In Jeff Jacoby's essay "Bring Back Flogging," he argues against the American public's acceptance of the current state of the criminal justice system by comparing its consequences to an alternative method of flogging. By employing irony throughout the whole essay, he builds up his argument to defend a seemingly outdated method of punishment—flogging—over imprisonment, encouraging the audience to find a reasonable solution to the violence and ineffectiveness of prisons. Jacoby's unfavorable word choices about ineffective punishments and brutality orient Americans towards adopting a cynical view of jails. Later, he presents budget data and odds of catching criminals, supporting his argument with two of Americans biggest concerns: safety and
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The Justice emphasizes the "unimaginable" "horrors" faced by "nonviolent" "young inmates" because this specific type of prisoner evokes a greater feeling of innocence and ability to be rehabilitated reasonably. This appeal towards the morality and ethics of the readers impacts them more profoundly because the youth of the criminal and the more forgivable nature of crime committed creates an image of a massive miscarriage of justice in the prison cells. Finally, Jacoby makes his most direct comparison with questions about the ethics of flogging and locking people up in prison: "But where is it written that being whipped is more degrading than being caged? Why is it more brutal to flog a wrongdoer than to throw him in prison—where the risk of being beaten, raped, or murdered is terrifyingly high?" (Jacoby 198). He uses specific language like "caged" again to reinforce the subhuman treatment of criminals in prisons, adding to the view that jails rob people who need help of a chance to make up for their mistakes. Posing pointed questions at the readers, they must …show more content…
His specific diction orients the American reader towards a negative, dehumanizing view of courts and prisons, his use of statistics create a persona of a well-researched and credible author, and his appeals to morality leave the readers with a sense of criminals facing unnecessary and undue violence in prison. According to Jacoby, Americans must hold themselves accountable to their ideal of justice while also securing safety and economic balance for themselves. These three ideas do not reach close to their fullest potential in current jails. Because Jacoby can make a strong case for a broadly rejected form of punishment involving whips over the universal prison conditions and sentences in America, he pushes his audience towards a belief in a reformed system that does not need to involve such low inefficacy of catching criminals, inability to rehabilitate them fairly, and rates of return on notary
The Justice emphasizes the "unimaginable" "horrors" faced by "nonviolent" "young inmates" because this specific type of prisoner evokes a greater feeling of innocence and ability to be rehabilitated reasonably. This appeal towards the morality and ethics of the readers impacts them more profoundly because the youth of the criminal and the more forgivable nature of crime committed creates an image of a massive miscarriage of justice in the prison cells. Finally, Jacoby makes his most direct comparison with questions about the ethics of flogging and locking people up in prison: "But where is it written that being whipped is more degrading than being caged? Why is it more brutal to flog a wrongdoer than to throw him in prison—where the risk of being beaten, raped, or murdered is terrifyingly high?" (Jacoby 198). He uses specific language like "caged" again to reinforce the subhuman treatment of criminals in prisons, adding to the view that jails rob people who need help of a chance to make up for their mistakes. Posing pointed questions at the readers, they must …show more content…
His specific diction orients the American reader towards a negative, dehumanizing view of courts and prisons, his use of statistics create a persona of a well-researched and credible author, and his appeals to morality leave the readers with a sense of criminals facing unnecessary and undue violence in prison. According to Jacoby, Americans must hold themselves accountable to their ideal of justice while also securing safety and economic balance for themselves. These three ideas do not reach close to their fullest potential in current jails. Because Jacoby can make a strong case for a broadly rejected form of punishment involving whips over the universal prison conditions and sentences in America, he pushes his audience towards a belief in a reformed system that does not need to involve such low inefficacy of catching criminals, inability to rehabilitate them fairly, and rates of return on notary