argumentative essay on prisons

241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples

Whether you are writing about criminal justice reform or the sociology of prison population, you’ll find a good topic here. Check out these recommendations of prison essay topics put together by our experts .

🏆 Best Titles for a Prison Essay

👍 good essay topics on prison, 🎓 simple & easy thesis titles about jail, 📑 good research topics about prison, ✍️ prison essay topics for college, 💡 most interesting prison research topics, ❓ research questions about prisons.

• Unethical and Ethical Issues in Prisons (Corrections) This is one of the unethical practices that are evident in the prison systems. In this case, prison warders and authorities are usually noted to be actively involved in the business.
• Jeffrey H. Reiman: The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison One thing that must be cleared to all is that it is not our view that the poor people are all guiltless victims who suffer the persecution of the rich people but it is said […]
• Ethical Issues With the Stanford Prison Experiment – Essay Nowadays, modern psychologists are expected to adhere to a strict and rigid code of ethical principles in order to ensure the validity of their practices and the safety of the patients and participants.
• Stanford Prison Experiment: Results Analysis One of the results that were realized from the experiment was the level of rebellion that the prisoners developed after some time within the prison set up.
• Cognitive Dissonance and Stanford Prison Experiment The leader of the team, doctor Zimbardo, was also the person who conducted the analysis of the course and the results of the experiment.
• Prison Overcrowding As mentioned in the introduction, building more prisons is just one of the many solutions to the problem of overcrowding in prisons.
• The United States vs. Norway Prisons The article by Gerhold emphasizes the system’s effectiveness by highlighting that “only 20% of those released become repeat offenders in the country” in Norway, compared to the 76. To summarize, the Halden prison in Norway […]
• Female Prison Gangs: Are There Any? I believe there are no prison gangs as women see themselves as torn from the rest of their world and try to keep the connection.
• “Good Time” in Prisons: Benefits and Drawbacks A pre-term release can negatively affect prisoners’ mindsets, increase the risk of ex-inmates committing a crime and returning to prison, and be dangerous to society.
• Women in Prison: Issues and Challenges Faced by Female Inmates Incarcerated Women and Abortion One of the rights that women have championed and gained in the 21st century is the right to access abortion services.
• North Central Correctional Institute or Gardner Prison The rapid expansion and rehabilitation of the prison facilities have enabled the prison to increase the number of inmates in the prison.
• Socrate’s Choice to Remain in Prison Being a man who believed and supported all that the government of Athens stood for, he was not going to be the one to falter from his beliefs and faith in the state and its […]
• Supermax Prisons: Pros and Cons The main purpose of such prisons should be isolation and safety leading to correction instead of destruction of personal character or mental and physical harm.
• Shawangunk Correctional Facility The prison is aimed to help people to understand the badness of their actions and to improve. As it was already mentioned, the prison is impossible to escape from, in spite of the fact that […]
• Differences Between Jails and Prisons These include their mode of operation, the size of facilities, the source of funding and the length of sentence for offenders.
• Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo: Legal Research The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of situational variables on human behavior. What was even worse was that the initiator of the experiment kept watching as these things going on in […]
• Negotiations in the Attica Prison Riot It is the purpose of this paper to determine how the negotiators used their power or leverage in the negotiations? What went wrong in the negotiations?
• Gangs in Prison: Black Guerrilla Family The fact that the gang members were called “Disciples” and the ten rules were a reference to the Ten Commandments demonstrate that inmates seek to find a purpose to follow.
• Imprisonment Effects: Prisons’ and Society’s Role The USA’s inmate population is the largest in the world. Is it the prison departments, the society, or the inmates themselves?
• An Introduction to Correctional Facilities Since penitentiaries began in each of the states in the United States of America, there has been a sharp increase in the number of prisoners in state prisons. The other factor contributing to the growth […]
• Leadership Approaches in Prison The leader should also ensure the subordinates monitor the behaviors of the targeted prisoners. The main focus will be to examine the potential causes of the issues affecting the prison.
• Applied Functional Behavioural Analysis in Prison The basic rights of the prisoners are taken away and conflict between wardens and prisoners kick in when the wardens try to assert their authority.
• The Justice System: Prison Congestion The criminal justice system often fails to respond to crime in a humane and efficient manner hence in most parts of the world, prisons display elements of violation of human rights.
• Michel Foucault: Views on Prisons and Psychiatric Hospitals The main concern of Foucault consists in the way technology has influenced quest for power among the ruling class in the society, and also the reason as to why the society is violating the rules […]
• Prisons as Mental Health Institutions The following list contains the group’s goals: Identification of the cause of unfavorable circumstances; Resolution of legal disputes regarding the perpetrators; Help the victim to improve their living conditions; Achieving the payment of a fine […]
• Stanford Prison Experiment and Criminal Justice The researchers used cameras and microphones to assess the behavior of the correctional staffs and inmates. The capability of managing the correctional facility depends on effective communication between the inmates and the prison guards.
• Bureaucratic Style of Prison Management Therefore, the primary focus of the bureaucratic style of prison management is to ensure the growth and continuity of the prison system.
• War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding Analysis In this way, it is possible to reduce the number of inmates in state prisons because studies have shown that low-level offenders make more than 55% of the total number of inmates in American prisons.
• Notorious Prisons E01 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Documentary This lockdown was effected following two particularly destructive prison riots; the first in 1973 in which most of the prison succumbed to flame, and the second in 1985, where most of the prison staff was […]
• Public and Private Prisons The purpose of jails is to confine the offenders so as to ensure their safety, that of the prison personnel, visitors, and society in general.
• Prison System in England and Wales The prison system in England and Wales is in crisis because of different constituents, which leads to the deterioration of the prison system.
• The Conditions of Russian Prisons Although this is not always the case, but rather the influence of cinematography, in Russian prisons, the prisoners are in a constant struggle. The state of the prisons and the staff’s attitude repeatedly violate all […]
• The Importance of Health Care for Prisons Factors needed to ensure the safety and comfort of inmates include proper holding conditions, rational decision-making, adequate supplies for food and other necessities, adequate staffing and training of prison attendees, and provision of necessary support […]
• Private Prisons’ Benefits vs. Drawbacks Many of the duties involved with prison management are passed to the private corporation rather than the government. Similarly, a public jail is owned and run by the local, state, and federal governments, while a […]
• Scientific Integrity: The Stanford Prison Experiment The most important lesson drawn from the experiment is that scientific integrity is essential in the process of collecting evidence. In conclusion, the Stanford prison experiment is not about groupthink, obedience, and compliance but rather […]
• The UNICOR, the Prison University Project, and the Safer Foundation The UNICOR, the Prison University Project, and the Safer Foundation meet the reentry objectives to a different extent, with the first two programs emphasizing only the preparation goal.
• Riots in Kingsman, Arizona Prison Riots in correctional facilities are frequent, and it is the duty of the administration to ensure preparedness for critical situations and eliminate any chance for mistakes.
• Researching of Michigan Prison System The severity of the consequences that are meted out to those who commit crimes varies from one state to the next. The data support the dramatic rise in the number of people incarcerated in federal […]
• The Use of Prison Gardens as a Model for Corrections The industrial revolution in the country then advanced the matter further, with the number of prisons and corrections officers growing. The inability to maintain the current large numbers of inmates in the U.S.leads to a […]
• State Crimes: Strategies to Resisting Tortures in Prisons This paper intends to uncover the effective methods of resistance to state crime on the example of torture in prisons. The main argument will be that the specificity of repressive regimes, which are the main […]
• Prison Misconduct Issues in USA and World The aim of the analysis will be to determine whether there is a relationship between the X-variables and Y-variables as hypothesised.
• Prison Labor: Mass Imprisonment They are subjected to a long day of selecting and loading the coffee into packets later sold at Starbucks. Therefore, there is a need to produce in large quantities to serve all clients and, in […]
• Black Children Start on the Road to Prison in Preschool The Center for American Progress report analyses and compares the Black and white child upbringing in the United States. Therefore, it could be said that both teachers’ and education systems’ biases toward black children in […]
• Improving Prison Living Conditions and Reintegration According to Ismail, the conditions in penitentiaries are affected by the growth in the prison population and the lack of funding for the construction of new facilities and appropriate maintenance of the existing ones.
• The Midnight Special Prison Music The version of the song was recorded by Leadbelly for Alan Lomax and John in 1934 when he was imprisoned in Angola state prison.
• Construction of a New Prison in New York The policies will describe when the need to apply force is suitable in the new facility. Once the facility has been established, the resulting impact on the victim’s family and the community will be accounted […]
• School-To-Prison Pipeline: Educational Perspective The school-to-prison pipeline is a phenomenon, which implies that expelling students can push them to face the criminal justice system. Keeping students informed about the existence of such a phenomenon and discussing it in classrooms […]
• Prison Reform in the US: Background Information To understand the issue, one would need to look at the history of the American punishment system, how it changed throughout the turbulence of the post-war age, and came to the today’s state of existence.
• Injustice in American Prison System Between the articles of violence and the observations about the extent of injustice in the American prison system, there is a high level of injustice instigated by the U.S.government to the African Americans.
• Researching of Prisons in Corcoran The present essay explains an ornate connection link between agriculture and prisons and discusses the influence of political and economic trends in the US from the 1970-s the 1990-s on some of the failures of […]
• Mass Incarceration: Prison System in America In 1934, a new building was erected on the island, cause of the transfer of Alcatraz to the U.S.federal system. Guantanamo was established in 2002 on the grounds of a U.S.military base.
• Ethical Issues in “Prison Experiments” Video To resolve the identified ethical issues and prevent them in the future, it is critical to ensure that the subjects are not placed in coercive environments and a vulnerable position as it significantly impacts their […]
• Problem of Overcrowded Prisons To reduce overcrowding in the prisons, legislators should assess the prison conditions to see the high populations that are in the jails.
• How the Prison Industrial Complex Perpetuate Racism In the United States, the system is a normalization of various dynamics, such as historical, cultural, and interpersonal, that routinely benefit the whites while causing negative impacts for the people of color.
• Probation/Parole Excessive Caseloads, Proper Supervision and Prison Re-Entry Programs It is vital to ensure that all individuals with the experience of detention have the chance to resocialize and become society members; otherwise, the problem will remain topical, and citizens will suffer from crime and […]
