Essay On Why American Prisons Do Not Work

886 Words4 Pages

Javonte Marshall
Mrs. wood
English 10 april,6,2023 american prisons Did you know 82 percent of inmates go back to jail? Have you ever wondered why prisons do not work? Maybe you wondered why so many prisoners go back? Private prisons were formed during slavery and held slaves. Reasons American prisons do not work are prisoners' mental illnesses, prisoners rights being violated,and solitary confinement conditions.

First,prisoners with mental illnesses. Some inmates need extra help with their disability. Inmates with these problems are not always treated the same as other inmates. Inmates with mental health illnesses and need addiction treatments are ignored,punished, or placed in solitary confinement (Equal Justice Initiative). Inmates …show more content…

Prisoners' rights are sometimes being violated by prisons. Some prisons are good at maintaining peace in the prison. Constitutional rights of people in alabama prisons are being violated where homicide and sexual abuse is common (Equal Justice Initiative). Prisoners have the right to be protected by officers. Officers may use force if needed. The eighth Amendment of the Constitution stops the officers from using excessive force (“Know Your Rights | Prisoners’ Rights”). Prisoners are allowed to support their religion if they want to. Officers are not allowed to push their religion on to you. If prisoners have religious clothing,jewelry,or headwear officers also may be required to allow them (“Know Your Rights | Prisoners’ Rights”). Officers can not ignore inmates' needs. If an inmate feels that they are in danger, officers must help them. Ignoring conditions that can lead to risk of assault are a violation of the inmates Eighth Amendment and officers can get in trouble for it (“Know Your Rights | Prisoners’ …show more content…

There are good things about prisons.There are private prisons that can handle jobs that the regular prisons can’t. Private prisons can help inmates with addiction to lower recidivism rate (ProCon.org). Some of these prisons help inmates stay out of prison for good. Some prisons can stop violence from happening around the prison. Prisons are charged for riots and unnatural deaths so they start rehabilitating (ProCon.org). Lots of prisons in the United States are past max capacity. Prisons are helping with keeping crime levels down around the country. They Help with overcrowding and underfunded prisons by moving them to private prisons (ProCon.org). When the private prisons help with overcrowding it helps the other prisons. Prisons can now focus on the prison's conditions and find ways to make the prison better. When the prison population is lowered it helps with the danger of overcrowding (ProCon.org). When there are more prisoners there is more violence between the inmates. When the prisons are less crowded the prisoners are less stressed. These arguments are not valid because not all prisons do this. Some of these prisons cost more or cast the exact same as regular prisons and don't offer rehabilitation. Other prisons also have high death rates and more violence even though there's less inmates in the