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Summary: History Of US Jails

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Term Paper Assignment: History of US Jails Tara Dumas Professor Bond CMRJ100 15 May 2018 History of US Jails Over the years, people have viewed the penal system as the ultimate means of handling criminals. This system has served as a tool for detaining suspected lawbreakers, a place for the vagrant, and an institution for cleansing and renewal. Dating far back, the criminal justice system of the U.S has used prisons as a form of punishment and detainment. The first jail in the U.S started operating in the 17th century, in Philadelphia (Krisberg, Marchionna & Hartney, 2014). This institution aimed at confining the convicted offenders. The prison wardens badly maintained the jails and neglected the prisoner’s needs. As such, the inmates …show more content…

The common law used by the authority at that age included a set of rules that aimed at solving social problems. Eventually, the colonists introduced their system of criminal justice, which helped develop the American corrective system. During this colonial period, the authorities used various punishment options, most of which aimed at public shaming. This approach intended to make the offenders learn their wrongs, with the hope that their criminal activity would not recur. Some of the punishment methods used during this era included whipping, placing the convicted offenders in the pillory, and branding (Krisberg, Marchionna & Hartney, 2014). However, severe offenders such as murderers and rapists had to face execution through public …show more content…

From an incapacitative through retributive and to what it is today, the U.S prison system has endured. This institution has for years served as a tool for coping with evil and crime through various measures such as retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation. However, some major challenges still exist. The overreliance on prison as the paramount means of handling the offenders has led to a system that is overburdened. Still, the history of the U.S jail shows an institution that has gone through changes and challenged its functions and practices in the effort to achieve justification and bring order in the

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