In “Bring Back Flogging” the author, Jeff Jacoby suggests that maybe we should adopt some of the punishments of the puritans. He says that Puritan forefathers punished crimes with whipping and branding, but in current times we tend to put someone in jail, no matter the degree of the crime. Jacoby also tells how often, first and second time offenders don’t get jail time, and if one does wind up in jail, it proves rather dangerous. (Jeff Jacoby 196-198)
With Congress out of session, the new President, Andrew Johnson, open a period known as "Presidential Reconstruction", in which he particularly superintend the appointment of unworn possession governments throughout the South. He supervise the convening of state politic conventions populated by delegates whom he judgment to be loyal. Three foremost issues came before the conventions: secession itself, the annulling of servitude, and the Confederate fight duel. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina held conventions in 1865, while Texas ' conventionality did not organize until March 1866. Johnson expectation to prevent deliberation over whether to re-admit the Southern acme by accomplishing full ratification before Congress mee in December.
“The price of keeping criminals in cages is appalling – a common estimate is 30,00 dollars per inmate per year” (197). There are nearly 1.6 million Americans behind bars today, which is approximately forty-eight billion dollars per year. Another of Jacoby’s argument is that those who commit a crime a lot of the times are of the hook because the procedures take a long time. Therefore, allowing these criminals to be freed with any punishment. Allowing flogging in this situation whether they committed the crime or not, it will remind them to go in the correct path.
Jacoby says that those who oppose corporal punishment may argue that it is “too degrading” or “too brutal.” Jacoby mentions that, in today’s society, incarceration is “an all-purpose punishment, suitable -- or so it would seem -- for crimes violent and nonviolent.” However, Jacoby believes that it is prison that is degrading and brutal.
With his hands tied down the pole, the criminal whimpered for help, but no one cared, because all they wanted to see him be punished for the robberies he committed. He became the next to be publicly humiliated and punished with flogging instead of incarceration. Jeff Jacoby’s “Bring Back Flogging” is an intriguing piece of writing that pitches a wild idea that i am unsure is worth catching. Jacoby wrote a thorough essay and presented the idea well but did not have enough evidence to convince his audience.
The “13th” is a documentary about the American system of incarceration and the economic forces behind racism in America especially in people of color. One of the claims that the author mentioned is that today incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is also mentioned that most of the time in society we are defined by race. In the documentary, we can see how African Americans are sentenced for many years since they are too poor to pay their fines or sometimes most of these people plead guilty to get out of jail fast. However, African Americans are separated from their families and also treated inhumanly in prisons just because they are of a particular race.
Cruel and Unusual Rhetoric The article, Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Shame of Three Strikes Laws, by Matt Taibbi, emphasizes while at the same time, educating the audience about the “Frankenstein- like monster that is mandatory- minimum sentencing”. The author goes about this in a quirky way to say the least. From overly detailed and heavily sourced paragraphs, to a couple of grammatical errors. Similarly, the loss of tone and occasionally, focus in the article.
It is no secret that the US relies extremely heavily on our prison systems to hold citizens that are not currently properly following rules set forth by the US government. The US currently has twenty five percent of the world's prisoner population, despite only having five percent of the world's total population (Incarceration Nation). This clearly displays a problem within our prison system and a disconnect from the values which our country claims to have as our prison rates are currently most comparable to North Korea (Incarceration Nation). The US prison system is in desperate need for reforms to better rehabilitate prisoners and be more ethically responsible towards them; the US could have a positive effect on the treatment of our prisoners
As a society, we hold an amount of responsibility in perpetuating the ideologies succumbed in the prison industrial complex. Imprisonment
I am interested in mass incarceration due to the fact the USA is a leading county of mass imprisonment. In my opinion, the most important social fact of mass imprisonment is the inequality in penal confinement. This inequality produces tremendous social problem in the USA with extraordinary mass imprisonment rates among racial minorities with no more than a high school education.
Perhaps African American incarcerations is a major issue in the United States? To some magnitude prison systems are not solving original mission. Originally prison systems in the 1930’s were invented to protect the society and confine offender in a controlled environment. Yet, the mission in the 21st century for the prison system is to enforce the law and protect the welfares of the United States. The society is incapable to control crimes, and depend on higher authorities to take responsibility of controlling crimes.
Alternative policies and sentencing laws need to be made due to high incarceration rates. These high rates are costing the government and tax payers more money out of their pockets. This
Lastly is the French philosopher, Michel Foucault. In his book, Discipline and Punish, Foucault offers a different view on the evolution of state punishment. The modern view of our punishment system is that it is more humane compared to the past where criminals were executed in public squares, but Foucault disagrees with this. He said that power today looks kind, but actually it isn’t, whereas in the past it was clearly shown as barbaric. The modern prison system becomes a rehabilitation - a surveillance in the production of docile bodies.
Over 2 million people are currently being held in United States prisons, and while the U.S. may only hold 5% of the world’s population, it houses 25% of its prisoners. In the past few years, America’s prison system has fallen under public scrutiny for it’s rising incarceration rate and poor statistics. Many Americans have recently taken notice of the country’s disproportionate prisoner ratio, realized it’s the worst on the planet, and called for the immediate reformation of the failing system. The war on drugs and racial profiling are some of the largest concerns, and many people, some ordinary citizens and others important government figures, are attempting to bring change to one of the country 's lowest aspects.
There is a worldwide trend in the use of penal imprisonment for serious offenses as capital punishment has been renounced by an increasing number of countries. Harsh punishments include capital punishment, life imprisonment and long-term incarceration. These forms of punishments are usually used against serious crimes that are seen as unethical, such as murder, assault and robbery. Many people believe that harsher punishments are more effective as they deter would-be criminals and ensure justice is served. Opposition towards harsh punishments have argued that harsher punishments does not necessarily increase effectiveness because they do not have a deterrent effect, do not decrease recidivism rates and do not provide rehabilitation.
