The Prison System Should Be Abolished - 1237 Words

Like Angela Davis, I believe that the prison system needs to be abolished. The prison system which is a significant part of punishment is incompetent and deeply flawed in the United States. Prison system reform needs immediate attention while abolition permanently will require time. Nietzsche’s theory of punishment explains how punishment come about in society and Davis’s critique of the prison system helps back my argument that the prison system needs to be abolished. Traditionally, there have been four justifications for punishment: deterrence, confinement, rehabilitation and retribution. While these methods can be flawed at some point in history they served as primary reasons for the justification of punishment. Recently, there has been an epistemic shift in thinking about punishment where now it is focused on retribution and incarceration. The emphasis on this method has lead to an increase in incarceration and the rise of a prison system. While we acknowledge that there will always be a need for society to punish criminals in order to protect the rights of individuals, however a prison/prison system is not the correct way to handle such problems. Currently the prison system is being used an economic tool for private companies to exploit cheap labor from inmates. Known as the prison-industrial complex private enterprises are now able to build more prisons to â€Å"benefit† society and themselves as the prison population grows. Since the 1980’s the growth in prisonShow MoreRelatedDeath Penalty Should Not Be Abolished in China751 Words   |  4 Pagesshouldn’t be abolished in China Death penalty is one of the oldest punishments in the world, it means end of criminal’s life by law. Nowadays, the issue of whether the death penalty should be abolished in China is still a controversial topic. Many people think death penalty is a bad way to punishment criminals because this method violates humanitarianism and it’s also a bit cruel. Besides, two of third countries in the world have abolished it. So many people say our country should do the sameRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?. The Death Penalty982 Words   |  4 PagesShould the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty is a â€Å"term that applies to capital punishment and is the worst penalty given for committing a murder or an atrocious assault.† (Black s Law Dictionary). Death penalty has been a part of human society and is legally approved for centuries. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. Death sentencesRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?1359 Words   |  6 PagesShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished? 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One downfall to capital punishment includes the risk of taking an innocent life such as Cameron Todd Willingham who was wrongfully convicted in 1992 and executed in 2004. There is also a risk of having a botched execution. A mistake might be made during the procedure, making it long and painful for the prisonersRead MoreBanning the Death Penalty1620 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Should the death penalty be banned internationally as a type of punishment? This form of punishment has been quite a controversial issue worldwide for quite a few years. The death penalty for hundreds of thousands of years has been a punishment for criminals throughout the world; in the past ranging from what we would now consider small crimes to huge ones, to the present where most if not all those punished with death penalty are for fairly large crimes. Actual laws involving deathRead MoreJuvenile Offenders And The Juvenile Justice System950 Words   |  4 Pages Since 1899 when the juvenile justice system was first created it has undergone quite a series of changes relative to how they go about the overall handling of juvenile offenders in the criminal justice system. In most states the only way for juveniles to be tried as adults is if they are over the age of 16 or if they have committed a violent crime such as rape or assault but recently many juveniles are being tried as adults for even far lesser crimes. It also has been well documented for a numberRead MoreEssay Parole Should Be Abolished1714 Words   |  7 PagesParole Should Be Abolished The procedure known as â€Å"parole† in the criminal justice system has been in practice in the United States since the late 1800’s when it was begun in a reformatory in Elmira, New York. It’s process provides for early conditional release from prison for convicted felons, after part of their prison sentence has been served, and they are found to be eligible for parole based on factors such as: conduct while incarcerated, rehabilitative efforts/progress, type of offense