outline/speech

House Arrest

SPEECH

General Purpose: To persuade

Specific Purpose: To persuade my listeners to petition lawmakers to authorize house arrest for nonviolent offenders

Central Idea: House arrest and electronic monitoring for non- violent offenders would relieve overcrowding in prisons and save taxpayers millions of dollars.

INTRODUCTION

I. Attention Material

A. If you heard that most state prisons are greatly over- crowded, what would be your reaction?

B. You might say, “So what? It doesn’t matter to me.”

II. Orienting Material

A. What if states are forced to raise taxes to construct new prisons?

1. The Supreme Court has ruled that all 33 prisons in California are overcrowded.

2. California must release 34,000 inmates unless it can build more prisons.

3. The state is considering raising taxes to build additional prisons.

4. Other states are also thinking about tax hikes.

B. There is an ideal solution.

1. It can be done without raising taxes.

2. Inmates can be confined in their own homes, not in prisons.

(Transition: Before looking at this idea, let’s examine the problem more closely.)

BODY

I. Prisons are overcrowded because we lock up a huge number of nonviolent offenders. (Show slide.) [See Figure 1.]

A. Last year 2.3 million men and women were incarcerated in the U.S. at a cost of $69 billion.

1. 60 percent were nonviolent offenders.

2. Their crimes were embezzlement, tax evasion, corrup- tion, writing bad checks, failing to make child support payments, selling drugs, and driving while intoxicated.

In the attention step of the motivated sequence, the speaker tries to arouse curiosity.

COMMENTARY

(continued)

A preview of the central idea helps the audience follow the rest of the speech.

For the need step, the speaker explains a problem.

B. Today’s prisons can’t absorb 2.3 million prisoners. (Dr. Craig Haney, lawyer and psychology professor at University of California in Santa Cruz) 1. Prisoners live and sleep on bunks stacked 3 or 4 high in

halls and auditoriums. 2. Crammed in, they have high levels of stress, illness, frus-

trations and fights. 3. They can’t reduce stress by working out in gyms and rec-

reational rooms because these facilities are unavailable— they have been transformed into dormitories.

(Transition: How can we solve the problem?)

II. The best way is house arrest with electronic monitoring. A. This keeps nonviolent offenders out of prison and doesn’t

cost society a lot of money. 1. Most popular is an ankle bracelet, worn all the time.

(Show photo.) [See Figure 2.] 2. It sends a signal that is monitored by police or a private

company. 3. If the prisoner goes out of range, police can act quickly.

B. House arrest is being used by only a few states and com- munities. (Dept. of Justice) 1. The reason is bad press. 2. News reports tell of convicts breaking out of their brace-

lets and committing another crime. a. These events did occur, and may occur again,

but technology is becoming more sophisticated. (Dr. Haney)

b. The newest bracelets alert police as soon as some- one tampers with them.

In the outline, the names of sources are placed in parentheses, but in the actual speech, they will be woven into the fab- ric of the speaker’s remarks.

Figure 1 Most of the 2.3 million prisoners locked up at a cost of $69 billion a year are nonviolent offenders.

The satisfaction step presents a solu- tion to the problem.

The speaker enhances his credibility by admitting that ankle bracelets have received bad publicity–at least in the past.

Figure 2 A popular type of house arrest uses an ankle bracelet for electronic monitoring.

© Jae C. Hong/AP Images

C. House arrest costs less than prison. 1. The situation in Florida has been studied by Dr. Bill Bales,

a criminology professor at Florida State University. (Show slide.) [See Figure 3.]

2. An offender under house arrest costs $1.97 per day, while a prisoner in a state prison costs $55.09 a day.

3. Some offenders must stay home 24 hours a day. 4. But most communities allow them to work, which helps

avoid poverty and divorce. (Transition: Has house arrest been successful anywhere?)

III. Some communities are saving millions of dollars by using house arrest.

A. Scottsdale, Arizona, started electronic monitoring of peo- ple convicted of drunk driving. (Arizona Republic) 1. In the first 5 weeks, the city saved more than $200,000. 2. Each offender is required to pay part of the cost—a $100

start fee and about $20 a day. B. Los Angeles County, California, has electronic monitoring

of DWI offenders. (Judge Michael Barasse of Pennsylvania, who does studies for the U.S. government) 1. County saved $1 million in first year. 2. The average cost was $15 a day for each offender. 3. The offenders paid the costs themselves.

(Transition: What can you do?)

IV. Support house arrest and electronic monitoring in our state. A. My petition asks our governor and legislators to authorize

house arrest for nonviolent offenders. B. As you leave today, please sign the petition.

(Transition: Here is how I see things.)

Citing an expert enhances credibility.

(continued)

The visualization step reveals that the speaker’s proposal has been tried—and has achieved success.

In the action step, the speaker spells out exactly how listeners can help.

Figure 3 In Florida, far more money is spent per day on a prisoner in state prison than on an offender under house arrest.

CONCLUSION

I. Summary A. To solve overcrowding, we can use house arrest. B. Or we can pay higher taxes to build new prisons.

II. Clincher A. You have two options. B. Which one do you choose?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bales, Bill, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University. “A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Electronic Monitoring,” paper presented at the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center’s “Innovative Technologies for Corrections” Conference. 21 June 2010: 13-46. PDF file.

Barrasse, Michael (Judge). “Promising Sentencing Practice No. 6: Electronic Monitoring and SCRAM.” National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, 4 May 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

“Correctional Population in the United States.” Bureau of Justice Statistics website (a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice), 5 April 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

Haney, Craig, professor of psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz. Telephone interview. 17 Nov 2010.

Madrid, Ofelia. “Scottsdale Saving Money with House Arrest in Some DUI Cases.” The Arizona Republic 19 Nov. 2010: B1. Print.

Regoli, Robert M. and John D. Hewitt. Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2010. Print.

Because the body of the speech is nec- essarily long, it is appropriate to have a brief, to-the-point conclusion.

The speaker relies on highly credible sources.

VISUAL AIDS

PowerPoint slide of key statistics Photo of ankle bracelet PowerPoint slide showing cost of house arrest vs. prison

The speaker uses three visuals that help the audience understand key points.