3. Should repeat offenders be rehabilitated?

For a system meant to rehabilitate, an alarming number of incarcerated individuals are repeat offenders and returning inmates, an occurrence known as recidivism. Recidivism refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior. It's measured by criminal acts that result in re-arrest, re-conviction, or return to prison.

Unfortunately, research has consistently shown that time spent in prison does not successfully rehabilitate most inmates, and the majority of criminals return to a life of crime almost immediately ... Rehabilitation of prisoners is an extremely difficult process.

Of all the mind-numbing statistics thrown about in the criminal justice system, perhaps none is more important than the recidivism rate - the likelihood that someone who broke the law once will do it again after being set free. This is the number that tells us who we would be wise to keep locked up, and who is (statistically) safe to send home. This is the number that tells us whether prisons are doing their job, making us safer.