• Prison Sentence Alternatives for Drug-Related Crimes Drug addiction often drives people to commit crimes; the criminal behavior of drug addicts is often associated with the manufacture, storage, and use of chemicals. Rehabilitation is a more effective way to combat drug addiction […]
• The Stanford Prison Experiment: Ethics Principles Examples of the violation of these are deception in how the participants selected to be prisoners were delivered to the facility and the violent treatment they experienced.
• Woman Doing Life: Notes From a Prison for Women However, it is not correct to believe that this act is the only legal document to reduce and control unwanted sexual contact in jails and prisons in terms of which prisoners are provided with fail-safe […]
• The Ethical Dilemma in Guantanamo Bay Prison in the USA In Guantanamo Bay, it is the role of soldiers to ensure justice and protection of human rights. However, the housing of these prisoners and the condition of the Guantanamo Bay detainee camp is ethical.
• How the U.S. Prison System Has Changed Over Time The Auburn system and the Pennsylvania system were the first ones to emerge, focusing on rehabilitation as the goal for prisoners.
• “Correcting Corrections: Why I Am in Prison” by Lefford Fate I feel that the prisons have become a failure in handling the mentally ill in society because of failing to understand how to help and deal with mental illness to reduce the likelihood of returning […]
• Prison Reforms for Handling Crime Effectively Jen Manion, an Assistant Professor of History at Connecticut College, outlined the crime and punishment in early America: from harsh British system to reforms by Philadelphia Society, the introduction of the system of hard labor […]
• Constructionist View on the Overrepresentation of Minorities in the Prison System This paper discusses the overrepresentation of minorities in the United States prison system through the prism of the constructionist theory and the principle of labeling.
• The Purpose of Prisons Overview Statistics prove that there was a minor reduction of the US residents in prisons, and, still, those are the minor amounts.
• Prison Industrial Complex and Its Development In order to predict the likelihood of this trend taking place in the future, it is essential to analyze the history of PIC in terms of profit.
• Profit and Racism in the Prisons of the United States As an argument for the work of prisoners, the prison of Angola makes the argument that work is a way of rehabilitation for the prisoner.
• Sexual Assault and Rape in American Prisons Hence, according to Lennard, lowering “the number of people sent to prisons and detention centers” is pivotal in addressing the issue.
• Analysis of Prison Letters of Paul The primary accomplishments of Paul while he was in prison are the aforementioned letter, which became part of the New Testament, and his tireless work, which caused many of his contemporaries to convert to Christianity.
• The Prison System Structure in the United States Over the past decades, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the US Department of Justice have adopted many reforms to ensure successful reentry, including the transfer of prisoners to halfway houses in the final months […]
• Mental Health Issues of Disabled People in Prison There is a need to enforce the rights of disabled people in prisons by understanding the causes of mental health issues and developing the necessary support systems.
• Private Prisons in the United States These prisons started way back in the 1840s and continue to be operational today since the government finds it cost-effective to relegate some of the prisons to the private sector.
• Jennifer Morse: Parents or Prisons Among the many reasons cited to have led to high the number of cases of juvenile offending is divorce and single parenthood.
• Jail and Prison Comparison: Description, History, Pros and Cons, and Factors In terms of security differences, one notes that the level of security is higher in federal prisons compared to state prisons.
• The Purpose of a Prison: Rehabilitation and Punish In prisons, the young people are taught to be responsible for their deeds in the society they live in, they are taught to avoid their involvement in criminal activities. The educational programs available in the […]
• Florida Prisons: Location, Population and Current Issue This paper will identify the types and locations of Florida’s prisons with a description of the recent inmate population and an analysis of the issues that currently affect the prison system.
• Life in Prison: Issues Analysis There are many claims that quite a number of the components of conduct, as well as the language prototypes within the subcultures of inmates, are modeled to act as a response to the various deficits […]
• US Prison Reformatory Reforms Analysis The reform agenda that was started in the 1700s saw the creation of prisons as a departure from hanging of offenders, to cruel punishment, to manual labor, to rehabilitation and to current reforms that continue […]
• The Evolution of Probation, Parole, Prisons, Jails, and Sentencing The evolution of probation started in England and later spread to America as recognizance upon release and bail on condition that the suspect would avail him/herself before the court.
• Medical Experimentation in Prisons I conclude that we are not ready to lift the restrictions, but the improvement of the quality of life in prisons and the control over ethics in research might allow us to consider changes.Dr.
• Criminology: Employee Satisfaction Within Prison In effect, one of the main plans that I would put in place to ensure that the work is done effectively is to improve the morale of the staff.
• The Fight in the Valley State Prison for Women Arlene Mitchel is viewed as a primary initiator of the fight, and the second woman can be referred as an opponent in the risen conflict. Nonetheless, the occurrence of the fight has to be reported […]
• Prison Contraband Control and Detection This paper will highlight the effects of contraband in the prison system and some of the steps being taken to control the issue.
• Types of Procedures in Prisons The booking process involves procedures such as recording the name of the suspect and the reasons for the arrest. The officers then scan the fingerprints of the suspect and the information is noted down in […]
• Prison-Based Sex Offender Treatment Programs The outlined research question points to the purpose of the study. The researchers compare the recidivism patterns of offenders who undergo sex offender treatment with the same patterns for offenders who do not undergo the […]
• Prisons: How They Changed in the Past 25-30 Years The correctional services offered by the Criminal Justice System of a country are of great importance in the effective running of the society.
• Privatization of Prison Industry in the United States According to Nossal and Wood, increasing population of inmates, economic crisis that led to budget deficits, overcrowding in prisons, and the need to reform the prison system are factors that contributed to the emergence of […]
• Prison Overcrowding: Catalysts and Solutions The process of decongesting correctional facilities requires careful planning to come up with the correct procedures that will be implemented to reduce the number of inmates in the correction facilities.
• Prison Facilities and Certified Mental Facilities The main purpose of this research is to find out the extent to which the prison facilities are not relevant and or appropriate in the handling of mentally ill individuals.
• Modern Prison, Its Facilities and Design Support It will be the highest building in the facility, and the upper floor will be used for monitoring purposes. The playground will be in front of the dormitories and located at a place where monitoring […]
• Modern Prison: Correctional Task Force Project The jail will be a men facility; the facility will be divided into three classes according to the classification of crime committed.
• Keeping Women Out of Prison Peer counselors should form part of the workers since they will be required to continually counsel the inmate and prepare her for life outside the precincts of jail.
• Religion in Prison Overview and Analysis Independence of religion is the right to reverence of a supreme being by professing a preferred religion. In fact, it is to the benefit of inmates and the community as a whole.
• Reforms to Ease Overcrowding in US Prisons This increase necessitated the need for reforms to the correctional system; either reforms that would provide alternatives to the traditional long-term imprisonment, or government spending to the tune of billions of dollars in construction of […]
• Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population The Juvenile program offers an opportunity for the community to prevent the young people stay away from criminal behavior and efficiently rehabilitate the young wrongdoers.
• Prison: Imprisoning and Alternative Ways Most of the population is intended to think that the most “comfortable” place for criminals and those who are attempting to cross the border of justice is in the prison with its cruel realities and […]
• Prison Reforms and Alternatives The fact is that, there are several ways of the deprivation of freedom, and each may be differentiated with the level of monitoring and the level of deprivation of freedom.
• Prison Gangs’ Evolution and Solutions to Them Prison gangs develop in prison environments and sore of increase in disturbances in prison such as that experienced in the United States in the early 1990s may point to more prison gang activity, according to […]
• The Confession of Nat Turner in Prison During the late 18th and early 19th century, the revolts and rebellions of the slave started in the whole of the Western Hemisphere.
• The Spread of HIV and AIDS in Prisons: Causes and Measures of Control Other causes of the spread of the disease include overcrowding and lack of education on the danger of the virus. At-risk individuals need to be sensitized about the devastating consequences of this virus and the […]
• Prison Punishment in the United States The United States criminal justice system is one of the countries that ignore the guidelines in regard to the law. It is a form of torture which is not generally undertaken to punish the victim […]
• Tuberculosis Control and Prevention in Prisons It is widely accepted that the overall conditions in the US correction facilities, along with the background lifestyles of some inmates, lead to a dramatic disease rate in cells.
• Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex Deontology is one of the classical ethical theories that can be used to understand the problem of mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex.
• Young Adults in Prison and Behavioral Correction Prisons providing special confinement for young adults use the concept of ‘assisted resistance in their rehabilitative efforts to promote the impetus of their inmates specifically to stop them from further committing offenses. To the young […]
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Overview The persons who agreed to participate in the experiment were all volunteers simply because the chief experimenter did not control the warders during the experiment in which they infringed upon the human rights of the […]
• Opinion and Clarification of the Stanford Prison Experiment An analysis of the experiment reveals that the fake prison environment managed to evoke emotions and feelings in the prisoners, the prison warden, and even Zimbardo who played the warden.
• Stanford Prison Experiment Definition Some played the role of prisoners and others that of prison guards in a situation formed to suggest a sense of the psychology of custody.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment and My Perception of Human Behaviour Nevertheless, despite the fact that in his book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding how good people turn evil, Zimbardo strived to undermine the soundness of a dispositional outlook on the subject matter, while providing readers with […]
• Policy of Releasing Parolees From Prisons Also, “prisoners could be released on parole for part or all of the middle third of their sentence and until the end of that period they would have supervision in the community,”.
• Criminal Justice: Misconduct by Prison Wardens The purpose of the study would be to examine the misconduct of prison wardens specifically as it relates to how they treat inmates.
• Jails, Prisons and the US Correctional System This essay outlines the main differences between jails and prisons and the connected related components of the correctional system in the United States.
• The History of San Quentin State Prison In this paper, we will focus on San Quentin State prison, based in California, USA, where we will discuss factors such as current conditions of the prison, proposals, and approaches to help protect the public, […]
• Crime, Criminality, and Prisons in the USA In such a case, the minority and the weak are forced to live with the rules set by the strong and the majority. Definition of crimes and composition of prisons in the United States have […]
• Functional Behavior Analysis in Dealing With Problematic Behavior in Prison These inmates are left in the hands of prison security staff that in most cases do not have any form of training to deal with any extreme behavior.
• Social Psychology: Attitudes and Behaviors in Prison Fundamentally, the role of people in prison is to undergo reforms, unfortunately, they do not perceive this. According to Levitan and Visser, people attitudes are open or rigid to change depending on the social network […]
