Flogging…What is it? What is it for? For those of us who have never heard of flogging, flogging refers to “beating with a whip, strap, or rope as a form of punishment” (“Flogging” 1). During the 1600s, flogging was used by the “Puritan ancestors of Boston” (Jacoby 1) as a method of corporal punishment for various crimes. Moving forward, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby provides readers with his take on the “Boston ancestors” punishment system in his essay “Bring Back Flogging.” Within the content of his work, Jacoby describes how flogging was used as punishment in his time. One such example he uses involves a woman who pleaded guilty to committing adultery. He writes that his punishment was “fifteen lashes separately to be imposed on his bare back at the common whipping post” (Jacoby 1). In his piece, Jacoby advocates for the revival of Puritan-style flogging and punishment in the United States. In addition to this, the author illustrates how imprisonment has become society's general form of punishment and is now outdated. Jacoby proposes that to reduce costs and prevent future crime among first-time offenders, caning should be used. Jacoby's logic of his argument is that since crime rates are rising, keeping prisoners locked up is expensive, and "the penal system is choked to bursting" (Jacoby 1), prisons should be abolished and flogging should take the reins as the new solution. form of corporal punishment. With the above in mind, Jacoby's argument for reinstating flogging is unconvincing because his assumptions are inconsistent and flogging itself is inhumane and may prove ineffective. To begin with, Jacoby's hypotheses can be seen as sick... . half the paper......effective not at all. It doesn't take into account that caning might actually cause more crime in today's society. Crimes have evolved and punishments must evolve too. The return to flogging, a primitive form of punishment, would counteract the effectiveness of crime prevention. Clearly times are different. Both the people and the crimes they commit have changed and flogging as the popular edifying process for convicted criminals belongs to the past and prison time belongs to the present. In fact, people should study ways to prevent crimes from occurring rather than looking for ways to punish people. All in all, criminals convicted of murder or tax evasion are still criminals and will serve prison time accordingly. Finally, as the 1970s TV series, Baretta, once stated: "Don't commit a crime if you can't do time" ("Baretta” 1).