Justice for the Innocent

Argumentative Essay
As you browse through a drugstore you see a little boy get caught for trying to steal a pack of gum. The store manager decides to punish the boy to teach him a lesson. The boy clearly will not be charged with criminal charges or sent to jail, but what if it were an adult that were stealing? And what if it were something more serious, such as money. What if he held the cashier at gunpoint? He has just committed a felony. He gets sentenced to jail but asks for his sentence to be reduced. Since this is the man’s first case of any criminal charges, the judge complies and allows his jail time to be reduced with good behavior and attending classes while he is incarcerated. The man is more than willing to accept those conditions, yet as soon as he gets released he goes right back to robbing stores and committing serious crimes. Not all criminals are bad people, and not all criminals are going to return to breaking the law if they are released from jail early. However, the graph on the right shows that a significant amount of people that are released return to jail within a year. This number could be reduced drastically if inmates served out the required sentence they were given.   Criminals, especially those who have committed a misdemeanor or felony, should not be able to have his or her sentenced reduced due to the fact that they are a higher risk to society.
Criminals who accept treatment while incarcerated and aftercare after being released have a significantly lower chance of returning to jail than those who did not accept treatment. Daniel McQuillen did not accept treatment while in prison. Daniel McQuillen is also a prime example of why criminals should not be able to have their sentences reduced. In 1997 McQuillen served time in prison for attempted third degree burglary. The next year he was convicted for attempted rape. Finally, four years later he was convicted of first degree rape and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. This certainly...