Lock-Up Folly Analysis

"Lock-up folly" Analysis

The article "Lock-up folly" talks about the boom of prison construction. The article talks about how the state of North Carolina is spending outrageous amounts of money on its prison building. The author goes on to try to persuade the reader that the state is spending a lot of money in the wrong ways. The author is quoted as saying "without some changes, there will be no end to prison expansion." that is just one of the bold but warranted statements that the author makes.

The author starts out by appealing to you rational side by making the following factual statement "prison, it seems are full despite the fact that the state has opened three maximum security prisons since 2003, at the cost of 400 million dollars." The author then goes on to tell of plans of two more prisons to be opened in 2006. I think that was a good way of getting interest in the topic, because it showed that there is a problem. The author then goes on to make a much warranted statement "the cost of incarcerating an inmate for a year rivals the cost of providing a student with a year at some of the nation's top private colleges."

The author then goes on to back-up the warranted statements with the facts that the state is spending extra money, $40 a day to keep inmates that should be transferred to state prisons in county jails. The author also goes on to say that the need for protecting the public is not in dispute. That is a warranted statement that is common knowledge and everyone would agree on.

Later on in the article the author goes on to make another warranted statement about the problem of gang prevention. The author is quoted as saying "an adequate amount of money to stem that trend [gang activity] would have helped those communities, and in the long term perhaps kept some youngsters from taking a path to prison." This quote was warranted with factual information about a bill that was proposed and passed, that would strengthen anti-gang laws. The bills provision to spend $20 million on discouraging gangs was cut to $2 million.

The author backs that statement up further with more facts about the low level of spending on community based activities for young kids, and substance abuse programs for adults. The author does make a statement that I do feel is a bit warranted. The author goes on to say "drugs