Penal labor in the United States violates international human trafficking laws

While it might behoove the case of Con to measure out an intro into well defined points as Pro has done, after casual, then detailed inspection of various accords and treatises, the boiler plate jargon from the various articles and organization would no doubt be boring. A lot of what would be important to those articles would also be lost. As such, Con will proceed, hopefully in a well reasoned and conversational tone that would better illustrate exactly what our penal system and its labor, as well as how it complies with human rights is evident. In the United States, to be incarcerated in such a fashion as the resolution suggests, one would had to have had their rights to due process completed, and been convicted beyond the shadow of a doubt by a jury of peers. Additionally, the appellate process still remains as a means of regaining freedom from incarceration. Obviously, by being a convict, the State has authority and responsibility to those it houses, and just as obviously, there are logistics to this. People (convicts) will need to be transported, basic upkeep of facilities need to be performed, as well as providing the necessities of life to those contained within and ensuring the collection of people (possibly violent or dangerous) are secured. Next, let’s be clear, its prison. This is not meant to be a pleasant experience, incarceration by its nature is forced and presumed to be a deterrent for crime. It should not look like resort. This is the essence of our penal system, the means of rehabilitation as well as sufficient punishment for crimes committed against society. When a charge of the State, those held are afforded basic rights and dignity. We have rules against cruel and unusual punishment, of which, and Con stresses this, requirement of the incarcerated to contribute to the upkeep of their place of incarceration is not. This upkeep can come in various forms, ranging from cooking and cleaning to labors outside the walls. Assuming such labors are done, the profit of such going to the institute that holds them is common sense. It would be absurd to house, feed, clothe, and maintain medically a laborer for free while enabling them access to a regular wage. The convict is beholden to society and the state; that is why jail time is commonly called “a debt to society” in the first place. Further, such labors are legally provided for in the Constitution, the drafting of 13th amendment recognized that the retention of persons can potentially cost money, and that those held should contribute in some fashion. No doubt repayment to the housing body could be included, lets again be clear: the prison system runs into the red, consistently. Our penal system houses some 2.5 million people, with average costs running from 31 to 60 thousand-ish dollars per inmate. Stating that anything for the penal system can go “for profit” in terms of labor would really just be attempting to pay for itself, given the nature of a 5 billion dollar cost overrun (1/2). Con, and I am sure a bulk of tax paying Americans would find the prison system attempting to find ways of paying for itself rather than using tax payer funds to be a "good" thing. Lastly, with respect to human rights, according to UN’s the Manual for Human Rights Training for Prison Officials (3), page 99 states, rather clearly: Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners 71. (1) Prison labour must not be of an afflictive nature. (2) All prisoners under sentence shall be required to work, subject to their physical and mental fitness as determined by the medical officer. In short, the UN recognizes immediately that a convict whom works is a convict that can be rehabilitated. Their “debt to society” can be better paid in full. Obviously, Con bolded for emphasis. In the next round, Con will demonstrate the nature of the moving target Pro has set up in order to mold the resolution to fit circumstances that are not fully applicable, the intent of the cited trafficking laws, as well as the other distractions to the resolution as stated. (1)http://www.cheatsheet.com... (2)https://en.wikipedia.org... (3)http://www.ohchr.org...