The US Department of Justice, Criminal Defenders Statistics in 2001 say, “an estimated 1 of every 15 persons will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.” In 2005, the United States had the highest number of people sent to prison in the world. That was 25 percent of the people of the world. Out of the 100,000 people in the United States, 724 were sent to prison. Then in 2008, 4,637 of that 100,000 were sent to prison and this was not all men. The number of women arrested has increased to twice the rate for men. They are sent to prison to “do their time.” Inmates are in prison to learn a lesson, not to be pampered.

While people are in prison, they are there to learn and they do not deserve good things. Prison should not be a reward. When people do something illegal and get caught, they are arrested if the charges are bad enough. Some go to prison for longer then others, depending on the crime. Murderers, robbers, rapists, etc. are caught every day. They deserve to sleep on a concrete slab and should be put to work. They should get enough food to feed them and enough water to stay healthy, but no necessities are needed. The inmates should not have any contact with the outside world unless it is an emergency.

On the news recently, there was a prison where they were giving inmates things they did not deserve. They have access to a workout room, a pool table, video games, snacks, lounges, and more. This does not teach them a lesson, and it is more of a reward for them. Activities and a free place to sleep sounds like a pretty good day. They also get to talk to people outside of the jail. Some inmates have a better life in jail than at their old home life. These people, when they leave prison, they do not see it as a bad place. They will not learn their lesson and will not mind going back so they might do the crime again, or even a worse one.

Inmates should have such a horrible experience that they will never do anything illegal again. They should have nightmares of going back to prison. They are there to learn a lesson, not to have the time of their lives. Going to prison should change a person to be better, not to make them worse.