California overcrowding prisons conditions has gain National attention. The U.S. Supreme court has found that California is in violation of the 8th Amendment. California has been required to reduce their prison inmates by 40,000 inmates. California has utilized many options to reduce the inmate population within the prison system. California has to two years to reduce the inmates count in the prison system.
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
INTRODUCTION The United States incarcerates a greater percentage of the population than any country in the world (CBS, 2012). According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 2.3 million adults were incarcerated in federal and state prisons, and county jails in 2013. There are an additional 820,000 people on parole and 3.8 million people on probation (Wagner & Rabuy, 2016) Jail and prison differ primarily in regards to the length of stay for inmates.
United States Prisons: A Mental Cage The United States is one of the world’s most recognized and powerful superpowers since its industrial and commercial production along with their nearly limitless military budget make them practically invincible. This demonstrates the power of the United States on foreign soil and problems, yet many internal problems in the United States are left disregarded and neglected, simply thrown away. Citizens and lawmakers remain silent on several key social issues and on one of the biggest shameful topics of neglect, America’s incarceration rate.
Just imagine the city of Houston being populated with nothing but prisoners. This is how badly the prison system has gotten overcrowded since the 1980's, and it is only going to get worse. Overpopulation has affected the lives of prisoners inside and outside of prison with a plethora of reasons that cause more harm than good. The only way to solve these problems is to reform the programs inside prisons and to reform the laws in the justice system. Prison reform is needed in the current rehabilitation programs inside of prison since little effort is used to implement a correct recovery for the convicted.
One of greatest threats to the United States today is terrorism. Currently, terrorist organizations are seeking to recruit human sources within the United States. “The danger to America’s security is, therefore, not the number of adherents to Islam in prison, but in the potential for small groups of true believers to instigate terrorist acts, either by other prisoners once they are released, or by existing cells in the community”(Hamm, 2007). One major concern is that U.S. correctional institutions may become a source for such recruitment. This type of recruitment is highly likely.
In 2012, statistics showed that prisons were overcrowded by 41 percent, the highest since 2004. Overcrowded prisons can become highly ineffective as space becomes limited and the amount of inmates to monitor increases. This means more jobs that are necessary for guards which then equals more tax money invested into the penal system. CNN provides information acquired by the United States census which shows how much money is spent on students compared to prisoners per year separated by states. The lowest amount provided per prisoner is in Kentucky where each prisoner costs around $12,000 whereas each student costs a little under $10,000.
III. Literature Review Prison overcrowding has been a global issue for many years. We can all attest to the fact that incarceration is said to be the main deterrent for individuals who have committed a criminal offense. The sole purpose of this literature review is to identify prospective policies that may assist Ohio with the reduction of their overcrowded prison population. My aimed is to identify four best practices that other states like New York, New Jersey, California and Massachusetts have been using as alternatives to prison hence reducing prison overcrowding.
Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.
Eventually, they become outlaw and start committing crime again. Moreover, jail inmates are not guided about future career opportunities and skill enhancement training is not provided to them. After being released, they do not get any job due to lack of professional
Those who are incarcerated in the United States face severe conditions throughout their time in prison. Many become beaten, stabbed, raped, and killed. Inmates are faced with dangerous environments where they do not know what their next days will look like. Many prisoners have a variety of illnesses that become untreated while incarcerated. Whether that is addiction, mental illness, or a physical illness, prisons are ignoring the issue.
But the unfortunate thing for prisoners, is that they aren’t always allowed the health care services they need for maintenance and improvement of physical and mental health while incarcerated. The purpose of this research paper is explore and discuss the reasons why prisoners
Another way to fix overcrowding prisons is to educate parolees that are being released back into society. Having better reeducation systems for parolees will teach them how to become a better citizen. After being educated as a good citizen they will become more productive to the community and society. In 2005 the Bureau of Justice Statistics gathered data with results being 400,000 individuals on parole in 30 states ended up recidivating (BJS). If we focus on giving these parolees a better chance to survive outside of jail with reeducation programs and more advanced monitoring while on parole the recidivism rates would go down decreasing the amount of prison overcrowding.
In this last decade crime has been decreasing by large numbers in some areas, while staying steady in other parts of the country. Nevertheless, the number of individuals going to prison for drug offences has skyrocket. The prison system is a current disaster and is currently affecting millions of citizens in the United States. I choose this social problem, because the number of people affected by prisons and the ridiculous mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences is scary, insane and problematic. I would like to find out what caused this epidemic to happen.
Prisons are essential to our society because the facilities reduce crime, modify behavior, and apply social learning. Steven Levitt, economist at the University of Chicago, estimated percentages for how society is effected as prison population continues to increase. He reported a reduced rate of crime as a result of escalation in arrest rates, conviction rates, and prison sentence lengths. Levitt stated, "for each 10 percent rise in a state's prison population, robberies fall 7 percent, assault and burglary shrink 4 percent each, auto theft and larceny decline 3 percent each, rape falls 2 1/2 percent and murder drops 1 1/2 percent". Also, for every ten inmates locked up it prevents the occurrence of ten to fifteen non-drug felonies (NCPA).
