The not-so-terrible fate awaiting Norway’s alleged mass killer

Posted By Robert Zeliger Monday, July 25, 2011 - 12:34 PM Share

Among the many questions that remain over why and how a gunman was able to kill at least 76 people in Norway on Friday, perhaps nothing is more infuriating than the cushy fate that seems to await Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect. If you're going to go on a maniacal murder rampage and then not have the decency to include yourself in the body count -- Norway is the place to do it.

Norway takes the mantra of rehabilitation to an extreme. Not only are there no death sentences, there aren't life sentences. The maximum Breivik can face is 21 years (not per murder, but in total). Yes, there is a caveat that says a prisoner deemed to still be a threat can have his sentence expanded in five year blocks -- but in a very real sense, that means he will come up for parole every five years for the rest of his life -- or until he is no longer seen as a threat. Few killers in Norway serve more than 14 years.

The Norwegian prison system takes seriously the philosophy that inmates should be treated as humanely as possible and that jail sentences should be seen less as punishment than as an opportunity to reintegrate troubled people back into society. According to the numbers, this approach has some benefits -- only 20 percent of prisoners there eventually return to prison, as opposed to 50 - 60 percent in the United States and Britain. Violent crime is much lower than in other societies.

"Both society and the individual simply have to put aside their desire for revenge, and stop focusing on prisons as places of punishment and pain," one prison official said last year. "Depriving a person of their freedom for a period of time is sufficient punishment in itself without any need whatsoever for harsh prison conditions."

That's a fair point, but can the theory hold in a case like this? Will Breivik be seen as a person who can be rehabilitated and returned to society? And if not, what does the soft Norwegian prison system mean for him?

Wifi and Rock climbing walls

Norway doesn't have many jails to choose from (there are only 3,300 incarcerated prisoners in the whole country, compared to 2.5 million in the United States). Last year, Norway inaugurated its newest prison -- a campus that embodies its principles of rehabbing the worst of society.

With prisoners that include rapists and murderers, Halden Prison -- the second largest in the country and the most secure facility -- looks more like a sleepaway camp than a traditional prison -- architects say they purposely tried to avoid an "institutional feel." When it opened, some news accounts called it the "most humane" prison in the world. According to a Time magazine story last year:

Halden is spread over 75 acres (30 hectares) of gently sloping forest in southeastern Norway. The facility boasts amenities like a sound studio, jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Unlike many American prisons, the air isn't tinged with the smell of sweat and urine. Instead, the scent of orange sorbet emanates from the "kitchen laboratory" where inmates take cooking courses.... To avoid an institutional feel, exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanized steel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from the woodlands. And while there is one obvious symbol of incarceration -- a 20-ft. (6 m) concrete security wall along the prison's perimeter -- trees obscure it, and its top has been rounded off.

Prisoners' cells include flat screen TVs, minifridges, and long windows that let in more sunlight. Prisoners share kitchens and living rooms with sofas and coffee tables. There's a state-of-the-art gym with a climbing wall and expensive artwork commissioned for the prison. At other maximum security prisons, inmates have access to the internet, even in their jail cells.

Prison guards don't carry guns. And they are encouraged to be outgoing and friendly toward the inmates -- eating together and playing sports to "create a sense of family," one official said.

Other lower-security prisons in Norway (where violent criminals tend to end up after a few years) are even cushier -- with tennis courts, horseback riding, beaches, and ski trails (prisoners can participate in ski-jumping competitions in the winter at one facility). At an island prison (which includes murders and rapists as well) inmates work on a farm and live in "comfortable wooden houses shared between four to six inmates."

Societal criticism of prison life is somewhat faint (most of the criticism in the past has had to do with the fear that cushy jails could lure more organized crime to the country (one politician argued that some of the nicer prisons should "only be for Norwegian criminals.")

Time noted last summer that: "Norway's cultural values and attitudes toward crime mean the public sees no need to push for tougher penalties or harsher prisons."

The article also noted, "In Norway, acts of extreme violence are seen as aberrant events, not symptoms of national decay."

