60 Minutes visits a prison that would shock most Americans. Is Germany's prison philosophy the answer?
On Sunday's 60 Minutes, an inmate convicted of murder described the German prison system as a "fairy tale."
After 15 years in prison, Bernd Junge, who shot a woman in cold blood, enjoys weekend leave. Bill Whitaker met him in a picturesque lakeside town, where he ate ice cream sundaes with his relatives.
One viewer compared German prisons to another fantasy land:
Beyond weekend leave, inmates can take yoga classes, roam about freely, and cook their own meals on their cell block. Some cells look like studio apartments or college dorm rooms:
Wow...German's worst prison cells/rooms would cost $2,000 a month in Manhattan @60Minutes
— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) April 3, 2016
This viewer was ready to pack his bags:
Let me get this straight? I get busted for selling drugs and go to prison in Germany. I get my own room that is nice as...
Posted by Jason Growel on Sunday, April 3, 2016
Others wanted the U.S. to sign up for the German reforms:
Still other viewers were appalled by the concept of crime without punishment:
@60Minutes So their victims didn't deserve futures? Let the murderers rot. These liberal types are pathetic.
— My World at Six (@worldatsix) April 2, 2016
Then there was this skeptical reaction:
@60Minutes we won't do things differently here because too much money is involved. We screwed up the system now we need to fix it.
— Annette Browder (@AnnetteBrowder) April 3, 2016
And one viewer added the German approach could be a key that America's prisons shouldn't throw away:
Watching @60Minutes story on the German prison system which focuses on rehabilitation. So important to see that there is another way.
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) April 3, 2016
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