It has recently been an issue in Alabama. "In 1995 Alabama was the first state to bring back prison chain gangs" (Prison Activist). A year later the state was forced to ban the practice. Attorney Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center exclaimed that "chaining prisoners together was inefficient and unsafe" and that it violated the prisoners Eighth Amendment right, preventing cruel and unusual punishment (Prison Activist). The Eighth Amendment states:
Difficulty would attend the effort to define with exactness
the extent of the constitutional provision which provides
that cruel and unusual punishments shall not be
inflicted; but it is safe to affirm that punishments of torture
[such as drawing and quartering, embowelling alive,
beheading, public dissecting,and burning alive], and all
others in the same line of unnecessary cruelty, are
forbidden by that amendment to the Constitution
(FindLaw).
When applying Grice’s Maxim of Quality this quote seems very reasonably. However, the problem is that chaining inmate’s legs together does not seem to be forbidden by the Eighth Amendment. How is this considered cruel and unusual punishment?
Criminal offenders do deserve to suffer, but the question is how and how much? Criminals are in prison for their unjust ways in society. Whether they murdered, raped, or molested an innocent victim, the fact is they were prosecuted and found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This means, "they have very little constitutional rights" (Legal Information Institute).
"The first chain gangs began after the Civil War ended" (Florida Department of Corrections). The nation needed rebuilt and they were low on money. This is when the government took the prisoners and put them to work. The prisoners were chained around their feet and a long chain connected them to other prisoners. That is why the prisoners are commonly called the "Chain Gangs" (Florida Department of Corrections). The prisoners were then put to work in the community building roads, bridges and reconstructing the towns. This was a good way to utilize the criminal’s time and pay society back for their unjust ways. Almost anyone could rent a prisoner to work on his or her plantations as long as the renter took care of the prisoner (Florida Department of Corrections). The use Grice’s Maxim of Quantity is used to explain to the audience about the beginnings of chain gangs.
Looking back at the early days of the chain gangs it seems to be cruel and inhumane. "Some even think this is a form of slavery"(Prison Activist). But in today’s economy the prisoners are treated with more civil rights than those of us who have not committed a crime. Prisons have cable television, libraries that surpass some high school libraries, and some prisons offer gym equipment that others in society must pay for. It is important that the prisoner's pay for their crime. After all, a jury of their peers has convicted them for breaking the law. Why should the hard working taxpayer's money go for the prisoners to lift weights and watch television all day? The relevance or Grice’s Maxim of Relation of this information is to inform the audience of how today’s society has changed. The early days the convicts had no rights at all and now we have to treat them as if they have not committed a harsh crime of some sort. I’m not saying treat them as they treated their victims, that would be cruel and unusual, but at least make them pay for their luxurious stay at the prison.
The final maxim of Grice’s Co-Operative Principle’s is the maxim of manner. This is a principle if known by the inmates would not be in the prison in the first place. The maxim of manner means that we should treat other people, as we would like to be treated. You cannot bring back a loved one but you can punish the criminal by requiring them to work during their imprisonment. There is a reason that the facility is called a prison and not a shelter for those who need assistance from the government and the hard working taxpayer's that provide the "luxuries" to the facility. The prisoners should show society that they can pay their debt while working for their food and shelter in the prisons, not to mention utilize the taxpayers dollars in the form of a working prison society.