Improvements to the Correctional System

 BACKGROUND: According to the textbook, prison reform is often effectuated by and through the legislature. Often, these changes are meant for improvement; however, they can have an unintended consequence. Imagine that you are a state legislator that heads a committee for the Department of Corrections. Your responsibilities include recommending improvements to the correctional system, both domestic and international, (e.g., Guantanamo Bay). Go to Cornell University Law School’s Website, located at http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/eighth_amendment, and review the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. – Suggest two actions that the corrections system can take in order to ensure that their officers adhere to the principals of professional conduct as stated by the correctional officers’ organization at http://www.correctionalofficer.org/professional-conduct. Provide a rationale for your response. – Take a position as to whether or not conditions of correctional facilities circumvent the “cruel and unusual punishment standard” of the Eighth Amendment. Provide a rationale for your response. – Support or refute the removal of capital punishment from the U.S. corrections system. Provide a rationale for your response. – Create an argument for or against intermediate sanctions as a deterrent of crime. Support your viewpoint with one example of intermediate sanctions from within the last three years that reflects your opinion. – Debate whether or not correctional officers are adequately equipped to deal with mentally ill inmates. Provide a rationale for your response.