The article I read was "U.S. Prison Myth vs. Mayhem". In this article the author writes about the current prison systems flaws and how it affects society. At the end of the article, the author talks about alternative punishments for non-violent criminals. Some things that caught my attention in this article, was how the author brought up the philosophical purpose of all prisons; which is punishment. Our current prison system does effectively punish criminals. This is probably because “punishment” is viewed as a very negative thing. The prisons put away criminals and isolate them with other criminals. Often times we just forget about the inmates because they are out of sight and out of mind. Another point that I found interesting was about the construction of new prisons and jails. These constructions cost billions of dollars that taxpayers, like myself, have to pay. Eventually those new constructed prisons are going to be non-functional just like the rest of the prions in our country. We are putting money into a black hole and expecting to see miraculous results. But it just doesn’t work like that. I’m not sure what we should do to reform the prison system. There is no direct answer in my opinion. I think restitution centers will better the system. It will also save the country some money because low offenders will not have to be given all the luxuries that prisons contain (3 meals, gyms, library, etc.). In regards to actual prisons, I think we should look to Europe for improvement of our system. Inmates inside prison should be rewarded their stay and privileges. That way, not all the expenses are passed on to the tax payer directly.