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The negative effects of mass incarceration
Essays on mass incarceration in america
The negative effects of mass incarceration
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Being a criminal lawyer is not easy, nonetheless when your in the spotlight. Defending a woman accused of mass murder was proving to be harder than it looks. Though Anisia knew it would be a determining case for her career, she decided to take the chance. She had never defended anyone accused of murder,she was always taking smaller cases such as petty theft or assault. Her whole reputation as a lawyer and a person was on the line.
In our previous class we spoke about how the profile of the usual white collar criminal is white, middle age, has a high level of education married, has a home and is in a supervisory position. This reminded me of one of my undergrad classes where we spoke about older white males more likely to commit suicide because of the loss of status. Putting those two together if reminded me of former Walls Street trader Michael Marin. Michael Marin was 53 years old, had a wife and children and could not pay the $2,500 a month mortgage on his home. Furthermore, he had $34,000 in back taxes.
In the last several decades, the prison industry in the United States has been expanding at a detrimental rate. With well over 2 million individuals incarcerated as of 2013 (), the US prison population trumps that of any other country. With 5% of the world’s population, the United States accounts for nearly one quarter of the world’s known prison population. With an industry of such epic proportions, evidently funds, resources, and management are in huge demand. In this current situation, private prisons, run by for-profit corporations which aim to provide higher quality services at a cheaper cost, could be viewed as beneficial to society, and even a solution to the growing problem that is the staggering rate of incarceration.
Should attorneys use a confession from a client use that confession to free the wrongly convicted person from prison? According to court documents on January 11, 1982 a security guard for McDonalds in Chicago, Ill by the name of Lloyd Wyckliffe was killed; later police arrested Alton Logan after acting on a tip that he was the shooter (People v. Logan, 1991). Alton was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. However, Alton was innocent and only three people knew of his innocence of murdering the security guard. The first person was the one who did the killing his name was Andrew Wilson.
Their stories depict how our education systems track those who are going to be placed into the cycle of the criminal justice system. Interviewees illustrate how our criminal justice system is locking up “people we are mad at” instead of the “people we are afraid of.” Demetra had 11 charges by the age of 14, diagnosed with anxiety, placed in juvenile jail 3 times, and placed into juvenile housing after assaulting her aunt (guardian). She stated multiple times throughout the documentary, that being incarcerated never taught her a life lesson, and only made her angry. She had barely entered high school, and already had been a placed into the cycle of incarceration.
Private prison companies’ dependence on ensuring a large prison population to maintain profits provides inappropriate incentives to lobby government officials for policies that will place more people in prison (Mason, 2012). For example, mandatory sentencing, three strikes laws, and truth in sentencing, which all contribute to higher prison populations. Also, in some cases could increase the number of people held in immigration detention facilities. This is proven by creation and organization of model legislation through conservative lobbying groups, including political contributions and lobbying efforts of individual companies. As a result, the effort to increase reliance of incarceration occurs at a time where the rate of imprisonment
In the documentary Locked Up: Prison in America the main problem that is discussed is that due to mass incarceration there is an overflow of prisoners and the state can not house them all. One of the main concerns is that a lot of these prisoners are being locked up for non-violent crimes and it costing the state millions of dollars to house them in these prisons. For example it was getting so out of hand that they were forces to let one of the inmates out six months early because they needed the space to house all of these inmates in an already over crowded facility. Even though all of the people being interviewed for this documentary were African American I do not think that race plays a part in whether or not some get locked up.
Minority groups are over-represented in both American Court Systems and Correctional Institutions. What role or actions should minority communities themselves play in reducing minority member’s criminal involvement with the justice system? Use current research or data to support your ideas. Studies have been around since the 1970s and 1980s that asked if African-Americans and Hispanics were sentenced more harshly than Whites. Newer research, including the study by Spohn (2013, p. 76), focuses on “identifying the circumstances under which or the contexts in which race matters.”
This issue led to what is now resulting in mass incarceration. Mass incarceration has been shown to affect mostly poor and minorities. Individuals living in poverty are not afforded the same royalties as those who are not in poverty. They are more willing to commit crimes because of their lack of fortune. The crime rate is more prone to be in urban communities, which hold a significant number of minorities.
Currently, there is an issue facing the nation of epic proportions. Illegal immigrants are invading our land, stealing our jobs, and wasting our tax money by way of government assistance. Their numbers are growing exponentially, and they no doubt wish to take over the country. There is a solution that is beneficial to us all. Initially you may be appalled by my proposal.
This plan consists of 10 unique and “effective” ways to decrease prison size. The 10 steps are “1. Collect and use data to inform a rational, humane and cost-effective use of prison, 2. Review and reform the criminal justice process as a whole from arrest to release and invest in crime prevention and reduction, 3.Divert minor cases out of the criminal justice system, 4. Improve access to justice and case management during pre-trial detention, 5.Develop and implement constructive non-custodial measures and sentences, 6.
The story of Troy Davis and his conviction can be seen as an example of how the criminal justice system has been manipulated into a system of racial segregation. In this situation, Davis was convicted as the shooter when evidence of his innocence was provided. In addition, a lack of evidence against Davis, including the lack of a murder weapon, one of the most crucial pieces of evidence in a murder case, generates further curiosity as to how Davis was found guilty of the shooting. The fact that the officer killed in this situation was white almost certainly increases the significance of the case. A white officer, serving his country, shot and killed by a black man, made the headlines and further portrayed the image that all black men are criminals.
The assignment of being an inmate is the result of his or her action or involvement in crime or severe offenses. Because of their action they have lost majority of the rights that is entitled to a member of society. The inmates have lost their freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom to travel. However, the inmates are still considered to be human being, there are some privileges are given to them. In the instances of inmates being allowed to write and receive letters, the prison officials has the final decision and are able to screen the letters to determine if the content is detrimental against the facility.
With supermax prison, many feel that they need in order to help with prison overcrowding and maintaining control over inmates that are a threat to the security as well as staff and other inmates. “The Federal Bureau of Prisons returned to the idea of controlling the most violent and disruptive inmates in indefinite solitary confinement when it opened Alcatraz in 1934”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Over the years it was “judged as an expensive failure, it symbolized a penal philosophy that was outdated in an era that espoused rehabilitation, not punishment, as a goal of incarceration”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Following these issues, it was later closed. Although some felt that these behaviors came from the long-term segregation some argued
GROUP 2 CJS2202 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE What is the criminal justice system? The criminal justice system is the set of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate laws. There is no single criminal justice system in the World but rather many similar, individual systems.
