Mandatory Minimums In Prisons

Sentencing in the United States has greatly increased due to a number of things. Mandatory minimums, which are a minimum of years served in prison determined by the offense, and the severity of the crime. The National Research Council found that roughly half of the 222% growth in state prison populations between 1980 and 2010 was caused by the increased time in prison for all offenses. Life sentences, without parole, have increases astonishedly. 1/9 prison inmates are sentenced to a life sentence. Mandatory minimums can decide how long prisoners will be held in jail, and if they will ever be released. This system of punishment prevents justice from prevailing due to the fact that it is more of a “one size fits all,” punishment rather than

One in three black men is imprisoned compared to the white relative, with one in seventeen. Latino men double black men, with 1 in six men incarcerated. On average, one in fifty six women are put in jail. One in one hundred and eleven white women are incarcerated. One in eighteen black women are imprisoned. With latinas, one in forty five and put in jail. Racial bias, and socioeconomic inequity are main contributors to racial disparities in the criminal justice system. African Americans have the highest chance of being arrested and convicted in the system. They also receive stricter sentences than Latino and White men. The minority dynamics show the likelihood and pattern of the growing prison

They shouldn’t force prisoners to stay in their dirty, 10x10 feet cell for twenty three hours a day, everyday. They should allow more “social” events such as adding a game night or something. I believe adding something new that is social will help them fix their social issues, and hopefully tunnel some inmates thoughts away from violence.

Prisons should also teach inmates the laws and rules in society to keep them safe. They should be taught to respect the laws in a civil society. The best way to instill this in them, is to make sure that the guards teach each other, and the inmates with respect and how the civil world respects each other. The goal of prisons is to create better citizens, not better criminals.

Prisons should also educate the inmates. Jobs are essential once out of prison. They need to be taught how to read and write because to get a job, you need to be able to do both of those. Prisoners should at least have the skills of reading and writing up to a high school level. That is what is needed in order to get a job. They also need to learn to take pride in their work, in hopes that they’ll bring that into the outside