The criminal justice system in the United States is rather complicated. When a person breaks the law they are sent to prison. Here they are kept away from society for many years. People wonder if the criminal justice system is ethical and is it fair to put another human away for life. Diego Ruiz Duran feels that the criminal justice system is not always right. At the same time, he feels there are few alternatives to this system that are effective. Duran wonders if there is a better way to handle criminals than prison.
Looking at the current prison system there are some flaws but it is hard to determine if things are ethical or if there is a better way to do things. There is a question if prison will rehabilitate an offender or if it should punish them. There are arguments for both sides. Prisoners are there because they did something wrong. Due to these crimes, they should experience some form of discomfort like the victims did. Others wonder if this is helping to change them and the ways they look at life. They are not learning anything to make them become better people. There are some training and educational programs but they are going to cost the taxpayers money and taxpayers do not want to pay for these people.
Prisoners can get jobs in the prison. If they follow the rules they can be given jobs that will help keep them busy and allow them to spend time outside of the cell. They get paid very little but it gives them something to do and a sense of responsibility. They may be able to learn a trade and they are leaving with more skills than they came in with. Some can even leave for work release. Once again the problem here is the funding. Taxpayers do not want to put money into prisoners when they can be used for training programs for those that follow the law.
Many prisoners have a mental illness. Some are off of their medications and this leads to more crimes. When they go back to prison they are put back on their medications and are under the care of a doctor. It raises the issue of whether these people should be punished. They may have broken the law but they may not have been in the right state of mind.
They should have been taking the medication and the prison is not a mental hospital. Things bring up the issue if it is morally right to treat these people and give them care to punish them. There is no easy answer when it comes to ethics and prisons. While the people in there have done some bad things it is right to punish them or rehabilitate them. This is something that people cannot agree on. Diego Ruiz Duran knows that until this issue is resolved there will be issues with ethics and the prison system.
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