Prison

   In Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, he quotes that "I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up," implying that the prison was nothing more than a cage in which the prisoners were treated as animals. 
   Nationwide, there's an unnoticed crime happening within our criminal justice system. Although it seems justified, prisoners have to go through things such as inhumane hours, food, housing, environment, and culture. These conditions do no more than waste billions of tax dollars for nothing more than just putting people on a large-scale timeout.
   I believe that there should be a newfound purpose for prisons - to redirect people. If prisons simply hold people in cells, it's just a waste of a life. However, if prisons simply tried to rehabilitate and reeducate, instead of leaving the prison as bitter versions of their earlier selves, would have new skill sets to make it on their own. In America, which follows the harsh prison layout, has a 43% chance of prisoners returning to prison within 5 years of being released. However, in places such as Norway which has the most humane form of prisons, has a returning rate of only 30% - which is a rather significant difference even though it doesn't seem like it. The difference? Norway treats them like people. With things such as education, real-life training, job training, respect, and freedom, prisoners are more likely to be re-immersed into society. I think it's time for the American prison system to evolve at the same pace as the innovations of the rest of the world.