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What Is Prison Actually For?

Ask what a sentence is for and you get two answers that sound compatible and are not. One looks backward at what was done. The other looks forward at what happens next.

Almost every argument about punishment is really this disagreement, held by people who have never said out loud which one they are answering. Ten statements, about two minutes, and one number.

10 questions

Answered 0 of 10

  1. 1 A sentence lighter than the offense deserves is unfair to the person who was harmed.
  2. 2 A sentence should be judged by how serious the offense was.
  3. 3 Some acts deserve punishment even when punishing them changes nothing.
  4. 4 The same offense should carry roughly the same sentence from one person to the next.
  5. 5 Once a sentence is served, the record should stop following the person.
  6. 6 Prison is justified by what it prevents.
  7. 7 Money spent on programs inside does more good than longer sentences.
  8. 8 A sentence should be judged by whether the person comes out less likely to offend.
  9. 9 A prison that does not prepare people for release has failed at its job.
  10. 10 Prison is justified by what the person did.