• Has Proposition 36 Relieved Prison Overcrowding in California’s Prisons? The proponents of this proposition believe that it is the most effective policy to ease congestion in the state’s prisons via a substantial reduction in the number of people being sent to prison as well […]
• California’s Prisons-Punishment or Rehabilitation? Inmate Rehab Programs These and other discussions in this essay will therefore make the reader understand that the programs offered to the inmates are of great benefit to the socio-economic welfare of the United States.
• Prison Isolation: Its Effects and Damage This unwillingness of prisoners in isolated confinement is in considerable measure a rejoinder to the insight that such imprisonment is an evident effort by the system to “break them down” mentally, and in some cases, […]
• Prison Overcrowding and Costs in Nevada It is being pushed on the advice that Nevada prison populations are going to mushroom in the future and the facilities cannot deal with it.
• U.S. Prison Gangs: A Threat to Internal Security Today, however, the nature and range of activities of prison gangs have extended beyond the normal ‘law and order’ offenses and are a direct threat to the internal security of the United States.
• The Theory and Practice of the Privatisation of Prisons To solve these problems, especially the cost factor, the UK has encouraged the private sector to build and run new prisons.
• Prison Rape: Issue Analysis Among all the exhortations and abuse by the prison officials, the rape and sexual assault on the prisons are the worst of its kinds.
• Prison Overcrowding in the United States The increase in the liberties of prisoners occurred against the backdrop of the historical abuse of power of the prison system, as well as the increased awareness of the need for prison systems to follow […]
• Stigma of Conviction and Prison: Reentry to Society The study indicated that some forms of measurement and assistance help for certain types of offenders under particular conditions but, overall, the consensus that emerged is that this kind of program still has a long […]
• Gun Crime: Prison Program for the Rehabilitation The elaboration of the current rehabilitation program for the gun offenders is heavily indebted Prochaska, DiClemente wheel of change to rehabilitation which regards as a reflexive process of changing a person’s patterns of thinking, cognition […]
• CTP (Correctional Training Program) in Prisons and Rehabilitation Centers The training is conducted and offered to new recruits and to the old staff members. For the officers to conduct their work efficiently, they are taken through training programs so that they acquire specialized training […]
• Overcrowd Prisons With Non-Violent Offenders The sentencing reforms that began in the 1980s had a simple purpose, to contain and diminish criminal activity by extending prison sentences which served to not only remove offenders from the community for a longer […]
• Teaching Women’s Studies in a Women’s Prison The study began with the researchers tracing out the broader institutional contours of Michigan’s growing prison industrial complex from tax dollars competing with universities to popular perceptions of prisons, discuss the conflicts over the meanings […]
• Slavery Still Exists in American Prisons An examination of the history of the penal system as it existed in the State of Texas proves to be the best illustration of the comparisons between the penal system and the system of slavery.
• Supermax Prisons and Its Legal and Ethical Issues Therefore, the placement of prisoners in supermaxes, which are known for their ill-treatment and cruelty, can result in the violation of laws and human rights.
• Opioid Dependence in the Prison Environment The rationale for this study is to understand the current state of misuse of prescribed opioids in prisons and measures taken to address the issue of diversion of these drugs.
• The Needs of Prison Inmates Serving a Life Sentence The purpose of the treatment group is determined by the reason for the chosen population’s vulnerability and their conditions of life.
• The Concept of School-To-Prison Pipeline Process Schools that are unable to handle the disorder impose penalties encouraging expulsion and leading to a higher level of school violence.
• Establishing Therapeutic Environment in Prisons to Address Recidivism in the USA The financial aspect of the issue is one of the most sensitive topics related to the discussion of the correctional system due to the overall financial situation in the country.
• Total Military Experience Effects on Arrests in Prison Inmates The objective of the study is to find the relationship between service in the army and the number of arrests in veterans.
• People With Schizophrenia Diagnosis in Prisons As a result, the behavior of the individuals with the condition is a threat to the members of the family and the society.
• Children in Adult Prisons: Reasons for Concern The fact that some children in the United States are sent to adult prisons is of great concern to many researchers and policy-makers.
• Religion in Prison: “Dead Man Walking” by Prejean CCC2266 states that the initiatives of the government to control the spread of conduct detrimental to individual’s privileges and to the fundamental rules of civil society are in accordance with the prerequisite of protecting the […]
• Prison Privatization Policy and Its Benefits Supporters of the idea affirm that privatizing prisons is beneficial to the criminal justice system and the public and those who oppose the idea strongly affirm that it is a waste of resources.
• Prison Life: Understanding and Opinions The three-strikes law is among the fundamental causes of why the population in prisons increases and contributes to the rise in the number of permanently ill inmates.
• Private Prisons’ Ethics and Capital-Driven Corruption The promotion of private prisons in the U.S.context was a response to the identified crisis. Even though there is a slight propensity to justify the idea of private prisons as the tools for containing prisoners […]
• Gender and Conflict in Prisons The aim of this paper is to discuss the gender differences between incarcerated populations in terms of the likelihood of engaging in violence as well as interpersonal and racial conflicts.
• The US Prison System: Qualitative and Quantitative Research The term can also be used in the field of academics to refer to the study of programs, policies, and theories that are related to the practice of corrections.
• Prison Overcrowding: A Persistent Problem It was found that overcrowding contributed to the reduction of the mental well-being of prisoners and the correctional staff; nevertheless, there was no relationship between the decrease in crime rates and the increase in the […]
• Prison Life in the USA The fact that the number of offenders who live in prison increased greatly attracts the attention of experts and the representatives of the general public.
• Prison and Social Movement in Black Feminist View Arguably, much of black feminist theories have insisted not only that the state has a particular perspective, but that the state’s perspective differs significantly, and problematically, from that of the black women in general and […]
• The Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo This work provides a brief introduction and summary of his work, analyses the data, discusses its relevance to criminal justice, and compares the study to the real-life Abu Gharib’s situation. In the same article, Zimbardo […]
• Boot Camp, Prison, and Community-Based Corrections This is why it is safe to say that the time spent in a boot camp is better than the time spent in prison.
• American Prison Overcrowding and Its Future Of course, the inmates will be detained and monitored, but it is the government’s attitude to the problem that will change.
• Aging Population Issues in American Prison System
• Ethical Dilemmas in Prison’s Research
• Public Administration: Reducing the Number of Prison Inmates
• Policy Analysis on the Prison Rape Elimination Act 2003
• Supermax and Prison Regimes in the UK
• Blacks’ Prison Experiences in Hip Hop Culture
• Prison Privatization: Pros and Cons
• Security Threat Groups and Prison Gangs
• Prison System Classification in Virginia
• Prison Issues in “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn
• California Prison Gangs: Disrupting and Dismantling
• Controlling and Preventing Gang Activity
• Prison in the USA: Solutions to Reducing Overpopulation
• Aging Offenders in Prison
• Prison-Based Drug Treatment Approaches
• Prisons and Jails: Learning the Difference
• Criminology: Prisons Impact on Crime Rates
• Criminology: What Is the Solution to the Prison Problem?
• Cooper’s Ethical Decision-Making Model: Corcoran State Prison
• History From the Inside Out: Prison Life in Nineteenth-Century by L. Goldsmith
• The Policy Process and Outcome for Privatization of Prisons in the United States of America
• Temperance, Women’s Rights, Education, Antislavery and Prison Reform: New Objectives, New Concerns
• Prison Life in the United States
• Prisons Role in Society
• The Concept of Vipassana Prison Program
• Keeping an Eye on Prisons and Inmates
• The Significance of the Prison Films
• Social Psychology Issues: The Stanford Prison Experiment
• A Grand Escape From the Prison of Chauvinism: Awoken and Ready to Fight the Society Prejudices
• Jeff Henderson’s Life After Prison
• Prison Term Policy Recommendation
• The History of Prisons in Pre-1900 America
• Jail and Prison: What’s the Difference?
• “Ousted Tunisian Leader Sentenced to Over 15 Years in Prison”
• What Is the Relationship Between Race, Poverty and Prison?
• Why Lack of Awareness Leads to the Spread of HIV/AIDS in New York Prisons
• Strategies to Decrease Recidivism Upon an Inmate’s Release From Prison
• African Americans in America’s Prison Systems
• The United States Should Improve Their Penal System and Alternatives to Prison
• Transforming the American Prison System
• The Prison Detainment System’s Need for Reforming: Too Many Inmates Led to an Organization Issue
• The 1993 Prison Riot in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility
• Rehabilitation: Prison and Community Corrections
• The Stanford Prison Experiment and Its Effects on Social
• Social Psychology and the Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo
• Impact of the Prison System on Violent Gangs
• The Development and Provision of Prison Library for Juvenile
• The Link Between Increased Prison Population and Improper Punishment System
• Reasons Why Angola’s Prison System Is an Effective Correction System
• The Reasons Why Going Into Prison Is a Horrible Experience
• Strategic Agribusiness Operation Realignment in the Texas Prison System
• State Making, and Systems of Governance Based on Prison Gangs
• Importance of Swedish and American Penitentiary Systems
• The Role of Solitary Confinement in Prison Offenses
• The Attica Prison Riot of 1971 and Its Impact on Prison Reform
• Overview of Alabama Prison Safety Law
• The Role of the United States and the Federal Penitentiary System
• The Reasons Why Individuals Who Abuse Animals Should Be Put Into Prison
• The Prison Industrial Complex and How Does It Generate Profit
• Why Prison Safety Is Vital
• United States Prison Population and the Criminal Justice Programme
• State Prison Inmates Should Be Paroled Early to Help With the States Budget
• General Information About the California State Prison System
• Why the Police Want Prison Reform?
• Why Is There an Increase in the Number of Prisoners?
• What Takes Women Into the Prison System?
• Should Prison and Jail Be the Primary Service Provider?
• What Are the Positive Impacts and Benefits of Imprisonment?
• What Are the Main Goals of the Prison Reform System?
• Why Is the American Penitentiary System an Important Part of American Society?
• What Are the Reasons for the Constant Increase in the Number of Prisoners in the United States?
• Why Is the Danish Military System Better Than American Prison System?
• What Is the Current Prison System in the United States?
• Should Homosexual Prison Inmates Have a Right to Share the Same Cell?
• What Is the Current Magnitude and Associated Problems of Overcrowding in Prisons?
• Should Convicted Teenagers Spend Their Youth in Juvenile Prison?
• What Do the State and Federal Penitentiary Systems Have in Common?
• Why Is America’s Prison System Failed?
• Why Should Prison Reform Be Used as a Last Resort?
• What Are Prison Gangs?
• What Is the Relationship Between the War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding?
• What Happens Behind Prison Doors?
• Why Should Children Not Go to Prison?
• Why were the Prison Camps During the American Civil War Were So Terrible?
• Why Is There Concern About the Privatization of the Penitentiary System in America?
• Why Is Andersonville Civil War Prison Notorious?
• Was the Stanford Prison Study Ethical?
• Why Should the Us Government Find an Alternative to Jail?
• What Are the Causes and Consequences of Torture in Prison?
• How Did the Stanford Prison Experiment Affect the Prisoners?
• What Happens if Drug Offenders Go to Jail?
• What Are the Problems of Privatizing the American Penitentiary System?
• Should Prison and Death Be an Easy Decision for a Court?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 2). 241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/prison-essay-topics/

