their good emotions and strengthen their ability to have good feelings.

Maybe shelter animals could be placed with them. Being kind and compassionate is within everyone, but sometimes we need to learn how to utilize these emotions to overcome the bad.

Our prison system needs to change because as they are now they are creating more problems.

OK sorry for my better late than neverness.
This kind of Prison is crazy cool. All the Prisoners seemed to be in better spirits than most of the closed prisoners that I have seen. I'm not sure that something like that can work for everybody. Some people snapped and did what they did because they felt there was not a better or easier way to get to that end. Others just broke and killed someone and they regret it.
If you are a person that has no regret over what you did or has some mental illness then I don't think an Eco-Prison will work for people like that. Keys, a boat and power tools could lead to problems.
BUT I like the idea for prisoners that are ready to change.
Right ON…Change is good, Change is permanent!!

I'm really impressed. I realize that this is structured as a different kind of prison to help change those who want it, but I could see one living day to day here with a good quality of life.. a commune of sorts. The work is hard, but youŕe really off the grid and in a beautiful environment. I guess I'm a little envious because I've helped run a "homestead" so to speak (just to live and not make money). I had to literally spend the last of my savings to try what these people are doing. But I really am impressed :)