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ACLU: Prison Policy Analysis

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Introduction Since the War on drugs began American has had a prison problem. The goal of this era and the tough on crime era that proceeded it the goal was to be tough on crime in order to stop it. This meant mass incarceration and hard time for offenses such as drug use (drug policy: facts). The 1990’s saw the biggest increase of the prison population with federal policies such as three strikes. Today these polices has made America the number incarcerated group in the planet despite having only 5% of the world’s population (ACLU: Prison Facts). This influx has prompted an analysis for the pass eight to ten years. Specifically how do we as a nation handle these numbers and find more comprehensive ways to affect crime. Places such as San Diego …show more content…

Those engaged in the program did not reoffend due to parole. They followed the standards of the program once they left prison and complied with all standards. As such this SB 618 group did not reoffend within the first year nor did they find themselves in any parole violation. This element does not however tell the whole story. After the first year reconviction rates of the program sample were the same as those who did not enter the program. This means that while those in the program followed their parole they reoffended on different charges at the same rate as those who were not engaged in the program one year after release. The program decrease recidivism within the short term but more needed to be done program wise in the long term. Overall the program was successful. Under the guidelines offenders recidivism dropped, and cost decreased when compared to more traditional forms of treatment (Malmut, Burke …show more content…

From the reading it seems the program ended at this juncture. While an offender wouldn’t need the same amount of program influence they would still need continued support to be economically viable and sustain their own success. The numbers reflected reconviction to those not in the group reflect this summation. Conclusion Criminal Justice is a social science. Social Science deal with the way human interacts. It is the how and why in which humans engage. This is an important dynamic to understand in this program because understanding the long term ramifications of the program would have probably produced better results one year after parole. Human beings, especially those who are caught in drug addiction need parameters and social supports that move with them and allow them the ability to become viable in society. SB 618 had the elements that allowed for this they just didn’t take the human dynamic fully into mind long

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