"241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples." IvyPanda , 2 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/prison-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples'. 2 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/prison-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/prison-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "241 Prison Topics & Essay Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/prison-essay-topics/.

• Crime Ideas
• Death Penalty Questions
• Criminal Justice Essay Topics
• Supreme Court Essay Topics
• CyberCrime Topics
• Murder Questions
• Auschwitz Research Topics
• Capital Punishment Topics
• Criminal Behavior Essay Topics
• Forensic Psychology Research Topics
• Mass Incarceration Essay Topics
• Police Questions
• Sex Offender Essay Topics
• Stanford Prison Experiment Paper Topics
• Court Essay Ideas

The Prison System: Rehabilitation vs. Punishment

Parker Murphy

Both Sides of the Debate

Rehabilitation is a growing option that people believe will be a better alternative to punishing criminals and incarcerated them. “Rehabilitation gives someone the chance to learn about his/her problems and offers one to learn how to change their behavior in order to not commit a crime” ( GadekRadek n.d.,  pg.1). Unlike incarcerating someone for their max jail time then throwing them back into society, rehabilitation is a way to easy the offender back into society. This is one of the biggest reasons people want to push this option so the recidivism and crime rates decrease. There is evidence to show that rehabilitation methods have worked in the past such as in the late 1900s rehabilitation was a prominent factor in the U.S prison system. As years went on punishment was more of the concern and crime rates grew.  

Rehabilitation is also wanted for the fact that prison systems do not give a person the help they need to get better. For example, if a person needs a drug, alcohol, or violence rehabilitation they would get it through rehabilitative programs. “Today, somewhere between 15 and 20% of people in prison are mentally ill” (American Psychology Association n.d, pg. 1)

On the other hand, punishment and incarceration is the top option for people who commit crimes. “Punishment puts offenders in the confines of a cell in order to think about the crime he/she has committed” ( GadekRadek n.d.,  pg.1). People need to know there are consequences to their actions like if someone knows they will only have to go through a rehabilitative program and not do physical time they will not learn their lesson. Within the prison system, there are programs that the prisons can do such as having drug or counseling on how to be a better parent. One of the main reasons for punishment is so victim’s families get closure. If a family member is taken from them, then they expect that the person who did it at least lose their freedoms. Another good aspect of incarceration is the fact that the prisoners can get their GED and education so when they are released they can get jobs.  Some educational opportunities are high school diplomas and vocational. 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Rehabilitation Programs — Prison Reform

Prison Reform

• Categories: Rehabilitation Programs

About this sample

Words: 627 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 627 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Nursing & Health

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1215 words

2 pages / 891 words

6 pages / 2570 words

1 pages / 435 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Rehabilitation Programs

The question of whether ex-offenders should be given a second chance in society is a contentious and morally complex issue that sparks debates about rehabilitation, recidivism, and social responsibility. As the criminal justice [...]

Recidivism, or the tendency for a convicted criminal to reoffend, is a significant issue in the criminal justice system. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 68% of released prisoners are rearrested [...]

Drug addiction is a complex and pervasive issue that affects millions of individuals worldwide. It not only harms the individual struggling with addiction but also has far-reaching consequences for their families, communities, [...]

The question of whether criminals deserve a second chance is a complex and contentious issue that lies at the intersection of criminal justice, ethics, and social policy. This essay delves into the arguments surrounding this [...]

Soccer is being played by millions of people around the world, making it the most commonly played sport. As a result, the injury rate rises too. In the United States, more than 100,000 soccer-related injuries were reported [...]

In recent times there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of energy rehabilitation of the housing stock of our cities, giving more weight to the renovation of existing neighborhoods in front of the construction of new [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

The Unbearable Heat of Prisons in Summer

L ike many people, I knew nothing about the heat crisis in U.S. prisons for most of my life. I first learned of the crisis in early 2016, when I started teaching at a maximum security prison in South Texas. I taught creative writing there for almost seven years, and every summer my students would write about the daily torture they endured, locked in a facility without air conditioning, where temperatures often topped 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat gave them searing headaches and blurred vision, dizziness and nausea, as well as a despair that their society could allow such cruel treatment, ignoring their basic human rights. It was not just a physical torture, but also a psychological punishment, a message that they were subhuman. Such temperatures would violate animal cruelty laws , but they didn’t deserve this dignity.