This unprecedented case could make Norwegians reexamine their thoughts on incarceration. For now, Breivik has been remanded to custody for eight weeks (he'll be held in isolation for the first month -- meaning no outside communication with anyone besides his lawyers). After that, if convicted, the alleged mass killer of at least 76 people may end up in a prison with a lovely rock-climbing wall to keep himself occupied.

AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:EUROPE, TERRORISM
 

LUKENYE

2:56 PM ET

July 25, 2011

a reflection on us

Some would see these prisons, and their sentences for criminals as cushy, or soft of criminals, but it seems to be more of a reflection on a society that has made many right choices. Here in the US many people lack access to the facilities that seem commonplace at these prisons. It is not only the cooking classes, tennis courts, and internet access, but housing, food, and of course medical care. It seems to say something quite strong about our society if prisoners in other countries live better than many Americans. There must be something about the rehabilitation aspect of the prisons also, as can be seen by the numbers. Those quoted above, and the number of murders a year (which I've read is about 40 per year), as opposed to just the numbers of murders in my city of New Orleans, (over 100 this year so far). While this can also be attributed to many other things, (gun culture, social problems, problems with law enforcement). This could be the start of a diatribe on capitalism, and our society, but I will leave it at that.

 

GRANT

3:43 PM ET

July 25, 2011

Considering the rate and

Considering the rate and nature of crimes in Norway I'd say their lighter sentences are probably justified.

 

ABACUSNOW

4:38 PM ET

July 25, 2011

Fact checking

I take issue with the way Mr. Zeliger uses the statement, "there are only 3,300 incarcerated prisoners [in Norway], compared to 2.5 million in the United States."

While this is correct, perhaps it would be better to clarify that the population of Norway is 4.8 million, while the population of the United States is 308 million. When you do the calculations, the numbers aren't as dramatic as the author would have it seem.

 

DIANA RELKE

6:07 PM ET

July 25, 2011

rehabilitation vs. revenge

To most American ears, the Norway system will sound outrageous. But that reaction is to be expected in a nation whose justice system is grounded in the lex talionis -- except that too many Americans want two or three eyes for one eye, five or six teeth for one tooth.

Under the Norway system, Breivik will be of far more use to those studying and proposing solutions to domestic terrorism than he would be if they slaughtered him. It will be interesting to see if this seriously bigoted man can be rehabilitated.

 

ANON45

4:14 AM ET

July 26, 2011

Unfortunately...

the young children and adults he killed will never have the chance to be of use, to live their lives. Their families will never see their children again, all the while they will supposedly take comfort in the fact that their children's murderer is being rehabilitated to come back into society and live the life their children aren't living.

There is eye for an eye, and then there is just plain disrespect to the value of a victim's life.

Lets put it this way, the lives of 70+ people, children and adults, murdered in cold blood, are worth 21 years in what amounts to a cushy dorm by the government of Norway. Tell me that doesn't simply strike you as wrong on a fundamental level.

 

CAMILLAM

10:01 PM ET

July 27, 2011

ANON45; This is the opininon

ANON45;
This is the opininon of most Norwegian, including the victims families. This terrorist will never get out of prison, but his living environment may be better than a lot of people are used to. But then again, this is one of the richest contries in the world, so our living standard is different. This is NOT concidered luxury for us. But we are damn sure that his actions will not make us change our system, as that is exactly what he wants.
We do not believe in death penalty, and his actions will not change that.

 

WATCHFULBABBLER

11:25 AM ET

July 26, 2011

Well, what seems to be

Well, what seems to be reasonably effective for "normal" crimes (i.e., aberrant behavior) breaks down when it comes to cold-blooded political violence. I don't think Breivik can be rehabilitated (though I've been proven wrong in the past when it comes to terrorists recanting their actions), but I also don't think it's advisable to build an entire criminal justice system around dealing with extreme aberrations like him (hard cases making bad law and all that). However, I hope that, at a minimum, they can deprive him of oxygen by not letting him publish any more manifestos or communicate with those political hooligans who are going to see him as an inspiration.

