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Overcrowding Vs Incarceration

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There are over 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States. Research by the International Centre for Prison Studies has shown that incarceration percentages increased by more than 500% over the last 40 years. As statistics show increases in incarceration, prison overcrowding has become more of an ever-growing situation in the United States. Prison overcrowding occurs when the rate of people incarcerated exceeds the rate of prisoners released. There are over 17 states that the prison population is higher than the capacity of the facilities designed to hold them. A majority of those states are still recovering from a recession that minimalized budgets. The facilities have to decide to whether spend more taxpayer money to expand rooms, …show more content…

Recent reports from the Vera Institute of Justice calculated annual average cost per inmate to be $31,286 upwards to $60,076 in specific states. Overcrowded prisons lead to unsafe profit prison expansions, more taxpayer money spent on incarceration rather than education, and perpetuating the cycle of poverty to incarceration. The United States has more people incarcerated than any country on earth, more than communist china, which is an authoritarian country four times the size of America. There is no doubt that overcrowding exists in America. The private prison industry has been on the rise. These prisons are not operated by the government but pay private companies to run it for the government. The longer an inmate stays in jail the more profit the private prison industry makes for profit. A report by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2011 gathered evidence that private prisons are indeed costlier to taxpayers, more violent for inmates, and less accountable for breaking policies. Private prisons state to save money but in actuality profit prisons leave little savings and abuse prisoners in the process. State represented Chad Campbell of Arizona stated private prisons leave most expensive prisoners to be paid for by taxpayers. While taxpayers are juggling the price the inmates are in a cycle of suffering. Private prisons in Michigan were found serving rat-infested food, underfeeding inmates, and severing spoiled …show more content…

When in actuality the purpose is to rehabilitate and lower the percentage of inmates committing a crime upon release. To teach skills in order to less likely land back into prison which would further the issue of overcrowding. Some Americans believe overcrowding prisons is fair because criminals are not entitled while inmates live better than a lot of lower income members of society due to their access to healthcare. Many claim that criminals should not be comfortable that taxpayers are paying for them to be sheltered, fed, and clothed. That the $30,000 average per inmate to keep them incarcerated by funds from taxpayers is more than enough. It is true to an extent that criminals do not deserve to be entitled but the inhumane dangerous living conditions found in most prisons are unjust. Inmates should not have to live in animalistic barbarian conditions. Inmates suffer long sentences to be released to no community or rehabilitation back into society. However, there is discomfort and there is bordering on torture. There are prisons that exist and do not put prisoners through harsh living conditions. Except overcrowding has highlighted the other side that borderline abuses it’s

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It’s in many ways beneficial to society that inmates are used for cheap labor in exchange of shortened sentences or a work assignment that pays a small amount to their commissary. Inmates cost americans millions in tax dollars per year. Without knowing it, Americans spend their taxes on the increasing amount of “rehabilitated” inmates in the u.s. and by the average increase in those incarcerated the prison system essentially gains income based on the amount of inmates. This costs the real rehabilitation and reality of life after prison in exchange of mass incarceration. It’s certainly costly to house and feed nearly 2.3 million people in u.s. Prisons.

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Private prisons are seen as a money-making investment and not a place of rehabilitation, and thus the prisoners needs are viewed in dollar signs. Without laws and governmental overseeing, private prisons can restrict the amenities available to prisoners. Although prisoners still maintain the majority of rights that non-prisoners do according to the law, the quality of life in private prisons is strictly at the mercy of millionaires who are looking to maximize their profits (Tencer 2012). In order to maintain those max profits, the prisons must stay full. Private prisons often have stricter rules that result in extended sentences for what are usually minor

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The privatization of the prison system has made it so that individuals who have committed a crime are no longer seen as people but as profits. Prisons receive more money and more laborers (which they grossly underpay) with the addition of new inmates, so it is in the best interests of prison corporations to increase the volume of prisoners as well as expanding the length of sentences. Private prisons started out as a cost-effective way to house inmates, but after yielding large investments and profits, they began lobbying for new and harsher punishments resulting in America having the highest levels of incarceration in the world. In 1984, the first private prisons were created, the founders claimed that the prisons funded by the government but run privately would cost considerably less than prisons run at the county, state, and federal level.

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The private corporations do not care, and maybe they never will, for the inmates they are forcing into their facility. The use of private prisons are not the saving grace the government expected it to be; in fact it may be the devil itself. Private prisons are more relaxed with their safety and health guidelines. As a result, the inmates suffer the consequences of neglect. Private prisons are known to cut corners, and when forced to change they retaliate.

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Private prisons have been increasing more and more over the decade and this is due to the fact that private prisons are handed to a third party to handle and manage thus causing the government to worry about one less thing on their agenda. Not only have private prisons been increasing because it is one less thing for the government to worry about but also because the it benefits the government with more cost-efficient prisons. To further elaborate on the above statement, private prisons are run by third parties and due to this it leads to a reduced cost because when it is run by third parties, third parties do not have to follow the same rules a government prison would. For example, private prisons can pay much less for security than a government

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This is a lot compared to what they pay their employers (¨Private Prisons¨ ). Private prisons charge almost $10 more than normal prisons and still have worse conditions than a normal prison. These private prisons are making way more money for less work and still can not provide a decent living. Thirdly, private prison companies can charge inflated prices for basic necessities such as soap and underwear ¨(¨Private Prisons¨ ). Private prison companies can charge inflated prices for the basic needs so most can not even afford basic hygiene products.

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The money that is spent on prisons and the prisoners could benefit the citizens of America in another way. The amount of money that comes from taxes alone could help build houses for those in need, help pay off student loans or even give money back to the hard working Americans. “The total cost of Colorado’s prisons—to incarcerate an average daily population of 19,958—was therefore $606.2 million, of which 3.5 percent were costs outside the corrections budget” (Vera 1). This money goes to items such as televisions, health care, beds, luxury items, hot meals, coffee, and cigarettes. The list goes on although prisoners were put into jail because they are harmful to society.

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The same money that could be used to support the suffering lower class is being used to feed the scum of this country. Prison does not work the way it is intended. Prison is not an effective deterrent of criminals, not only due to its over comforting of its charges, but also due to its lackluster success rates and overall waste of time, money, and resources. Prison is not an entirely uncomfortable place to be. Any prisoner can expect three meals a day,running water, air conditioning, and a bed to sleep on.

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To insure the programs are being effective, private prisons evaluate the programs and make changes so the programs offered provide the best services to the population they serve. Along with prisons, other private prison companies offer solutions to day reporting centers. These services provide cost savings to communities while still supporting released inmates so they can remain on the outside and thrive as citizens (https://www.geogroup.com/Non-Residential_Reentry). Private prison must give inmates food, shelter, and medical services as mandated by laws. By using both public and private prisons to deal with overcrowding, more resources can be used on inmates because there will be less people in a facility which make seeing medical staff easier.

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Inmates are no different in this aspect. Inmate labor was designed with the purpose of “offsetting the cost of incarceration” (Derrick, Scott, & Hutson, 2004, p. 74). The operational cost of prisons, and jails for that matter, is exponential. Tax-payers have the burden of monetarily contributing to the overwhelming cost of housing criminals.

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The National Justice Institute provides statistics on the total cost of all these inmates saying the United States spends an estimated $50 billion on corrections annually. The cost of corrections is growing exponentially, and out-pacing other government services. Such as transportation, higher education, and public assistance (Petersilia). With money towards corrections instead of other programs, the solution seems to be clear. Reducing recidivism, by creating programs, would lower the cost the United States is spending on prisoners.

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