What Are Prisons For?
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But miracles should no longer be expected, whether miraculous reformation of inmates or miraculous control of crime. Prisons are for temporarily isolating society's worst marauders. It is as simple and as complicated as that. Still, as a nation's institutions, they may also be made safer and more decent, just as a nation's whole criminal justice system may be made more coherent. Imprisoning people less shamefully is a worthy enough goal. Lowered expectations need not signify a national moral bankruptcy. For the U.S. and its ideas about prison, a deep breath and a sigh may be the beginning of an overdue maturity. —By Kurt Andersen. Reported by Jay Branegan/Chicago and Anne Constable/Atlanta, with other bureaus
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PETER H. SCHULTZ, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and co-investigator of the mission that said it found water on the moon Friday
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PETER H. SCHULTZ, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and co-investigator of the mission that said it found water on the moon Friday
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