 

JHOCKING

9:03 PM ET

August 4, 2011

What a bizarre article. I

What a bizarre article.

I mean, you directly point out that Norway has much fewer inmates, much lower recidivism, and much less violent crime, and yet without providing any support at all for this conclusion you still conclude that the penal system in Norway is too cushy.

That's just straight up saying "the facts are X, Y, and Z, but I believe the opposite."

 

SYBLE NERPIO

4:31 AM ET

August 18, 2011

The not-so-terrible fate awaiting Norway’s alleged mass killer

As anti-Islam extremist Anders Behring Faye Reagan prepares to stand trial for killing 76 people in Oslo and the Utøya island on Friday, journalists are increasingly turning their attention to Norway's unique approach to law enforcement. The Telegraph's Raf Sanchez notes today that Breivik may be sent to Halden Fengsel maximum-security prison (pictured above), where "some of Norway's most hardened criminals, including murderers and rapists" can jog along woodland trails, scale climbing walls, and take cooking courses, while unarmed guards--half of whom are female to create a less aggressive atmosphere--play sports or eat meals with the inmates. The Norwegian prison system focuses on human rights and rehabilitating and reintegrating inmates into society through education and work, Sanchez explains, and there's some evidence that the approach works. "Only around 20 per cent of offenders [are] back behind bars within two years of release, compared to around half of British convicts," he writes. Foreign Policy takes us inside Halden-which has been called the "world's most humane prison"--with a slideshow of prisoners watching flatscreen TVs in their sparkling cells, brushing their teeth in private bathrooms, and playing music in the institution's recording studio.While the Oslo shooting has proven a catalyst for reexamining the country's humane penal system, this isn't the first time the subject has come up.In May, The Daily Mail turned its gaze on a prison on Bastoy Island (One caption read, "An inmate convicted of murder sunbathes outside the wooden cottage where he lives"). When Halden opened in 2010, several outlets ran stories on the posh prison, and Linescrew Productions put together an infomercial.

 

DEMETRIA CAROTENUTO

4:47 AM ET

August 18, 2011

The not-so-terrible fate awaiting Norway’s alleged mass killer

As anti-Islam extremist Anders Behring Breivik prepares to stand trial for killing 76 people in Oslo and the Utøya island on Friday, journalists are increasingly turning their attention to Norway's unique approach to law enforcement .The Telegraph's Raf Sanchez notes today that Breivik may be sent to Halden Fengsel maximum-security prison (pictured above), where "some of Norway's most hardened criminals, including murderers and rapists" can jog along woodland trails, scale climbing walls, and take cooking courses, while unarmed guards--half of whom are female to create a less aggressive atmosphere--play sports or eat meals with the inmates. The Norwegian prison system focuses on human rights and rehabilitating and reintegrating inmates into society through education and work, Sanchez explains, and there's some evidence that the approach works. "Only around 20 per cent of offenders [are] back behind bars within two years of release, compared to around half of British convicts," he writes. Foreign Policy takes us inside abella anderson Halden-which has been called the "world's most humane prison"--with a slideshow of prisoners watching flatscreen TVs in their sparkling cells, brushing their teeth in private bathrooms, and playing music in the institution's recording studio.While the Oslo shooting has proven a catalyst for reexamining the country's humane penal system, this isn't the first time the subject has come up. In May, The Daily Mail turned its gaze on a prison on Bastoy Island (One caption read, "An inmate convicted of murder sunbathes outside the wooden cottage where he lives"). When Halden opened in 2010, several outlets ran stories on the posh prison, and Linescrew Productions put together an infomercial.

 

AXELBROOK

6:48 AM ET

August 19, 2011

HA-HA-HA! I love your

HA-HA-HA! I love your question! I, too, can see Mexico from my house in Texas and I'm no foreign policy expert. Seeing Mexico from my house doesn't make me qualified to be the next Comander in Chief, either. I am fluent in Spanish. Does that make me more qualified? NO! So even if Palin speaks Russian she's still not qualified nor would that make her a foreign policy expert. RIO She probably doesn't even speak Russian and (ooooooh!) she's so close to Russia..

 

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