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Overcrowding In Prisons

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Overcrowding in prisons is something that the U.S. struggles with. The increasing number of people being incarcerated is making the over-crowding problem more prevalent. Over-crowding in prisons has been a growing concern over the years. It creates many dismal effects on the conditions of the officers, the building its self, and the inmates.

The U.S. currently incarcerates approximately 1 in 100 adults. America’s incarceration addiction grew during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of the tough on crime policy. As an example of the tough on crime policy, California’s “three strikes” law called for mandatory sentencing of repeat offenders. Another example is New York’s “Broken Windows” strategy. This called for the arrest and prosecution …show more content…

Spending up to 23 hours of the day, if not all day, in overcrowded cells is very uncomfortable and inhumane. Overcrowding can be so severe that prisoners sleep in shifts, on top of each other, they even share beds or tie themselves to window bars so that they can sleep while standing.

A study done in 2006, found that a high prison population has a direct, negative effect on the psychological state of inmates. Overcrowding has been known to cause more stressful circumstances and has provoked prison officials to react inappropriately on occasion due to being forced to accommodate risky numbers of prisoners.

A study done on prison population density (PPD) in Japan found that it has a direct correlation with prison violence rates (PVR). This study irrefutably states that “the effect of PPD was significant and positive on PVR, even after controlling for the effects of the proportions of males, age younger than 30 years, less than one-year incarceration, and prisoner/staff …show more content…

It is a very difficult situation to deal with. Nobody wants to release inmates early just to help with overcrowding but nobody wants to pay more to make larger and or more facilities. It’s a huge issue that seems to have downfalls no matter what steps we take to fix

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With all of the issues the government must worry about, prison overcrowding should not be one of them. The lazy and effortless attempts of the justice system that resulted in the outstanding number of people inside prisons is overbearing. There needs to be a change. Mandatory sentencing laws, lack of awareness and inhumane treatment of prisoners is unjust. For society to progress, new laws must be passed, recognition must happen, and action needs to take place.

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This website covers the issue of prison overpopulation. This issue affects prisons all across the country. The first feature the website provides a list of each of the fifty states. Choosing a state will take you to a page that provides the number of incarcerated prisoners currently being held and the total cost to run the prison per day. The website also has a section that has articles explaining why prison overcrowding is a problem.

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It can also increase the difficulties for the guards to control the extra amount of inmates. California prisons were ordered by district court panel to release or transfer more than 33,000 inmates due to overcrowding in 2011 (CNN.com). This decision was made by the United States Supreme Court which said that the conditions in the overcrowded prisons are so overwhelming that unusual punishment must be held.

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