Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above Retribution in the United States" criminal justice

It is nice to see that people with different views to me are very hard working as well :)Whilst I do, personally, agree with the resolution I can definitely understand the view opposers to it have. I, as con, shall be opposing the view that rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States (of America). I shall begin by asking my opponent to provide sourced evidence of the following claims (which I consider false). Claim 1: "Drugs and Alcohol are the primary cause of crime. "Claim 2: "Nearly a 100% of all crime involves some sort of addiction, or problems that are caused by the addiction. "Now I shall quote something that my opponent said that I think is actually in favour of my side of the debate. They said "The Department of Justice proves that rehabilitation is inherently ineffective when it comes to stopping crime. "I am confused as to how this supports their side of the debate. I shall now rebut some things proposed which I agree with. In every instance policy makers must choose to save the more numerous group. (Quote from Rackowski) "an impartial decision-maker must choose to save the more numerous group, even if she must kill to do so. " Protecting society as a whole should be a top priority when it comes to the Justice System. When drugs become involved; the gangs surrounding the drug abuser can become a major cause of crime. Past examples prove that rehabilitation that specifically involves alcohol or drugs prove to work considerably well. I agree with all of these. They do not, however, help my opponent's case but rather layout a parameter in which to debate. I shall now rebut certain quotes of my opponent. Quote 1: "The major threat that retribution holds is the re-occurrence of crime from already-convicted criminals. "Rebuttal 1Rehabilitation lets criminals out, often with much lighter sentence time-wise than retribution so the point is irrelevant. Additionally, while retribution involves life sentences and death penalties a system based on rehabilitation offers no such facility (to prevent recurrences). Quote 2: "Punishing criminals is pointless if they merely repeat the crime again. "Rebuttal 2The point of punishing is to prevent the majority of people rioting or panicking due to the feeling of an ineffective justice system being in place. Even if some criminals in the system re-commit, the punishments should be based on what the majority feel they would be protected by best. Quote 3: "Retribution is ineffective for the reason that retribution is unable to prevent crime from re-occurring. "Rebuttal 3The same applies to rehabilitation. Additionally this is false due to death penalty and life sentences. Quote 4: "Retribution is flawed because it allows more than half of the incarcerated criminals of the country to commit crimes once again. "Rebuttal 4While it's true that over 50% of people do not get life sentences and eventually are released, it's untrue to suggest rehabilitation prevents future committing of crimes in any way at all since punishing isn't even involved in such a system. Quote 5: "Retribution is flawed because it does not contribute to the reason the criminal committed the crime in the first place. "Rebuttal 5This isn't why retribution is flawed and additionally it isn't any less relevant to rehabilitation. Quote 6: "Retribution should not be preferred for the sole reason that it is ineffective in stopping criminals. "Rebuttal 6How is it ineffective at stopping criminals if they are stuck behind bars? Quote 7: "Drugs, alcohol and anything revolving around the idea behind them are the primary causes of crime. "Rebuttal 7Are you suggesting that the primary causes of torture, murder and rape is drugs and alcohol? I shall now construct my own case. Contention 1: The psychopathI shall first outline the characteristic of someone who is a clinically diagnosed psychopath. . http://www.arkancide.com... An excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky. Psychopaths often have a low self-discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they get bored easily. They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine. The use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from pathological lying in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims. A lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, cold-hearted, and unempathetic. This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims. The occurrence of behaviors that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations, and urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic, and reckless. Repeated failure to fulfill or honor obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honor contractual agreements. I do not see a single way that rehabilitation would be useful for these people. They are clearly a huge portion of the population of criminals since the life of crime, involving high risk of being caught meaning an adrenaline rush. However, they will never ever be able to resist temptation in the long run and would lie and do anything they could to pass through the rehabilitation process and get out (even perhaps lying to their counsellor about their inner urges and what not). They are not addicted to crime, they are instead built for a life of crime and nothing but. These are not to be confused for sociopaths who can manage without crime, psychopaths literally are built to crave the risk of being caught doing something wrong, it's their only true fun in life. Retribution, such as a life sentence or death penalty, could put these people away from society and protect people from them. Additionally it's much fairer to the psychopath to do so because they can then be in an environment of others like them without feeling bad about it. Contention 2: You can't rehabilitate criminals that committed the crime for gang culture. There is no addition involved in gang crime. It merely is obeying the will of the majority in the situation one is in. They say "STAB HIM! " you do it and bam you did a crime. There is simply nothing to rehabilitate rendering the entire process null. Contention 3: It's impossible to stop a criminal re-committing by any means other than retribution (which can also fail to do so)Retribution offers life sentences and death penalties. Rehabilitation is designed to always let the criminal free once declared 'cured of addiction to crime'. A freed criminal can always re-commit but the fear of retribution would be a far greater deterrent than the fear of being rehabilitated, which is often painless and in a caring environment. Thanks and I hope to see your reply :)