Argument: Treating prisoners with dignity & respect is in the public’s interest

Stacy is making the argument that "It is in the public’s interest to treat prisoners with the same humanity, dignity, and respect as we do free people, regardless of their crimes. Currently, prisons allow staff to abuse and neglect prisoners as additional measures of punishment that were not ordered by a court. Prisoners should receive the same quality of medical treatment as people outside of prison. "

Kali 's counterargument is that, "While the inherent dignity of prisoners’ lives should be respected and prisons should focus on rehabilitation rather than abuse, imprisonment necessarily means losing certain freedoms and rights as a consequence of their criminal convictions. This does not mean they should be denied medical treatment; rather, the quality of care that prisoners receive should reflect the actual standard of care available to the general population outside prison, rather than an assumed standard of care. The state’s first priority should be ensuring adequate healthcare for people living freely in the community before guaranteeing the same standard of care to prisoners."

We will use the Advocate with Challenger format.