Today I called the Illinois Representative Michael J. Madigan office and received his answering machine. I left him a message asking him to please consider passing bills for sentencing reform legislation, such as the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA), S.2123. I told him that I am a registered voter and it has come to my attention that the federal prison population has skyrocketed dramatically over the past 35 years and most of the people in the prisons are in for minimum drug sentences. I told him that while people are in prison they are losing income, job skills, and are typically unable to attend rehabilitation programs. All of these aspects make it extremely difficult for the people to obtain jobs or get on the right path once
Parole gives those people an opportunity to reenter the society. Parole emerged from a philosophical revolution and it resulted a tradition of penal reform. Parole has its origins in the determination of Alexander Maconochie and Sir Walter Crofton. Both of these individuals developed a program for early release and supervision of inmates under their charge. This process was later used in the United States.
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.
It is no secret that the US relies extremely heavily on our prison systems to hold citizens that are not currently properly following rules set forth by the US government. The US currently has twenty five percent of the world's prisoner population, despite only having five percent of the world's total population (Incarceration Nation). This clearly displays a problem within our prison system and a disconnect from the values which our country claims to have as our prison rates are currently most comparable to North Korea (Incarceration Nation). The US prison system is in desperate need for reforms to better rehabilitate prisoners and be more ethically responsible towards them; the US could have a positive effect on the treatment of our prisoners
Crimes are happening around us whether we pay attention to them or not. Those crimes as dangerous as murder are committed by all ages but should younger criminal in their juvenile age received the same punishment as older criminals. On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the Eighth Amendment.(On-Demand Writing Assignment Juvenile Justice) Advocates on the concurring side believes that mandatory life in prison is wrong and should be abolish. However, the dissenting side believe that keeping the there should be a life in prison punishment for juvenile who commit heinous crime regardless of their age.
The prison ultimate goal is to prevent any future crime. The prisons provide warnings and example to people thinking about committing crimes, and that the possibility of ending up in a prison deter deviance acts. The prison attempts to deter deviance crimes by eliminating all form of freedoms prisoners had in the free world. For example, prisoners have to wait for store day to buy products with the money sent by family or friends. Unlike the free world where a person is able to go to store anytime.
Those who find themselves sentenced to time in a penitentiary, jail, or prison are at risk of either being broken or strengthened by the time they spend behind bars. There is a great debate of whether or not the prison system in the United States is positive or negative. The following will briefly highlight the positives, negatives, and possible alternatives for our nation's prison system. First, there is a long list of negatives that the prison system in America brings. The prison system is filled with crime, hate, and negativity almost as much as the free world is.
About 495,000 of the 750,000 incarcerated persons who will be released this year are likely to be rearrested within three years. With effective programs, we could reduce the number of persons who repeatedly commit crimes by nearly 100,000." (Petersilia 2011) Not only will this lower crime rates, making our own backyards feel safer, but it will lower our tax expenses to the prisons if they have less people to take care of. Needless to say, the amount of people who can be kept out of returning to jail with some studying and classes while already in confinement, can be an immense change to
Sentencing Sentencing occurs after a defendant has been convicted of a crime. During the sentencing process, the court issues a punishment that involves a fine, imprisonment, capital punishment, or some other penalty. In some states, juries may be entitled to determine a sentence. However, sentencing in most states and federal courts are issued by a judge. To fully understand the sentencing phase of criminal court proceedings, it is important to examine how sentencing affects the state and federal prison systems, learn the meanings of determinate and indeterminate sentencing, and understand the impact Proposition 57 has had on sentencing in California.
The punishment is that they are with us” (Paragraph 2). Instead, prisons focus on rehabilitation. Most citizens understand that in order to have long term effects, it take long processes that take a while to get used to. “The country’s well-education population [appreciate] that almost all prisoners will return to society. They understand [...] that the more the penal system can do within the small window of opportunity during a prisoner’s incarceration, the better it will be in the long run” (Paragraph 15).
Reduce sentence lengths and ensure consistent sentencing practice. 10. Develop opportunities for parole or other forms of early release and assist prisoners on release to prevent their return to prison. These are some measures to prevent the overcrowding of prison which is major root cause of many problems in the prisons.
By lowering the incarceration rate and lowering the over population of the prisons we are able to take more severe offender and try to get them the rehabilitation that they need. Resources are not as thinly spread, which allow the system to more adequately meet the needs of those who spend time in
With these programs prisoners will get the opportunity to implement change in their lives everyday while imprisoned. In order for the justice system to rectify the mindset of criminals, then one must learn why the law was broken in the first place. In addition, crimes are the results of societal issues (“Rehabilitation, Not Punishment”). For example a person with a decrease in their economy can result in the act of stealing. This is why many countries with a low economy, like Brazil and Mexico, often face higher crime rates.
This approach also prevents overcrowding in prisons because it also deals with rehabilitative
Another problem that is occurring in the parole system is the release of prisoners into the parole system who were unfairly placed in it due to reasons that have nothing to do with the convicted themselves. Prisons are becoming so overcrowded that the courts are looking to make room by getting rid of some of the existing residents (Kleiman, and Hawken), and this may seem like a great opportunity for the future parolees. But in the end it is doing more harm than good. There are different kinds of parole a prisoner could get assigned to them, if they are even eligible for parole at all. This problem happens in the case of Discretionary Parole, which is the type of parole that is brought up to the parole board to discuss (OVERVIEW).
