Professional Documents
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Klesti Cela
Mr. Leidecker
English 12
29 April 2016
Outline for Prison Reform Paper
I) Introduction
A) The United States contains 5% of the worlds overall population but has
25% of the worlds prisoners. (World Prison Brief)
B) Clearly, there is something wrong with our prison system, and it is in
dire need of reform.
C) Prisoners are members of our society, and by improving the way our
prison system works and how it affects the lives of prisoners, society as
a whole will see positive changes.
II) Brief Overview of Opposing Position: Counterargument
A) View of the opposition
1) Some would argue against reforming the US prison system.
B) Counterargument and facts
1) People would argue that our current system exists in order to incite
fear into people so they do not commit crimes.
2) Programs such as social reintegration are not effective because
those who commit crimes do not function well in general society
regardless of what we do.
C) Summary of perspective
1) People against prison reform believe that our current system is
doing a good job at keeping criminals off our streets.
D) My thesis
1) Yes, our prison system might keep criminals off of our streets.
However, we need reform because the current system gives out
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long sentences for petty drug crimes, our prosecutors have too
much power, and alternatives such as rehabilitation are better for
society in the long term.
III) Main Point #1 Drug offenses
A) Big idea
1) One of the biggest flaws to our prison system is how we dish out
long sentences for petty crimes such as drug possession.
B) Supporting argument and facts
1) Nearly half of all people imprisoned in federal facilities are there
through drug offenses. (BOP Statistics)
2) More than one third of offenders had little or no criminal history at
the time of imprisonment. (Adams)
3) 99.5% of those who were imprisoned on drug charges were there
because of trafficking. (Adams)
4) Possession of any amount of marijuana can result in incarceration
for a year. (Federal Laws & Penalties)
5) The sale of any amount of marijuana under 50kg can result in five
years imprisonment, and larger quantities can lead to life. (Federal
Laws & Penalties)
C) So what?
1) It is clear that our prisons are filled with prisoners who are there on
drug charges, and many of their sentences are very long relative to
the crime.
D) Closing sentence
1) It is very obvious that our punishments for drug charges are too
severe. Decriminalizing some drugs or reducing the length of
sentences would help solve some of our prison overpopulation
problems.
IV) Main Point #2 Alternatives such as rehabilitation work better
A) Main Point
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