Southern Utah University students met in the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 21. to debate this week’s Pizza and Politics topic: prison systems in America.
Nikita Posvolskii and Sydney Hoag, two student workers, began their presentation by establishing the differences between jails and prisons. Where jails are typically short-term detention facilities, prisons are long-term and have a higher amount of security among other differences.
They shared a pie chart which showed that 30% of inmates are detained in local or county jails, 50% are in state prisons and 20% are in federal or private prisons.
Then, they proposed their first audience question: “Is it effective for our society to use both jails and prisons? Why or why not?”
Most students agreed that different criminal offenses warrant different levels of detainment, provided by jails and prisons.
Posvolskii and Hoag explained prisoners’ rights, which includes the Eighth Amendment that prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment as well as their First Amendment rights to practice their religious beliefs, communicate their concerns on prison conditions and have access to courts.
One student said that she was not aware prisoners had these rights and wondered if these rights are being upheld on paper but not always in practice.
Another student jumped in, saying he had done research on the topic and that these rights get violated quite frequently.
Topics like systemic racism, healthcare availability in prison and recidivism were covered before Posvolskii and Hoag concluded the debate and pizza was served.
Crystal Verrill has come to a handful of Pizza and Politic events because she is passionate about controversial political topics like the one discussed today.
“There is actually a lot of misinformation about this topic, but there were factual and educational materials that were given today,” she said.
The Leavitt Center holds these presentations and debates once a week. The next Pizza and Politics will take place after spring break on Wednesday, March 6, where students will be able to discuss controversial Utah State laws and how their voices and votes matter in state politics.
Author: Heather Turner
Photographer: Heather Turner
Editor: Anna Mower
news@suunews.net
