Baker tells others that she feels the Colony is better for the women than sending them to prison. Do you think this is true?

BookBrowse Book Club Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart
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Baker tells others that she feels the Colony is better for the women than sending them to prison. Do you think this is true?

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Probably not. At least in prison there are parole boards and attorneys to interact with for assistance. No doubt there are some imprisoned who should not be due to faulty trial processes or the like. The Colony had none of that.

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I do not think Baker’s statement is true. There isn’t an appeals process. There aren’t any safeguards to ensure honesty, and these women are mostly quite young.

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Well, since most of the women hadn’t done anything neither alternative is okay.

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I disagree. Some of the punishments at the Colony seem harsher than would be allowed in prison. There is no legal entity overseeing what Baker does and no institutionalized system for the women to appeal her decisions.

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I don’t think so. There are no rules or regulations at the Colony.. The girls didn’t even know when they were getting out. In prison at least you have chance of parole or getting out for good behavior.

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I am so horrified that they had no parent involvement, no Lawyers and no oversight or advocate or social workers. What a nightmare!

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Karen_K, I agree, this was a nightmare. There was no oversight, unclear rules and no appeal process. But most importantly, no one cared!

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It’s just a different type of prison. Not much better.

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After reading this I feel they are one in the same…Baker believes she is making a difference. Her attitude makes it different. But cruelty and punishment exist as in prison.

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I don’t think the Colony is better than prison. At least with prison, there are rules and procedures which give the women some rights and knowledge about what is going to happen.

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Even considering the horrific conditions that inmates often face in prison, at least there seems some measure of oversight and due process in the legal system. The colony-type institutions had done of these protections.

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There are rules in prison. The Colony seems to be run at the whims of people who are broken, themselves.

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I disagree. At least in prison, you have an end date. There are also avenues for appeals. Also, in prison family is allowed to visit.