Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prison deters crime / Bruce Bayley -- Prison does not deter crime / Joel Waldfogel -- Prisons can rehabilitate / Shreveport Times -- Prison rehabilitation efforts are ineffective / Dana Pico -- Alternative sentencing would be more effective in prison / Ruth David -- Alternatives to prison are dangerous and ineffective / Thomas Sowell -- America's imprisonment practices are racist / Glenn Loury -- America's imprisonment practices are not racist / Heather Mac Donald -- Mandatory minimum sentencing is just in drug cases / Jodi L. Avergun -- Mandatory minimum sentencing is unjust / Robert Hooker and Robert Hirsh -- Imprisoning drug users is just / Theodore Dalrymple -- Imprisoning nonviolent drug users is unjust / Michael Huemer -- Disenfranchising prisoners is just / Ben Johnson -- Disenfranchising prisoners is unjust / Conor Clarke and Greg Yothers -- American prisons are humane / Harley G. Lappin -- Overcrowding in American prisons is inhumane / Craig Haney -- Stun technology makes prisons safer / Jeff Wiehe -- Stun technology is inhumane and dangerous / Anne-Marie Cusac -- California must spend more on prison than health care / J. Clark Kelso -- California should not spend excessively on prison health care / Debra Saunders -- Allowing inmate moms to raise their children in prison is beneficial / Suzanne Smalley -- Raising children in prison may be harmful / Carol Lloyd -- Juveniles should not be placed in adult prisons / Campaign for Youth Justice -- Life without parole in the adult system is reasonable for some juvenile offenders / Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman -- The mentally ill should not be placed in the prison system / Jamie Fellner -- Focusing on mental illness in prison prevents real reform / Susan Mortimer.