The thesis of this essay is clear and ridiculous. The argument that public torture is a more suitable substitute to prison time is so inhumane and primitive; it makes me wonder whether or not the author is being sincere in his essay. He supports his arguments by listing victims of these severe punishments and the ordeals that they endured. “John Gatchell, convicted of blasphemy in 1694, was ordered to, ‘Stand in pillory, have his head and hand put in and have his tongue drawn forth out from his mouth, and peirct through with a hot iron.’” This gruesome and painful experience must have been overwhelming and without a doubt made him think twice about committing blasphemy again, but such a disgusting example would not be one I would include
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There is nothing humane about prison. Society has come to an agreement that this is a suitable punishment and has supposedly done away with torture a long time ago. I find it hard to believe that anybody would agree with his argument, as everybody makes mistakes. What if they were the ones on the other side of the whipping? Although, the idea that the cost of housing an inmate is too expensive might be a good argument for his case, I don’t think it is as relevant as he thinks. When a country spends billions of dollars a month on a war that may or may not be for a good cause, the cost of keeping criminals off our streets seems a small price to pay, thus making it a mute point in my eyes. Jacoby describes prison as a borderline unimaginable fearful place and maybe flogging would be a good substitute. I believe Jacoby uses this idea to drive his argument home by giving an idea of what prison is really like. Perhaps the solution is not to change the method of punishment, but change the way it is executed. Maybe change the environment in prison, making it a safer place to do time. Yes, there are rapes, murders, and other crimes committed in prison, but aren’t they committed on the streets as well? Criminals amongst criminals is better than criminals amongst you or your
There is nothing humane about prison. Society has come to an agreement that this is a suitable punishment and has supposedly done away with torture a long time ago. I find it hard to believe that anybody would agree with his argument, as everybody makes mistakes. What if they were the ones on the other side of the whipping? Although, the idea that the cost of housing an inmate is too expensive might be a good argument for his case, I don’t think it is as relevant as he thinks. When a country spends billions of dollars a month on a war that may or may not be for a good cause, the cost of keeping criminals off our streets seems a small price to pay, thus making it a mute point in my eyes. Jacoby describes prison as a borderline unimaginable fearful place and maybe flogging would be a good substitute. I believe Jacoby uses this idea to drive his argument home by giving an idea of what prison is really like. Perhaps the solution is not to change the method of punishment, but change the way it is executed. Maybe change the environment in prison, making it a safer place to do time. Yes, there are rapes, murders, and other crimes committed in prison, but aren’t they committed on the streets as well? Criminals amongst criminals is better than criminals amongst you or your