A Lesson Before Dying

Prison Information Links

We've read about Jefferson and his incarceration in the 1940's. How has the prison system changed over the years? Should inmates get "three strikes" and then be locked up for the rest of their lives? Does the government have a responsibility to help inmates when they are released from prison? Explore some of the links below, as you learn more about jails today.

Looking Inside a Prison

FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums)

Jailing the Mentally Ill

Yahoo News: Prison Issues

Education, Not Incarceration (article and facts)

Prison Activist (scroll down for issues--women in prison, the death penalty, working in prison, etc. )

Medical Care in Jail

Books Through Bars

Prisons and Jails.com

A Debt to Society (information about prisons from Mother Jones Magazine)

Questions to answer (You already have a half sheet with these questions. Don't print this out!)

1. What links/articles/sites did you explore? What did you read? (Yes, you need to read the information, not just look at it!)

2. Give three facts you learned while reading.

3. Give three opinions you found while reading. (These opinions cannot be proven. They are what someone believes.)

4. What is the most important thing you learned? Why?

5. We've read ALBD and many newspaper articles about the prison system. How do you think we should deal with this problem? Remember, regardless of your position, prisons today often don't have enough money (funding for programs, staffing, eduction, medical care, etc.) Even if you believe people should be locked up, what do we do with prison overcrowding? Many jails are overcrowded (they were built to house a certain number of prisoners, but now house more than planned for)