Which Punishment Is Better

When you do something criminal or break the law in some way today, instead of thinking that you may be beaten or publicly humiliated. It's more like well how long am I going to jail? This attitude toward punishment is what writer Jeff Jacoby brings to light. His thesis is simply, that is the punishments used in the past all that much more human or effective than the ones used today.

The writer's assumption that Boston's Puritans represented an entire country's views on corporal punishment is far fetched. Even though the Puritans are a good example and in thinking that that is what was meant, Jacoby should have listed more examples. Due to the way the first paragraphs are written seems that we are supposed to compare Puritan believes against America's corporal punishment laws today. Even later on the writer comes back to the Puritan and how their system can help teach us like they are the only ones who "flogged", criminals. Also in dealing with the Puritans and the way they dealt with their bad apples, the writer fails to identify some terms or phrases. For instance miscreants and pillory are good examples that if Jacoby had not detailed his wording would have left all but the history buffs guessing. Jacoby's lack of information continues in his supporting points.

The biggest or most compelling support he makes is the shear amount of criminals that are locked up today. In his argument he states, "Some 1.6 million Americans are behind bars today. That represents a 250 percent increase since 1980Ð'...". While these numbers are big and grant some consideration the documentation of where these statistics came from is a mystery. This growing amount of inmates does however help to shed a light to the need to rethink our justice system. In his next supporting point he somewhat contradicts himself saying that even though there are so many a large percentage don't go to prison. This alarming fact is again supported by his mysterious figures. Jacoby writes, "Fifty-eight percent of all murders do not result in a prison term. Like wise 98 percent of all burglaries", which still leaves the question as to where the stats are coming from. A even more surprising number is the price per inmate per year which totals, $30,000 and yet again is left with out some bases of where it came from.

Toward the end of the essay Jacoby makes a statement that he backs up with statistical information and this time he tells where he got it from. He brings to light an aspect of prison life that more often times gets thrown around as a joke but never the less still real. "Why is it more brutal to flog a wrongdoer than to throw him in prisonÐ'--where the risk of being beaten, raped, or murdered is terrifyingly high"? This sentence is Jacoby's last supporting point and rightfully so. His additions of where he got his stats made the credibility go right out the window. He quotes that thousands of inmates