Inmates at Brazil prison pedal for electricity

Not exactly sure if this is precisely business-related, but it does involve large organizations and government and whatnot so here goes:

Inmates at Brazil prison pedal for electricity - and their freedom

<Inmate> Silva is part of an innovative program that allows inmates at a prison in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state to reduce their sentences in exchange for generating power to help illuminate the town at night.

By pedaling the prison's stationary bikes, the inmates charge a battery that's used to power 10 street lamps along the town's riverside promenade. For every three eight-hour days they spend on the bikes, Silva and the voluntary program's other participants get one day shaved off their sentences.

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Well, if it works for them, and the people are happy... it's better than a chain gang.
~KF

In some respects its very fair, giving something back ie safer streets, getting fit and therefore being happier, empowering the inmate to reduce their sentence. Cant see a downside.

I ll try to find more info about it, but i think its probably a joke.

Ok, they are actually using the two bikes to generate a tiny amount of energy but its a start...

it's better than a chain gang...

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Whenever I see the phrase "chain gang" I can't help but to think of the movie "Cool Hand Luke" with Paul Newman (Also when I see a busty girl washing a car...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kliy32YWFcU). The physical conditioning has made him tough with a lot of endurance, and he runs away from the dogs so fast and so far that the dogs die from exhaustion when they refuse to rest.

In the book "Papillon" (movie: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman), the guy escapes several times from a South American prison, only to be caught and sent back. He chews on coca leaves to stave off exhaustion, and jogs across Central America.

I'm surprised they don't have 12V RV-TVs with no battery, just inmates that must pedal in order to watch the movies.

Eight hours sat on a bike seat? They'll end up feeling like they dropped the soap in the shower.

In the book "Papillon" (movie: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman), the guy escapes several times from a South American prison, only to be caught and sent back. He chews on coca leaves to stave off exhaustion, and jogs across Central America.

I'm surprised they don't have 12V RV-TVs with no battery, just inmates that must pedal in order to watch the movies.

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I studied for a year at the University of Texas Law School. I participated in a death row clinic, where we prepared appeal cases for convicts who had clearly suffered miscariages of justice. Whilst I was there the unit successfully got a Mexican guy off death row, through brilliant legal tactics. He was a clear two foot short of all witness descriptions of the killer, a good 50 pounds lighter, looked nothing like him, and in fact the only circumstantial evidence was that he happened to have the same name as the original suspect (the name being something very unique like Miguel Sanchez). The original suspect was an American born Mexican American, who spoke English, our guy was an illegal Mexican immigrant who couldn't speak English, and had proceeded to trial (and conviction) with a drunk incompetant attorney.

I will never forget the drive into the death row prison when we would visit, and the stench of the pig farm. Basically you get the option of working for your keep, and if you don't, you get put into a cell that is about the size of a small van. Don't think I am a bleeding heart. Some of the guys in that place were hardcore, like tormented dogs. The things those guys would say to some of the girls in the clinic when we walked past their cells would make Max Hardcore blush.

Death Row makes me sick.

even if someone has done something terrible, i don't think its justice to take another ones life.
The legal system is pathetic,

IF there was a vote every 10 or so years on all the laws i would be happy.
That will never ever happen.

That would have to include the law demanding a vote on all laws every ten years

why not

I think it's an awesome idea.. sheriff joe in arizona already does this. Inmates need to peddle to get the tv working

I do like the idea of extracting work from inmates in order to help pay for their keep. I believe utilisation of inmate labour is very common in the U.S.A (there's a figure somewhere about the percentage of U.S-built domestic appliances they assemble), but AFAIK non-existent in the UK. Here we just get lumped with a cost of £40K per inmate per year.

It is an isolated initiative of a judge and a prision director.

Together with the director of a prison, they install bicycles connected to alternators and batteries.

The charged batteries are used to illuminate part of a street and a square.

Things becomes much better in the prision after that.

Here in Brazil, 3 days of work = -1 day in prision (for some kinds of crime). So, the saddles are disputed!

- Fabio