Claim: We, In America, Need to rethink the way we define crime and the way we punish it.

I'm here today to make claim that the American prison system is flawed and so is the way the law interprets crime and punishment. For starters, I am willing to admit that I do not have an intimate knowledge of politics. I am proficient at best. My argument stems from my personal observation and subsequent moral stance on the debate topic. The prison population in The U. S. Is extremely high. Much higher than any country should ever have. Most of the people in these prisons have, In fact, Violated laws. So I'm not arguing that the problem is false verdicts. My argument is that the treatment in the prisons is less than humane. The second part of my argument concerns the reasons that we put people in prison in the first place. My argument here is that our ultimate reasons for imprisoning people is sometimes inconsistent or unjustified. Now that I've outlined my main points. Let's dive in. So why do we imprison people in the firs place? Of course, The answer depends on who you ask. For the purposes of the topic, Let us simply highlight the most agreed upon. One answer is justice. Giving the offender that which they deserve for their crime. Another answer is punishment. Letting the offender suffer for what they have done. This point can also be conflated with justice at times. Another answer is for safety. Lock the offender away for the sake of societies' well being. The final reason is rehabilitation. Teach the offenders the error of their ways so they don't make the same mistake twice. All of these justifications are reflected in our prison system. I posit that this is flawed thinking however. While these reasons seem fine on their own, When mixed together, They sabotage one another. Punishment prevents rehabilitation because the sub human standards that a prisoner is forced to live in causes them to become institutionalized. This means when they are released, They don't know how to function in society. This causes hardship and that causes relaspe. Remember, One of the reason that people commit crimes in the first place is out of desperation. Justice is also an issue. The problem here is that there is no good way to know what somebody actually deserves for a crime. How do you measure a stolen car in years? Is there a universal exchange rate? I think not. From what I've said, I think it's clear that the two best ideas are rehabilitation and safety. These are the only good reasons to lock someone in jail. Because the government should not be in the business of morals. Morals build laws, But morals are not laws. Once we only use these two standards. We then realize that we don't have to punish prisoners, But simply keep them apart from society and rehabilitate them. We can let them live in better conditions and treat them with more respect and dignity. I think that is all I can say for now on the matter. The next problem is the criterian of a crime. Traditionally, This is based on two things: Morals and public opinion. The problem with this system is that anything could become a crime. America could agree tomorrow that saying the word "cheese" is wrong and then public opinion could form and outcry which could lead to a law making the word "Cheese" a crime. We need a standard that is irrespective of public opinion. This way, We can be confident that our laws remain consistent throughout the decades. We can argue the nuiances of this for weeks, But in a broad sense. We need to make sure that a crime has either a victim or a high chance of a potential victim. This loose standard can be tied down into hard legal jargon and would give us a better standard for justice. Since this is a political argument, Allow me to make a short emotional appeal and then I'll wrap it up. I think most people can agree that it is wrong to lock somebody up for a victimless crime. I think once we lock them up. We need to remember that they are still humans. I think that when we strip a person of their basic rights and force them to live in stressful conditions, We are creating monsters. If we just want to punish people as a nation. Then so be it. But I think it's doplorable and that we cannot call ourselves humane if we can't even treat our prisoners humanely.