Ex-Offenders In The United States Correctional System

Abstract
Since it’s establishment in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the United States Correctional System has evolved from its initial intent to house offenders before their trial/ public punishment, to housing offenders as a form of punishment to rehabilitating them while withholding them in state’s custody. However, at least over the last two decades United State’s federal and local officials have implanted laws and utilized systems that considerably impede the success of an ex-offender’s reentry into society. This essay will analyze the broad range of roadblocks faced by ex-offenders, the legislative origin of these issues, and prospective solutions that can cease the increasing percentage of recidivism nationally.

Introduction
In fact, it is solely upon the offender to seek and obtain employment. The lack of housing and employment play a crucial role in determining the success of the offender’s reintegration into society. The issue lies with legislative decisions correlated with the fact that offenders carry a criminal and arrest record with them for many years after paying their debt to society in some cases permanently depending on the offense. Many of these “tough on crimes” laws offer a resolution to remove the offender from society through prison sentences however they do not offer much towards the offenders rehabilitation and reentry.
When offenders seek employment and housing, they are often denied a position or home when employers and landlords retrieve their criminal history. Such practices create a significant struggle for ex-offenders to become productive citizens while avoiding recidivism. As we know, recidivism is harmful to both the offender, the community, and in some ways the economy/tax payer revenue. Approximately “sixty-billion dollars” is disbursed annually to house offenders’ country-wide and when ex-convicts reoffend and are sent back to prison, costs increase resulting in spiked taxes for citizens and overcrowding for
In 2005, approximately “seven hundred thousand” prison inmates were released. Within three years of reentry, over “fifty percent” returned back to prison for a violation of their parole agreement or a new offense (Freeman). In many ways, certain state legislation contribute to recidivism in the United States as legislators implement laws that produce critical challenges for a group facing more than enough obstacles while reintegrating. One example of lawmaker’s contribution to recidivism would be the barring of the Pell Grant implemented in the1990’s. Pell Grants were used to endorse “higher education” within state