Arguments presented include the statement that the criminal justice system cannot prevent crime by intimidation, reform or incapacitation; that even a very harsh sentencing policy will succeed in reducing violent crime by only one-third, and will increase the prison population by 400 to 500 percent; and that a person who has no rights cannot be expected to observe the rights of others. A discussion of the medical model indicates that the model's suppositions did not conform to practices in reality. A new model, called the citizenship model of corrections, is proposed as a substitute for the inadequate medical model. Essential elements of this citizenship model are the right to personal safety, the right to care (decent clean housing, adequate diet, enough clothing, and medical care as required), the right to personal dignity, the right to work with a wage, the right to self-improvement, the right to vote, and the right to a future (contact with families and friends and the general outside community within the general restrictions of custody). The model places much emphasis on the prisoners' responsibilities and duties, with the goal of preparing them to be able to live in society as citizens upon their release, rather than just as ex-offenders with no more ability to live within the law than when they first entered prison. The article has 17 footnotes.