NanoFuture's Barless Prison

The basic premise behind this future technology is that prison inmates will be injected with specific nano-drugs that can be triggered via radio control.

According to the scenario, prisons would not need bars or walls; instead, a simple series of perimeters could be set up around the facility that, in combination with the radio-activated drugs, would effectively prevent any escapes. The first perimeter, once crossed, would trigger nausea in the inmate; ultimately, if the prisoner managed to somehow go far enough away from the prison, a radio signal would be sent to trigger a fatal response from the nano-drugs.

The prison guards would also be capable of triggering one or all of the nano-drugs on specific inmates or groups of inmates to ensure order within the facility.

This is a fascinating scenario since there are numerous reasons individuals might be for or against this type of prison.

First, it may seem appealing that finally a virtually escape-proof prison could be built, and that prison officials would be able to exert a very high level of control, without needing to resort to direct violence.

Second, we could also imagine that, in time, these prisons might be cheaper than existing prisons today, since physical barriers would not be necessary.

However, there are many reasons why we should be apprehensive about such an application of nanotechnology.

The Center for Nanotechnology and Society mentions some of the possible side-effects of injecting such potentially lethal drugs into a human system. Of foremost concern is the idea that an inmate would be required to take certain treatments the remainder of his or her life to counteract the degradation of these nano-drugs. This suggests that there is a high probability that there may be long-term complications of this approach to prison enforcement.

There is also the concern that if, somehow, a prisoner managed to disable the radio controls, then suddenly all of the inmates would be able to escape. This is different than the situation in most prisons today, since escapes can only very rarely happen on a large scale – usually only one or a handful of people can escape at once.

Another concern is that, if these drugs are triggered by radio control, that there might be instances of misfiring or malfunctioning. After all, radio signals travel through our bodies, dozens of frequencies at a time, every second. Just as individuals sometimes have their radios triggered by their cellular phones, or inadvertently hear other people’s telephone calls, it is feasible that nausea or even death could be inadvertently triggered.

Finally, there is also the question of whether or not people – namely, prison guards – should possess this level of control over other people – inmates. After all, people escape from prison on a fairly regular basis in today’s society. However, if these people are later apprehended, their punishment is rarely – almost never, unless they committed additional crimes – death. But in this scenario, authorities would be setting-up a situation in which death was assured for such an offense. Should modern society accept the premise that death is warranted for people who desire freedom? Many of whom – if we assume the judicial system in our NanoFuture is equally as fallible as ours today – may actually be innocent and by all rights deserving of freedom?

These are difficult issues. Let them know what you think: NanoFutures