Philosophy Judicial and Correctional Ethics

It should be 5-7 pages, double-spaced, in 12-pt. font, with standard margins. (Note: everything above the first line of your paper does not count towards the 5-page minimum.) Draw on Angela Davis in your response; you should also draw substantially from at least two other authors we have read in the course. (This may include the authors we read in the last week of class.) Please note that your close engagement with these authors will be an important factor in determining your grade. See the document entitled ‘Paper Guidelines and Writing Tips’ to get a sense of how a good paper should be composed. Write on one of the following topics: 1) Is the abolition of the prison system a desirable goal? First, establish the ethical grounding for your position: what is the moral basis for your argument? (Here you will probably want to draw from the readings in sections I and/or II of the schedule on the syllabus.) Then, discuss the relation between mass incarceration and race: how does this factor into the question of whether prison abolition is a desirable goal? If you argue in support of abolition, be sure to explain what ought to replace the prison system (or, perhaps, render it obsolete). 2) What would you do, if you could, to change the prison system in the United States? First, establish what you believe the purpose(s) of the prison system ought to be. (Here you may want to draw on the readings from section II of the schedule on the syllabus.) Then, address particular forms of punishment: are there practices of punishment that should be abandoned or altered in substantial ways? Finally, address if/whether mass incarceration is a problem for society, and why. How does mass incarceration relate to the history and practice of racial discrimination in the United States, and what would you do (if anything) to address it?