The Pros And Cons Of The Prison System

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As I look around the USA, one of the big issues that plagues the nation are the awful criminals. Rape, murder, thievery, and cons, are only a few of the prevalent crimes that invade our society. What is being done to reduce the rate of these crimes? Most of the time punishment consists of prison time, and while there is still capital punishment in some states, it is very rarely used. No matter the punishment, the question will always arise, is the prison system actually working and/or being what the criminals deserve? The constant uproar and reports of crimes, a lack of an efficient punishment, and the lack of a Biblical basis has been increasingly bringing to my attention that that the form of justice system is lacking. Before 1999, virtually…show more content…
Now it seems that this form of punishment is not very effective nor very efficient, as so many crimes continue to arise as years go on. This system costs an average of $30,000 per inmate, going up to a peak of $60,000 per inmate annually in New York! This costs the government millions if not billions just to have a prison system, which might I add, is not working as seen by the continual uproars of crimes and the ever deepening macabre nature of them. Not only is this system lacking in efficiency cost wise, it is also not as effective as planned or made to be. Imagine if I got in trouble, and my mom said, “Nano, go to your room filled with video game consoles and where your friends are staying 24/7! Come back down when you are ready to be a good boy.” Yes, there is justice and punishment, but the criminals get TV’s and sometimes even pools, sport’s teams, and other fun activities, almost as if it were a criminal country club. If indeed the prison system worked, why are the criminal rates not lowering or at a significantly small and constant rate? Why is there instead a steady increase in the amount of crimes? That question is easily answered: there is much lack in the justice system they are implementing towards…show more content…
A current analogy of the prison system would be something like an airport security system. Items get placed in, go through the machine, and plop back out on the next side visually untouched. In a similar fashion, criminals get put into the prison, mingle with other inmates, and get sent out to perform their infractions with more devious, canny methods of committing them. Exodus 22:1 teaches, ”Whoever steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.” Instead of a constant punishment of imprisonment, which is not at all Biblical, except for when there is a need to keep a criminal for a short time, the Bible teaches restitution and the principal of letting the punishment fit the crime in a way that it gives the criminal a path to redemption. Instead of a punishment that informs and decreases the morality of the people put in it, the Bible teaches one that encourages a good morality, and makes the wrongdoers sorry for what they

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