My students were far from alone in this suffering. Every summer, people in many U.S. prisons are forced to take drastic measures: flooding their toilets to lie down in the slightly cooler water, wrapping wet rags around their limbs, spending their meager prison wages (usually less than a dollar an hour) to buy fans that actually increase the problem, circulating rather than cooling the stifling air. Many stop taking their medications, as this would put added strain on their hearts, which can prove lethal if added to the coronary strain of the heat. Now and then people do die, usually of cardiac incidents, though prison authorities often deny this is related to the heat torture. As a 2023 study from academic journal PLOS ONE has shown , prison suicide rates increase after heatwaves as well. One might think the temperature in the cells would lower at night, but it often barely goes down .

My purpose here is not to dwell on the basic facts of the prison heat crisis, which have been reported so well elsewhere . Though opinions differ (often by political party) on what counts as an “ethical” prison, there’s no denying that high temperatures can pose health risks . Some hard-right cynics might still deny the reality of global warming, but you only need a thermometer to know that our prisons get hotter every year. Around 44 states lack universal air conditioning in their prisons, many the hottest states in the nation; in Texas prisons alone, according to a 2022 study by Brown University researchers, there are an average of 14 heat-related deaths per year. No jury ever sentences a defendant to heat torture, but this is the punishment that hundreds of thousands must face. Some have received a death sentence for as little as cashing a bad check .

With its rising number of deaths, Texas prisons have received a specific censure from the U.N. Convention Against Torture. The U.N. called the prisons “unbearably hot” and pressed for “urgent measures.” Very few have yet been taken. Nor is this issue confined to Southern states: many Northeastern prisons lack air conditioning, and a 2023 study of their state prisons by the Prison Policy Initiative found that deaths increased around 21% from two-day heat waves.

Read More: Air Conditioning is a Human Right.’ Heat-Related Prison Deaths Are Rising Due to Climate Change

These facts are tragic enough, but there are wider implications to the crisis. In her groundbreaking book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness , legal scholar Michelle Alexander wrote about the troubling demographics of U.S. prisons, which incarcerate minorities at a much higher rate than the white population. “The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid,” Alexander explained. “These stark racial disparities cannot be explained by rates of drug crime. Studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkably similar rates. …In some states, black men have been admitted to prison on drug charges at rates 20 to 50 times greater than those of white men.”

This excessive imprisonment of minorities began in the 1860s, just after the purported “end of slavery.” In Tennessee, for instance, the prison population under slavery was less than 5% Black; a year after the Civil War, that number had jumped to 52%; by 1891, it was 75% . Numbers like this could be seen across the South, and the purpose was not only punitive: the state governments colluded with business and landowners in a practice called “ convict leasing ,” which consigned large segments of the Black population to a slavery in all but name .

It is common for white Americans (often raised on simplistic history texts) to think that injustices like this stopped in the 1960s, with the victories of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, the most shocking prison statistics come from the 1980s-2000s, when the “War on Drugs” swelled our penal population from around 300,000 to over 2 million, the highest in the world. Not surprisingly, much of that rise came from minority drug convictions. For Black men born in 1981, 1 in 3 can expect incarceration; in 2001, 1 in 5. Despite reforms, Black Americans are still imprisoned at around five times the rate of whites, and over nine times in supposedly liberal states like California, Connecticut, Maine, and New Jersey. Once released, they then face legalized discrimination in voting, housing, employment, education, and public benefits--the restricted rights of “second-class” citizens, not unsimilar to life in an apartheid state. As of December 2022, the U.S. imprisoned 1.67 million people , just 15 thousand less than the world leader, China, whose population is over a billion larger than ours. As Alexander wrote, “The American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.”

These racial statistics should reframe the discussion of the prison heat crisis. Yes, we should install air conditioning in every U.S. prison; yes, we should pass federal laws for prison temperature standards. But we must also examine the insidious patterns of racism in our nation, where we not only incarcerate a disproportionate number of minority citizens, but then submit them to month after month of literal torture, living conditions that would qualify as war crimes and violate articles of the Geneva Convention. In the words of one union president for Texas correctional officers, “We’re supposed to run prisons, not concentration camps.”

Over the past few years, we have decried the suffering of Palestinian and Ukrainian citizens; we have criticized Russia and Israel for their human rights abuses. Without question, this outcry is necessary and just. But at the same time, we have ignored the hundreds of thousands who suffer from heat torture in our prisons, many from minority groups that have been targeted and oppressed for all of U.S. history. 

That this causes no real scandal is a flagrant sign of our racism. Every year, there is a trickle of news stories about the crisis (John Oliver ran a notable segment two years ago) but our politicians do little to oppose the torture of the systematically oppressed. President Biden’s Build Back Better Bill—rightly lauded as a major achievement—never included a single dollar to support the upgrade of jails and detention centers, even before conservatives slashed its budget. This was not even a talking point for most progressives. As a nation, it’s clear we like to pick and choose which Amendments matter to us. The Second Amendment is a rallying cry for many, but the Eighth—against cruel and unusual punishment—can barely find a voice. The reason for this is simple: the victims of torture rarely finance political campaigns.

In a moment like this one, where human rights abuses fill our newsfeeds, nearly all of us feel powerless and overwhelmed. But we are not as voiceless as those who suffer in our prisons, and prison reform is possible with enough pressure on our politicians. After a sanction from the Justice Department, Mississippi began last year to install air conditioning in all its prisons; in Texas this year, the state House passed a bill to spend $545 million on prison air conditioning (though this was then gutted by the State Senate). With the many issues that press upon us, it is easy to forget the most vulnerable in our society, especially when these people are behind bars, kept out of sight. But I ask you to remember the words of Tona Southards Naranjo, whose son, Jon Southards, died in a Texas prison this summer from a heat-related heart attack: “We need desperate change, and we need it today, this hour. They’re cooking our babies alive.”

More Must-Reads From TIME

• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
• Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
• 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
• If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
• The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
• Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

North America Chevron

United States Chevron

Florida Chevron

Miami Chevron

After Prison, I Went to Miami to Reacquaint Myself With Freedom

By Ryan M. Moser

This essay is the first in a series about traveling after confinement. Look for the next one this summer.

The day after leaving prison, I inhaled ocean air for the first time in eight years.

I’d decided to take a barefoot walk down Ocean Drive in Miami , passing vendors selling handmade wooden bead bracelets and blown-glass bowls. Bikers and roller skaters were cruising the beachside promenade. Reggae music from a nearby bar floated in the air. Carrying an oversized mojito in one hand and a churrasco skewer in the other, I gazed past the strip of white sand, dotted with umbrellas and sunbathers, towards the Atlantic—the same water I’d grown up swimming in during family vacations at the Jersey Shore . The ocean’s edge has been a sanctuary for me since childhood, always drawing me in to splay my toes across the gritty, cool surface strewn with black-stained jingle shells, tan whelks, and chips of horseshoe crab shells. I need the sand and the ocean like I need air and food.

But it didn’t seem real to me now, being completely free in nature.

When I was arrested for property crimes in 2014, I was living in north Florida. Before that I lived in Philadelphia , my hometown. But my prison, Everglades Correctional Institution, rested 30 miles west of Miami—a city I had never visited. The yachts and nightclubs of the coastal metropolis had felt a million miles away, but somehow the stories I heard about fresh mango juice and the Latin Quarter always made it seem welcoming.

In this way, traces of Miami had reached my prison. I would watch the Miami Dolphins play on Sundays. Through the window next to my prison bunk, I could see the fireworks shows on holidays. And Miami locals would tell me of their favorite restaurants, the music scene, and the city’s celebrities. Juan talked about his Uncle’s Cuban coffee shop on 6th Street. Garcia loved the way the bay smelled after a storm came through—“like a fishy heaven,” he’d say.

During my eight-year prison sentence, I dreamed of visiting this vibrant, multicultural city. And on New Year’s Eve 2022—one day after I was set free—I finally did.

My last day at Everglades started like every other during my roughly 3,000 days of incarceration. I was startled awake by a loudspeaker and siren at 4 a.m. and told to prepare for chow. Impatient prisoners lined up for food and gang gossip. Fights broke out. I felt the stress of living in a constant state of heightened situational awareness. Beige concrete walls and steel bars had colored my life for so long. I was anxious to return to things I barely remembered: the sounds of a violin, the smell of fresh laundry, the taste of Dr. Pepper. But six hours away from being released, I felt unsure of how I was going to re-acclimate to the world.

I sat on a metal bench in the prison’s TV room watching TMZ and thought about the decisions that had brought me here. When my pain pill abuse was at its worst, I committed property crimes to support my addiction. I never realized how much it would cost: freedom, dignity, respect, love. I hadn’t seen my family in a decade, but I was excited, and nervous, to be seeing them soon—and I knew I was the only one going home that day. Through the barred window were glimpses of the Everglades swamp, with myna birds and snapping turtles feeding just outside the prison gate. I waited to hear my name and Department of Corrections number called to signal my release.

