Should we continue the practice of solitary confinement in the United States criminal justice system

1. Prison is not a form of rehabilitation; therefore, interaction with anyone is not even necessary. Regardless, people are not in imprisoned to make friends, they are there to atone for their mistakes. When a person commits a crime, they are aware of what they are doing (with the exception of the mentally ill, and the ‘insane.’) Furthermore, they do not receive any form of rehabilitation, but rather a form of strict incarceration. The definition of solitary confinement does not address the issue of rehabilitation. 2. Regarding premise 2: how far in the future? If anything, the person who has claimed to have ‘developed’ some sort of mental illness as a result of solitary confinement may not be telling the truth. If it’s too far in the future, then there may have been other causes to their illness, and not necessarily solitary confinement; however, since that may be the most traumatic (in their opinion), that is what they will blame.3. Human rights are not technically being violated. While in solitary confinement, their freedom of speech is not being taken from them. There are guards who can and will interact with them. They are not physically being beaten, nor are they being mentally abused. No one is belittling them – instead, they are forced to reflect on their actions in solitude. Is that so wrong? While they may develop monophobia, a fear of being alone and having to cope without a specific person, that does not mean that this is a form of torture; therefore, it cannot be considered immoral or unethical -- maybe ... unfortunate.4. What you see this as is punishment, but I am treating this as discipline. Discipline is the act of training others to abide by the rules or a certain kind of behavior. Spending time alone will give them a chance to realize that they cannot commit those same crimes again, and if that damages their psyche it’s a necessary sacrifice. Would you rather these people be beaten? Should we break bones, instead?6. Cruel and unusual punishment can be interpreted a number of ways; however, as I’ve stated before, I feel as those solitary confinement cannot even considered as a form of punishment. It is a form of discipline that is used to help people correct the wrongs people have made. Some individuals’ minds are more fragile than others, which is a statement I will agree with, but there are certain measures that we must take in order to ensure the safety of the rest of the country. Abiding by the rules provided by our government is a necessity in life, and the consequences, whatever they may be, need to be accepted.7. Saying “there are studies…” and actually stating the studies are two different claims; if provided the accurate studies, then perhaps I could agree to your premise. Nonetheless, I still feel as though it doesn’t damage the human psyche as much as actual torture would.8. Exactly my point, which is why in my previous round I asked: which time period are you referring to when stating “…A third of the population in solitary confinement are made up of mentally ill people?” Still, you have not answered my question, which leaves me to believe that you do not have enough accurate evidence to support your claim.9. A social burden refers to the fact that they now add additional suffering or cost to a society; I don’t see how this can be a social burden if they are happy to be freed and willing to interact with society again. When a person is released from prison they either commit another crime, or they continue to make amends for said crime. If placed back into jail or solitary confinement, then it may be considered a social burden. However, when they are released and accepted back into society, albeit slightly difficult, they are no longer considered a social burden.10.Humans do not have a ‘price;’ unfortunately, that is not how the rest of the world sees it. If that were the case (that we have no monetary value), then how come it cost money to adopt a child? If we consider ourselves to be so righteous, then why are we putting a price tag on anyone? The same applies to this, I would hesitant to spend – but if it were for the greater good, then I would have to pay. When it comes to taxes, Americans do not have a say in the matter; it solely depends on the government. Therefore, we would have to pay regardless if we are willing to or not.11. For premise 11, define the term: most. The claim is too vague for me to argue against. Whether it is statistics or a cited estimated number, do you know how many people do not have anyone to help them?12.Although this is extremely repetitive, would you rather they be continuously beaten for 22 hours, instead? In a sense, the two forms of discipline have a lot more in common than people realize. A parent typically sends their child to a corner to think about the mistakes they have made. In solitary confinement, that is exactly what they are trying to do as well: hoping that these people understand what they’ve done wrong, and that they do not commit the same crimes again.