Persuasive Speech Outline For Prison

Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals.
Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders. Over time, I can only imagine what it turns them into. We are a country that has the highest population of incarcerated humans. Unfortunately, we have begun to spend more on the prison system than educating the children of America. This very alarming and saddening. If we are not trying our hardest to make sure that children of America are learning to the best of their abilities, what is going to stop them from showing up in jail also.

History of prisons- Why were they created? What is their purpose? What are we doing to actually reform them?
a) Who has jail helped? Most inmates seen repeatedly coming in and out of jail? (revolving doors)
b) If they are trying to make prisons so bad, why are 3 out of 4 prisoners returning within 5 years (Bureau of Justice)
II. Population- what is it made up of?
a) As of 2014 there is 1,561,525 people in jail (BJS)
b) 1,448,564 men
c) 112,961 women
d) Why do we have the most incarcerated people?
III. Cost
a) How can we lower costs?
b) Depending on the state, it costs $40,000 to house an inmate
c) We are now spending more on the imprisonment of people instead of education the children of America.
d) It will cost us less in the long run if we can fully rehabilitate inmates so they don’t keep coming back.
IV. What works?
a) List who the prison system has worked for.
b) Jail, rehab, community service, education, social services, Draconian