From the founding of the prison system forward, there was a serious, lively debate about the purpose of punishment: Should the prison be devoted to vengeance, making criminals pay with their time and their blood for their transgressions against society? Or should it be devoted to reform, mending broken lives and making better citizens? Each position has its contradictions, but each links punishment to a certain theory of justice. Can we say the same thing about the vast, sprawling prison system of our own time? Some see it as the triumph of a vengeful ideal of punishment. But I wonder if our system has any connection, anymore, to the ideal of justice. The prison has become a warehouse for the poor and the undesirable. It seems to be built on fear and confusion, not on any shared sense of justice.
