Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system

To start, I'd like to go over my value a bit better since the Con seems to think I haven't defended it enough. I chose utilitarianism because as I stated earlier, I like it's simplicity. If it helps society, it is good and morally acceptable. In my original case I say my job as the Pro is to prove that the criminal justice system ought to value rehabilitation over retribution. By rehabilitating people, we are creating a better society, which is why I chose utilitarianism as my value. As for the elderly people example, my opponent basically says old people are a drain on society anyways, so let's put our tax dollars to something better. But if we're going to be simple-minded and say old people are a "drain on society" it's only fair that I be simple-minded and say that taxes are taxes and no U.S. citizen is going to want to pay any kind of tax. This elderly people example is an unrealistic and a very simple way of looking at things. I stick by my original argument which is, the cons outweigh the pros in this scenario so it isn't a good example in regards to utilitarianism. I would like to apologize for my poor citation on the Denmark evidence. I was a bit rushed. While the Con is arguing we can have both, I am saying we need rehabilitation and retribution is ineffective. And I feel like I've offered enough evidence to prove that not only does rehabilitation work, it is better than retribution. The Con says I misunderstood his fairness argument. However, I fully understood it. Perhaps he didn't understand my arguments about other crimes. My opponent continually goes back to the argument that punishment won't be dealt fairly and harsh crimes like rape will be let off easy. Again I will say, criminals such as murderers and sexual offenders will be put in prison as a safety precaution. For drug-related crimes and things like traffic offenses, rehabilitation should offered. What the Con fails to see is retribution is just too much in some cases. If your 22 and get caught drinking and driving late one night, you get put in jail for the evening and that stays on your record for quite a while. That is unfair. On the opposite end of the spectrum, maybe two 19 year old's murder someone and get caught. One could get the best lawyer around and get 6 months in jail. While the other can't afford a good attorney and winds up with 25 to life in a maximum security prison. Retribution is unfair. As for the 8th amendment argument, I suppose I don't fully understand what the Con is trying to say. However, rehabilitation does not undermine the 8th amendment. Rehabilitation will serve as a better alternative to jail time and people who really deserve to be out of society will be. I fail to see how this undermines the 8th amendment. I apologize. In my attack against the Con for my contention one I mentioned a "card." Perhaps my opponent is unfamiliar with debate terminology. By card, I meant my contention one. My debate coach is a bit old school and refers to them as such. So if you refer back to my contention one, you will see I offered a quote from my evidence. It is not simply my opinion. I'm sorry for the confusion. The Con stands by his argument that there is only correlation in my contention two. Yet that evidence offers specific statistics, stating more then one-third of children with a parent in prison drop out of school. The cause of the drop out rate is clearly the parent in prison. I believe it's pretty clear the causes are obvious. For my third contention, please refer to my other attack in which I clearly stated the types of crimes that would be receiving rehabilitation. I am not at all conceding with my opponent. I've made it clear I am very anti-retribution. In conclusion, I'd like to point out I made it very clear why retribution is unfair and rehabilitation is fair and effective. People will be safe and they will get what they deserve. Someone with one DWI shouldn't have to be severely punished.