When I stepped out of the concertina razor-wire fence, guarded by armed officers, my mentor Alex stood waiting for me on the other side. For four years, I led a men’s group he had created inside my prison, and we had become friends. Tall and gregarious—a retired restaurateur committed to helping men inside prison—he was a father-figure to me when my own dad and stepdad couldn’t be. He looked like an elder statesman with graying hair as he greeted me, throwing a pair of khaki shorts and a polo into my hands and telling me to get changed in his Lexus. When people leave prison, it is often described as “coming home.” But Alex was not only figuratively welcoming me home, he was hosting me at his house in Kendall, a town just outside of central Miami, for the week.

“How does it feel to look back at that fence and know you’re never going back?” he asked me.

I was so overwhelmed I couldn't respond.

Even though I had left prison, I still felt like someone was watching my every move. Inside, the guards were ever present and in your face—a reminder every day that I was temporarily the property of the state, and they took the custody of that property very seriously. On the beach, I had to remind myself there were no corrections officers waiting to catch me breaking a rule—the bike cops cruising around South Beach didn’t even glance at me walking by. I was not an imposter. No one was waiting to send me back to prison. I had served my time. I belonged out here.

As twilight arrived on New Year’s Eve , laughter and revelry echoed from bars. Lamborghinis and Porches, crammed bumper to bumper, blasted electronic dance music as they crawled down Ocean Drive. Neon lights illuminated the strip’s Art Deco architecture. I washed the sand off my feet and caught an Uber downtown to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet Alex and his wife.

For months, the couple had boasted about the restaurants in Miami , telling me over the phone how proud they were of me and how excited they were to show off their city. Dinner was fresh salmon and asparagus at a table overlooking Biscayne Bay. I leaned back in my chair and marveled at how the fish melted in my mouth. The greens were so crisp that they crunched with a snap. I tasted the plum sauce and avocado spread with my bread, and thought about the mystery meat I’d eaten for eight years—how I’d never again stand in a crowded chow line and have to choose between being malnourished or eating food that regularly got men sick with food poisoning.

We had even bigger plans for the rest of the night. After dinner, we walked to the ampitheather at Bayfront Park where we would ring in the New Year at a concert by Pitbull —just about as Miami as you can get. Subwoofers pounded as we neared the show. Though I could barely see the stage from our spot on the grass, I was buzzing with happiness. There were so many people around me that at first Alex was worried about me getting anxious, but I felt comfortable and warm, like I was surrounded by a new family.

Half way through the show, fireworks blasted up into the air and the inebriated crowd screamed and whistled. The large Orange Bowl clock by Biscayne Bay counted down: Three minutes and ten seconds… Three minutes and nine seconds… I had waited years for a clock to run out. But now, I was content in the present.

“Isn’t tonight special?” a German tourist turned and asked me. “You can just start over.”

I thought of the times I had wished I could start over: during my addiction, my marriage, my relationship with my kids, my career, my conviction, my loss of freedom. “You’re right,” I said. “It is special.”

The fireworks crescendoed as it got closer to midnight. Colorful bombs exploded above the heart of Miami. Yellow and blue sparks criss-crossed the sky. I pulled out my new smartphone to take a picture, but cellphones had changed drastically while I was gone and I fumbled. I looked at Alan with tears in my eyes, as the final 10 seconds of the year disappeared and I left behind the mistakes from the past.

It was officially the dawn of 2023 when we got back to Alex's condo in a highrise along the Biscayne Bay. I smoked a cigar on the balcony and looked over the railing at the water lapping against the wooden piers, processing the culture shock of leaving one world and entering another—grateful for another chance at peace. Palm trees swayed as a pair of white ibis grazed in the shallows. Boat lights sprinkled the rippling water under a waning moon and laughter echoed across the bay from a late-night soiree. I drifted to sleep in a hammock right on the balcony and felt safe for the first time in years.

Over the course of the next week I was met with raw emotions and fresh experiences: tacos in Little Havana while Cuban salsa music played; graffitied buildings in the Wynwood art district; sips of coffee at a bistro overlooking the bay. On my last day in Miami, I borrowed Alex’s car and drove to the beach at dawn to rent a bike and ride the path along the ocean. The sky was an eerie bruised purple, except for a speck of amber on the horizon. I started my ride at 30th Street and pedaled south as Vance Joy’s “Missing Piece” played from my phone, zipping by the venerable Fontainebleau Hotel . The beach was empty and for the first time in many years, I was completely alone with my thoughts.

At 8th Street, I locked my bike and walked toward the surf, making sure to squeeze my toes deep into the sand. A cruise ship blew its foghorn in the distance. I sat on the beach watching the crimson sun rise up through peach-colored clouds to be born with indescribable beauty. I wept softly for all of the years I had lost, for making it out alive, for being able to soon reunite with my family. I felt sanguine and was hopeful for the future, having spent my first week out experiencing the joys and wonders that life has to offer through the lens of this magical town: like friendship and trying new food, or talking to my sister on the phone while smelling the salt in the air. It all reminded me of what there is to lose if I make a bad decision.

I breathed deeply. There's never been a night dark enough that the light of a sunrise cannot defeat, and I was thankful for that.

This article was published in partnership with the Prison Journalism Project , a nonprofit journalism organization that trains incarcerated writers in journalism and publishes their work. You can read more work by PJP writers  here .

Recommended

Arlo Wynwood Miami

Fontainebleau

Miami Travel Guide

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The debate about Sonia Sotomayor is not about sexism. It’s more dire.

Some want the supreme court justice to retire so that president biden can name a replacement before... before what happens, exactly.

For the past few months there has been a stealth political campaign going on, the subject of which feels so unseemly that nearly every person publicly participating in the debate insists they would rather not be participating in it, and would, in fact, prefer the debate not be happening at all.

The question: Should Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor voluntarily retire before the next presidential election?

And, if your answer is yes, are you sexist?

And, if your answer is no, and you support liberal jurisprudence, are you a fool?

If you haven’t been following, the arguments — which have been laid forth by Josh Barro in the Atlantic , Nate Silver , Mehdi Hassan in the Guardian , Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) , and others — amount to this:

1) Sotomayor, at 69, is already several years older than the median American retirement age;

2) The justice’s Type 1 diabetes might indicate a more complicated health map than that of a typical septuagenarian;

3) In the not-unlikely event that Donald Trump wins the presidential election, and Sotomayor has to leave the court during his next term, we can presume that his replacement nominee will turn the Supreme Court into a 7-2 conservative supermajority with repercussions for decades to come.

In other words, Democrats might feel great about Sotomayor’s health and stamina now. But how much are they willing to bet that they’ll feel great about it in four or more years? (For what it’s worth, Barro et al. also make the case that a Democrat in the White House doesn’t ensure the safe passage of Sotomayor’s replacement to the high court, either: a flip of the Senate could result in a Merrick Garland redux, wherein a Republican majority refuses to confirm a Joe Biden nominee).

The counterarguments: That Sotomayor is far from the oldest judge on the court; Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are six and five years older. That she is below the average retirement age — which is north of 75 — of Supreme Court justices over the past century. That the diabetes argument is ableist and ill-informed. That justices are freed from term limits for a reason: They are supposed to be immune to political pressure and decide for themselves when to retire.

And finally: Would we be having this discussion if Sotomayor were a man?

“Virtually every person ... pushing is male,” observed Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick on a recent podcast, “and the people defending her are female.”

This is the third draft I have tried to write of a column tackling this subject. The first time, I got bogged down in actuarial tables before accepting that I am not medically trained and I have no idea how long Sonia Sotomayor is going to live. The second time, I went deep on sociology, trying to unpack the gender-based and racial overtones (Sotomayor is the first Latina justice) that make this discussion so fraught, before accepting that I’m writing a column, not a dissertation.

The third time, I realized that I’d been examining the wrong questions. When you ask the right one — and there is only one — then answering it for yourself becomes easy:

Do you think the republic holds?

That is the only question that you need to answer for yourself when figuring out whether, if you are a liberal, you think Sonia Sotomayor should retire.

It’s a loaded question, though, so maybe the best way to answer it is to envision what you see as the most plausible shape American politics will take one or five years from now.

Would another Trump defeat cause his party to become more obstinate and conspiracy-minded, or less? Would his acolytes in Congress become more accepting of a Democratic president’s authority to issue orders and make appointments, or less? If Trump wins, what would “democratic norms” look like?

Do you picture a normal-feeling presidential inauguration in 2025, in which a mass-market pop star sings the national anthem? Or do you picture the Capitol police donning riot gear in preparation for a possible attack on the White House? Do you think the odds of an attack on the White House are actually better than zero?

The functioning of American government is based on a series of codes and agreements. The agreement that the transfer of power will be peaceful. The agreement that presidents should be allowed to appoint qualified justices to fill any Supreme Court vacancy that occurs during their presidency (i.e. the argument that Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell made when Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett) rather than Supreme Court vacancies being held open until the Senate likes the commander in chief (i.e. the argument that McConnell essentially made when Barack Obama nominated Garland).

The Style section

If you believe we are living in a reality in which the codes and agreements that support American governance will, though taxed, continue to support American governance, then you are fine with Sonia Sotomayor staying on the bench. You can trust that, actuarily speaking, she’ll likely feel great for another decade, and her eventual replacement will be chosen in a manner that is orderly and fair.

