Jayce Warman

The return of chain gangs in America’s prisons in recent years has sparked controversies about human rights and the effectiveness of the prison system. In 1995, Alabama reinstated the penal practice of chain gangs in its prisons. Many states followed suit in an effort to keep their own correction facilities up to par. In the following viewpoint, Jayce War- man proposes that a modified chain gang—as a work program strategy—has potentially widespread and lasting benefits for both inmates and communities in his home state of West Virginia. He claims that such programs can contribute to the rehabilitation of criminals, relieve taxpayers of the rising costs of imprisonment, deter crime, and improve the community. A form of punishment with this many benefits, he contends, should be used widely. Warman...