Confessed killer of 77 could get 21-year sentence in Norway; is system too lax, or could US learn from it?

Admitted mass-murderer Anders Breivik says he is not
insane. The man who has confessed to killing 77 people in
Norway last year continues to claim he did it to prevent
his country from being overtaken by Muslims. He says he
committed no crime.

Breivek has been on the stand in his trial for more than a
week.

If he ends up in prison, he will almost certainly be
housed in a place much nicer than any prison in America
and in a place where the focus is on rehabilitation and
not punishment.

Norway’s philosophy is based on treating the inmates as
humanely as possible so they learn from their time locked
up and walk out of prison better suited to return to
society. Education and social services focus on building
up inmates so they are less likely re-offend, and the
program seems to work.

Only 20 percent of inmates ever return to prison in
Norway. Compare that with the estimates of 50-to-60
percent recidivism in the U.S. and Britain where the
prison system is based more on punishment. Some experts
believe that turns criminals into even worse criminals.

“We have a system that is more influenced by Continental
European thinking than the Anglo-American system,” said
Norwegian Ambassador Wegger Strommen.

The Norwegian ambassador to the United States is also a
lawyer and a former judge in Norway, and he believes the
systems in the U.S. and his country are not all that
different.

But Norway has no death penalty, and sentences are light
by American standards. Most murderers serve less than 14
years, and the maximum sentence for any crime is 21 years,
even a crime like killing 77 people.

But Norway has something America doesn’t, Strommen said.
It has the ability to continually add time in five year
blocks if a prisoner is still considered dangerous.

“You got eight years. You served your eight years, but
the authorities come to the conclusion that you are
dangerous, and you shouldn’t be let out, although you have
not yet committed a new crime,” said Ambassador Strommen.

So it’s conceivable that five year blocks could be
continually stacked up after one’s sentence to equal life
in prison.

The prisons themselves are different also. They are not
like the warehouses you will find in the U.S. Some look
more like hotels or resorts, some are like rural farms.

At some locations, prisoners can walk freely without
supervision. Murderers can catch rays on chaise lounges
after a day’s work with chainsaws or knives. There are
individual kitchens in apartment-style homes, walking
trails, tennis courts, horseback riding and weekend stays
by the family.

Ambassador Strommen acknowledges some of his country’s
prisons do have those features, but he doesn’t buy the
perception that they are easy or comfortable.

“I’m not sure I’ll subscribe to your description of what
these facilities are like,” he said. “I think it’s
rougher to be in prison, no matter what. One thing is the
physical surrounding. I think the psychological fact that
you’re there and the social stigma is also very
important.”

One question is whether a more Norwegian way of thinking
could work in the U.S. prison system.

A lot of experts say not on such a large scale because
there are too many prisoners in America to provide a
Norwegian way of rehab. There are almost as many people
in American prisons as there is in the entire population
of Norway.