Some people believe that every criminal, wether the offense is minor or not, should be sentenced to jail. However, others believe that different methods of punishment should be applied to those who commited minor crimes. In my opinion, punishment should fit the crime, therefore, if a person’s crime has minor effect, such as vandalism, they should not be sent to prison.
Everyone in society must follow rules and regulations set by the lawmakers, and if they broke the law, there must be consequences. Lawmakers and law enforcement have the responsibility to make sure citizens comply with laws that are upheld, and in order to do that they make sure the lawbreakers are sent to correctional facilities. In addition, if there is a threat of imprisonment for every types of crimes, the public may feel the urge to be law abiding citizens. However, jail is not be the answer to reducing crimes.
There are numerous proofs that after imprisonment, criminals have higher chance of returning to a life of crimes. Also, we must also consider that correctional facility is a harsh environment where different levels of criminals are held captive. For example, if a vandalizer is sent to prison, they could turn into a more hardened criminal, such as, an arsonist. In order to prevent from a such deepening cycle of crimes, a vandalizer could be sentenced to clean their local streets for a certain duration.
In conclusion, although imprisonment can be an effective prevention from breaking the law, it could negatively affect the prisoner’s choices, hence, negatively affecting the ultimate goal of reforming the criminals. So, there should be minor consequences that could help the crime-doers understand the impact of their action.
