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Arthur Wirsching Professor Altman English 115 Beneficial Bloodshed Prison overpopulation is an issue we face in America and it is growing with time. It is only natural the population rises, and with that we see more and more criminals. It is good that we have the resources to detain these law-breakers, but where does a criminal carry out their sentence? When there are more prisoners in a prison then originally intended, this begins to form into a problem. Both state and federal prisons suffer from this prison overcrowding, and it is not an issue that is easily solved. The best way to effectively solve this issue while producing an income is to reinstitute gladiatorial battles as a sport among prisoners to be spectated by the public for entertainment. Violence throughout prisoners is nothing new, and will be welcomed with open arms by the majority of prisoners. Christine Tartaro, a professor of Criminal Justice states that jails begin to become crowded as soon as the population begins to approach and exceed eighty percent capacity (Tartaro). When prisons approach or reach their capacity, the system starts to find more creative ways to store their inmates. Cells that were designed to hold two prisoners are now used to hold four. Packing this many dangerous criminals into such small quarters is a flaw in the system and it only encourages violence. We have already readied prisoners to fight each other with these aggravating conditions. Many prisoners already have groups in which they relate with and most importantly groups they will fight for. Even the racial composition of the inmate population has been cited with being significantly associated with violence (Tartaro).

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This form of team-mentality is the perfect setup for the next big step. Organized teams could battle each other to the death and team members can easily be replaced, since all that is required is another member of the same ethnicity. Correctional facilities already have to maintain control over inmates to prevent these prisoners from killing each other. By allowing designated opportunities for battle, this can reduce the amount of unwanted deaths in exchange for much more profitable deaths. The gladiatorial games held by correctional facilities will be very popular with viewers nationwide. Not everyone has to be a violent individual in order to appreciate the violence being displayed. A quick look at modern day box offices will show movies displaying violence, blood, and gore. These are the elements that attract audiences, and most importantly, their money. Not only does the fiction of Hollywood generate profit, as American football is the most expensive sports industry in the world. Sports article editor Mike Ozanian published that football team Dallas Cowboys is said to be estimated at a total of 2.3 billion dollars, and generated revenue of over five hundred million dollars in 2012 (Ozanian). This full contact sport draws audiences from all over the country. This all leads us to the conclusion that introducing a new sport that involves everything that Americans love will lead to a huge success. Organized, structured, and unscripted violence is something the average American would pay to see. All of the income generated by these games leads to many opportunities for correctional facilities across the nation. It is no doubt that the quality of the prison system is declining rapidly. Criminology expert Lauren Sharkey explains that in prisons, the overcrowding leads to depression, and ultimately has increased the rate of suicides among prisoners. This is devastating, as prisoners who could be glorified in an arena would rather end their life in their

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prison cells due to poor conditions, leading to loss of profit. The deprivation of liberty among prisoners leads to loneliness, and rejection. Prisoners also begin to feel dependent on the prison, which begins to restrict their ability to make choices for themselves (Sharkey). While it is definitely seen as a benefit to be able to strip prisoners of their own liberty, we still have to care for those prisoners who will one day live outside of prison walls. This creates opportunities for new systems that allow a more professional league of battle. Ex-convicts may not have much of a life outside of battle, and once released from prison they can find the violence and bloodshed they seek through more organized sources. This will ensure the violence is kept off of our streets, and somewhere that the average American can enjoy from a distance. Revenue from the games will lead to greater prisons, and much more spacious prisons. With profits possibly greater than that of the football industry, gladiatorial games would provide resources to make a better life for prisoners. However, prisons could not be a place of luxury; otherwise citizens would commit crimes simply to spend time in the ideal living quarters. Instead of luxuries, money can be spent on training programs for inmates, teaching various hand-to-hand combat techniques to further increase the value of each prisoner. Some people may argue that these ideal games would not be a success. Another idea for helping clear congestion is brought up by Political and Social Scientist M. Kay Harris. He suggests that prisons are to rethink the nature and use of the complete range of penalties (Harris). This suggests that we free criminals who have committed petty and non-violent crimes. While it is agreeable that there is little use in non-violent criminals, after spending time in the harsh, crowded, and unforgiving prison system we have today, they will have already

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become violence-soaked criminals. Releasing these threats into the streets would simply unleash a wave of crime into our cities. A second argument against this solution is the moral aspect of it all. It is understandable why some may have opposing views against monetized bloodshed; however this is a simple misunderstanding. The players in this arena are criminals. They have committed crimes against innocent, law-abiding citizens, and are locked up for a reason. Now, it would certainly be immoral to force every prisoner to fight to the death. Some inmates may simply not be appealing to watch, or wish not to participate. If the victors of battle did in fact receive benefits, then this incentive would undoubtedly attract many of the prison population to participate. In most cases, the system would not be forcing anyone into battle. The death of these miscreants should not create any discomfort, because it is intended that the general population would understand it is helping solve a nationwide problem. Ancient Romans found joy in the combat of their prisoners, but these were people far more savage than the civilized populous we see today. However, we are still the same humans we were then, and thousands of years later we can still perfect the idea that the Romans made popular. The time to give life to gladiator games is now, as we have the technology to broadcast it worldwide, something ancient cultures would never have dreamed. Through this perfection of the sport we can achieve something that would not only create a link to our past ancestors, but pave a new way for future generations. However, it would take a long time to implement this idea. It would perhaps be best if an alternative idea were to be found by then, as to prevent the deaths of so many human lives.

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Works Cited SHARKEY, L. (2010), Does Overcrowding in Prisons Exacerbate the Risk of Suicide among Women Prisoners?. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 49: 111124.

Tartaro, Christine, The impact of density on jail violence, Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 30, Issue 6, NovemberDecember 2002, Pages 499-510, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235202001721

Reducing Prison Crowding and Nonprison Penalties M. Kay Harris Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol. 478, Our Crowded Prisons (Mar., 1985), pp. 150-160 Sage Publications, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1045956

Ozanian, Mike. "The Most Valuable NFL Teams." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.