If you are a liberal who believes that the next election might fundamentally cripple American democracy, then you don’t want to rely on actuarial tables. You want a spry 49-year-old, right now, who will dedicate the next quarter century to protecting marriage equality and reinstating Roe.

Do you believe the republic holds?

It’s the question that already underpins this debate about Sotomayor. It is the grand, psychic fear that is running subconsciously through everyone’s mind as they get lost in oddly specific discussions about whether — and this was a real debate — the “medic” that Sotomayor has traveled with, according to U.S. Marshals Service records, referred to a human medical professional or merely to medical equipment.

What I appreciate about this question is that it is unsentimental and unsparing. Answering it for yourself does not require you to unpack all of your feelings about Sotomayor as an individual. It also does not require you to solve sexism, although I frankly think Would you be asking this if she were a man? is not the gotcha question people present it as. I don’t think people would be asking this question if Sotomayor were a man; I think people would be demanding it. I think it would be the “Retire, Breyer” movement we saw back in 2022, but dialed up to 11.

Do you think the republic holds does not require you to get philosophical about what the founders intended, or what is just, or what is optimal. It requires you to get practical about what is . Not: Is it fair that some people are laying the entire broken burden of American jurisprudence on the shoulders of one woman? But rather: Where is the Band-Aid? Does someone have a Band-Aid?

If you feel optimistic about the future of the country and are liberal-minded about the law, then I encourage you to feel confident and reassured by Sotomayor’s presence on the Supreme Court. If you end up thinking that she should retire, then you can, and should, insist that her replacement be another brilliant and eminently qualified woman, and you should make sure Joe Manchin III is ready and willing to vote for that replacement.

But this isn’t about Sotomayor. This is about what people think America will look like when Sotomayor eventually does shuffle off this mortal coil. Which I sincerely hope happens when she is in the middle of writing another delightful children’s book, or going dancing, or cycling leisurely around Washington at the age of 112.

• The sisterhood of the Express pants April 27, 2024 The sisterhood of the Express pants April 27, 2024
• The debate about Sonia Sotomayor is not about sexism. It’s more dire. April 24, 2024 The debate about Sonia Sotomayor is not about sexism. It’s more dire. April 24, 2024
• Opinion | What the ‘tradwife’ trend says about modern life April 18, 2024 Opinion | What the ‘tradwife’ trend says about modern life April 18, 2024

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essay Examples >
• Essays Topics >
• Essay on Business

Privatization Of Prisons Argumentative Essay Samples

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Business , Politics , Workplace , Prison , Medicine , Services papers , Government , Crime

Published: 03/30/2020

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS

Privatization of Prisons: The Good, Bad and Truth of it All

Privatization of prisons in U.S started in 1984 when the first private prison was opened. Since then discussions on private prisons is going on though private prisons in the country has grown rapidly and reached to about 250 in 2002 with a capacity of 105,000 inmates. Being ‘tough on crime’ movement has proved costlier, and increasing government concern on correctional costs. The correctional costs occupy the major portion of the government budget. The downfall in economy and slowdown in financial support is gradually forcing states to revaluate those allocations. Privatization is an option to cut down the cost of the state government, along with the better facilities. Private companies in the past were mainly focused on medical, food and psychiatric services. Today complete privatization is being done which as result in leads to higher competition and better facilities at low financial cost and allows different influences in rehabilitation of the prisoners. Privatization does not depend on how better a company can do it depends the bid; the lowest bidder gets the contract. These enterprises are free to select the suppliers they are not restricted by the government to get the supplier approved which results in cost saving that can be utilized in other areas like the salaries to the employees. The cost to maintain a prison includes housing a prisoner with food, medical facility and rehabilitation. Housing and feeding prisoners cost around $62.05 per day and $38.2 million per year to the tax payers each year that is one prisoner costs a tax payer around $100. And with the increase in prices of everything yearly, almost around 6.2% increase yearly to house a prisoner is unbelievable. To reduce the cost privatization plays an important role. Private prisons cost less to the government and the savings can be used in other sectors for growth the cost of prisons are reduced up to 10 to 15% yearly.(Moore and Rose 1) Prison privatization got several criticisms from criminologists, human right activist, economists, community leaders, correctional officers. Privatization is blamed of corruption. Some claim private prisons do not save money they are more inclined to make a profit which results in minimization of essential services, in the prison as medical care, food, clothing and even staff and security at the cost of the public, the prisoners and the staff. By reducing cost of salary of the security, they can appoint more security, men resulting in more safety in the prison premises. Quality of services provided to the inmates and the employees. There is a discretion in the wages of the inmates, in accordance of the jobs they perform some are paid higher and some lower which develops high morale in the inmates and even inculcates the competition among the private prisons to run more effective mental, physical or drug rehabilitation programs in which the inmates participate willingly, unlike the government run prisons. Just as any other system privatization of the prisons has a darker side too. The state can cancel the contract if they are not satisfied with the services provided during the inspection time. This threat gets reduced when competition prevails, and everyone knows that many companies are there to provide the same service. It becomes more important to follow the policies and the procedures and hence the positive rather than negative is more expectable.

Bibliography

Moore, Adrian T. and Tom Rose. Private prisons quality corrections at a lower price 240 (1998): 42.print. Private Prisons: Pros. 2005. Web. 4 mar. 2014. Tabarrok, Alexander T. Private Prisons Have Public Benefits. The Independent Institute, 24 Oct. 2004. Web. 4 mar. 2014. US department of justice. State Prison Expenditures, 2001. http://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/spe01.pdf, June 2004. Web.4

Cite this page

Share with friends using:

Removal Request

Finished papers: 486

This paper is created by writer with

ID 267121951

If you want your paper to be:

Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate

Original, fresh, based on current data

Eloquently written and immaculately formatted

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Get your papers done by pros!

Other Pages

Ireland dissertation proposals, team dissertation proposals, administration dissertation proposals, heart dissertation proposals, staff dissertation proposals, sense dissertation proposals, support dissertation proposals, rule dissertation proposals, mechanism dissertation proposals, friends and family argumentative essays, personality essays examples, tau zero report, good research paper about counterfeit chinese electronics, free essay on target market segment, good essay on surveillance and public space, free global warming research paper sample, good example of doctor who essay, good relationship between mass media and terrorism essay example, good essay on thomas cook group plc, course work on personal development, db 1 essays example, good report about search and seizure legal aspects, examine criminal justice system reforms and modification of laws essay example, good example of name essay 2, good example of essay on df1, example of black widows terrorist group analysis course work, free critical thinking about sociology, joaquin phoenix essays, seth macfarlane essays, m nixon essays, the fourth dimension essays, tropical cyclone essays, war of the worlds essays, marius essays, personal insurance essays, roman civilizations essays, national geographic channel essays, the fourth thursday essays, voice over ip essays, member banks essays, political repression essays, jacksonian democrats essays, volume ratio essays.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

The Constitution Won’t Save Us From Trump

By Aziz Rana

Mr. Rana is a professor of law at Boston College and the author, most recently, of “The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them.”

On Thursday, the Supreme Court gathered to consider whether Donald Trump, as president, enjoyed immunity from prosecution for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Even if the justices eventually rule against him, liberals should not celebrate the Constitution as our best bulwark against Mr. Trump. In fact, the document — for reasons that go beyond Mr. Trump, that long preceded him and could well extend past him — has made our democracy almost unworkable.

For years, whenever Mr. Trump threatened democratic principles, liberals turned to the Constitution for help, searching the text for tools that would either end his political career or at least contain his corruption. He was sued under the Constitution’s emoluments clauses. He was impeached twice. There was a congressional vote urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to proclaim Mr. Trump unfit for office. More recently, lawyers argued that the states could use the 14th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack.

Each of these efforts has been motivated by a worthy desire to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his actions. Each of them has failed. As we head into the heat of an election season, we need to confront a simple truth: The Constitution isn’t going to save us from Donald Trump. If anything, turning the page on the man — and on the politics he has fostered — will require fundamentally changing it.

It is not just that Mr. Trump would never have been president without the Electoral College. Think about why those previous efforts to use the Constitution to hold Mr. Trump accountable failed. Impeachment processes collapsed in the Senate because it lopsidedly grants power to rural, conservative states. The Supreme Court was able not only to keep Mr. Trump on the ballot in Colorado, but also to narrow the circumstances in which disqualification could ever be used, because Republicans have been able to appoint a majority of the justices on the court, despite losing the popular vote in seven of the past eight presidential elections.

For years, liberals were squeamish about acknowledging these facts, perhaps out of habit. While most countries view their documents as rules for governing — rules that may become outdated and can be reworked if necessary — our own politicians routinely tell a story of American exceptionalism rooted in our Constitution. It is a sacred document that, as Barack Obama once put it , “launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy,” grounded on shared principles of equality, self-government and personal liberty.

In these Trump years, as polls have shown some Americans drifting away from those shared ideals, liberals are clinging even more tightly to the document as a symbol under threat.

A year and a half ago, for instance, when Mr. Trump called for the “termination” of existing election rules, liberals were understandably outraged. Representative Don Beyer of Virginia labeled him an “enemy of the Constitution.” Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, proclaimed that “attacking” the “sacrosanct” document was “anathema to the soul of our nation.” The problem is that these pledges of constitutional fealty can’t substitute for actually convincing the public of the importance of inclusive democracy.

Rallying around the Constitution means embracing the very text that causes these pathologies. Its rules strengthen the hand of those indifferent or even opposed to the principle of one person, one vote. After all, those rules smooth the path for a Trumpian right to gain power without winning over a majority. And they throw up numerous roadblocks to accountability — even when presidents attempt to subvert elections.

The shock to the constitutional system that Mr. Trump represents didn’t start, and won’t end, with him. The best — and perhaps only — way to contain the politics around him is to reform government, so that it is far more representative of Americans. The goal is to keep authoritarians from ever again gaining power without winning a majority and stacking powerful institutions with judges and officials wildly out of step with the public. But this requires extensive changes to our legal and political systems, including to the Constitution itself.

We need new campaign finance laws and expanded voting rights. We need to end the Senate filibuster, eliminate the Electoral College, combat gerrymandering and partisan election interference, adopt multi-member House districts and add new states like Washington, D.C. We need to reduce the power of the Senate, perhaps even moving toward a more ceremonial “ council of revision ,” as Jamelle Bouie has proposed.

Such reform requires pushing back against the extreme power of the Supreme Court through measures like judicial term limits and expansion of the size of the court. And an easier amendment process would give Americans the power to update their institutions and incorporate new rights into the document, rather than having to rely only on what judges decide.

No doubt these changes can seem politically unfeasible. But it would behoove Americans concerned about the dangers posed by Mr. Trump to take seriously such a comprehensive agenda, if for no other reason than because many on the right are already working on constitutional reforms of their own.

Groups like the Convention of States (which counts Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as a vocal supporter) have succeeded in getting 19 of the 34 states required under Article V of the Constitution to agree to convene a new constitutional convention. The Convention of States package of potential changes includes giving “a simple majority of the states” the ability “to rescind actions by Congress, the President, or administrative agencies,” empowering Republican officials to nullify any policies they oppose, regardless of whether those policies enjoy vast national support. As David Pozen of Columbia Law School has written , the right has even figured out how to run this second convention in a way that would ensure that state officials, again disproportionately Republicans, control what gets proposed and how voting proceeds.

These efforts will persist even if Mr. Trump is no longer on the political stage. And so long as liberals refuse to confront what needs to be done to fix the Constitution, his supporters and groups like the Convention of States will control that debate.

It now falls to Americans to avoid learning the wrong lessons from this moment. Mr. Trump may lose at the ballot box or be convicted in one of the four criminal cases he faces, including the one that started this month in Manhattan. If he is held accountable, it will not be because the Constitution saved us, given all its pathologies.

Aziz Rana is a professor of law at Boston College and the author, most recently, of “The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

• Newsletters
• Account Activating this button will toggle the display of additional content Account Sign out

SCOTUS Has a Chance to Right the Wrong Its EMTALA Ruling Forced

Will it listen.

This week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could have devastating and widespread consequences for pregnant patients, their families, and their health care providers—yes, even considering where we currently are with reproductive health care in this country. It involves Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, which makes it a crime for the state’s physicians to terminate a pregnancy, even when termination is necessary to protect the mother’s health. As a result of that state’s cramped statutory exceptions for emergency abortion care, a woman showing up to an ER in Idaho could be at imminent risk of losing her reproductive organs, and yet a physician could still not be allowed to end her pregnancy to save them, unless or until she is about to die.

By contrast, right now, a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires that hospitals that participate in Medicare (meaning virtually every private hospital in the country) provide stabilizing care when the health of a patient is in serious jeopardy. As any emergency physician can explain , sometimes an abortion is the stabilizing care necessary to protect a patient’s health: to avoid loss of reproductive organs and fertility, loss of other organs, permanent disability, severe pain, dire mental health results, and a host of other horrible consequences, including—but also short of—risk of imminent death.

​Before Idaho’s law took effect, a federal district court in the state found that EMTALA and the Idaho law conflict: When a pregnant patient needs an abortion to stabilize a health emergency and consents to receive one, federal law requires that her doctors give her an abortion. The Idaho ban therefore criminalizes what federal law requires. Whenever that happens, the Constitution’s supremacy clause says federal law wins: Under what’s known as the preemption doctrine, federal law is the “supreme Law of the Land” and overrides the conflicting state law. The Idaho court thus temporarily ordered an exception to the Idaho law, allowing physicians to terminate a pregnancy when EMTALA requires it.

​In January, however, the Supreme Court disagreed. Leaping into the case before it was conclusively resolved, the high court issued a stay allowing Idaho’s law to take effect again, despite the conflict with EMTALA, ruling on its “ shadow docket ” and offering no opinion explaining its reasoning. On Wednesday, in the final week of the court’s term, the justices will hear oral argument in the case. They have an opportunity to undo the harm their earlier ruling has already caused. Their decision will affect the law not just in Idaho but in every state whose laws clash with EMTALA.

In the weeks since the high court paused EMTALA and allowed Idaho’s more stringent ban to go into effect, health care providers have experienced what can been seen only as a natural experiment in what happens when physicians are barred from delivering the kinds of medical assistance that is widely understood to be the standard of care in emergency rooms. Whereas the justices may have been able to plausibly claim back in January that they had no idea what it would mean to turn away patients who should have received stabilizing care under EMTALA, we now know. In fact, we can measure the harms. And in Idaho, over just a few months, the consequences of the Supreme Court’s stay have been devastating.

St. Luke’s Health System is the largest private employer in the state of Idaho and treats by far the most emergency patients. (Disclosure: Lindsay Harrison is counsel of record for St. Luke’s in the case.) In an amicus brief submitted to the court in this lawsuit, St. Luke’s explains that since the stay was imposed, it has continued to see patients with emergency medical conditions posing severe health risks short of death and that, as a result of the stay, those patients are suffering.

Because of the stay, Idaho physicians have essentially two options: First, because Idaho’s ban still allows for abortions to prevent death, they can certainly wait until the risks to a patient’s health become life-threatening. But the conditions that come with this state can be extremely painful. And if untreated, they can cause serious health complications, including systemic bleeding, liver hemorrhage and failure, kidney failure, stroke, seizure, and pulmonary edema. In these situations, watching a patient suffer and deteriorate until death is imminent is intolerable to most doctors. It is also medically unsound and dangerous.

Their best option is therefore the second and only alternative: Transfer the patient out of state. But this delays critical emergency care while transport is arranged, still forces patients to endure serious physical pain, and still risks potentially grave complications. It also distances patients from their families, homes, and support networks at a time when they most need them. And it is expensive and wholly unnecessary.

Despite the serious downsides of transfer, the numbers show starkly how that option has become the new “standard of care” in Idaho. In the whole of 2023, before Idaho’s law was in effect, only one pregnant patient presenting to St. Luke’s with an emergency was transferred out of state for care. Yet in the few months the new abortion law has been in effect, six pregnant St. Luke’s patients with medical emergencies have been transferred out of state for termination of their pregnancy. This is a dramatic change for a small state like Idaho, and what it shows is that the new crabbed definition of stabilizing care is already harming pregnant women. In an extremely short time, we have seen precisely the uptick in transfers that could have been predicted when SCOTUS allowed Idaho to end-run the federal statute: More patients are harmed, more patients are sent long distances for care, and more providers find themselves unable to offer necessary care.

Congress passed EMTALA decades ago to solve a serious problem—hospitals were dumping patients on other hospitals without considering their medical condition or how the transfer might harm them. The Supreme Court’s stay is now actually undermining the stated goal of the statute by literally forcing Idaho’s hospitals to transfer patients across state lines, instead of providing the emergency care they need.

When they hear arguments in this case, the justices should therefore bear in mind one other piece of data: The patients affected by this decision are still receiving exactly the same number of abortions they received before the stay because, for patients presenting with their particular medical emergencies, termination remains the standard of care. The St. Luke’s data thus proves that abortion care will still happen—but it will happen following costly and time-wasting emergency transfers, helicopter rides, and bleeding and pain for women who are often already experiencing the very worst day of their lives. The St. Luke’s numbers reveal that denying abortion care doesn’t save fetal life or protect maternal health. It just makes emergency care more expensive, higher-risk, and brutally painful.

A few weeks back, we saw the Supreme Court’s justices take it upon themselves to second-guess the practice of medicine and drug regulation in the mifepristone case. The EMTALA case offers a repeat opportunity for justices to publicly practice emergency medicine without a license, a knowledge base, or any solicitude for actual physicians and their real-life patients. Allowing the Idaho abortion statute to go into effect was a consequential legal error that has already demonstrably harmed pregnant people and their families while impeding doctors from offering the kind of health care they have been trained to deliver. This suffering is entirely avoidable. The court has the power to rectify this error. Now the justices also have the data to understand what will happen should they opt not to do so.