As an American who is privileged enough to live in a wealthy community, attend a good school, and not have to worry about where my next meal will come from, many of my country’s most pressing issues aren’t problems I’m faced with on a daily basis. However, many Americans are uninformed and subsequently overlook one such issue, unaware of the harmful effect it has on their lives. The “it” in question is mandatory minimum sentencing policy. While most people assume these laws have no affect on anyone excluding the person being sentenced, in reality, the effects of mandatory minimums are far reaching. Aside from the prisoner and his/her family, the tax dollars or hard-working citizens are used to pay for the extended prison stays of thousands of fellow Americans. A whopping 67% of them are nonviolent drug offenders, according to a U.S. Sentencing Commission Report to Congress. It is imperative that the American government abolishes mandatory minimums because they have an…
One fact that few in our country would refute is that our prison system is over-crowded and has been stretched in recent years to accommodate all the recent “criminals.” Along with all those which have committed true crimes against society such as murder and robbery, there are now citizens that have been found guilty of possession or distribution of drugs. “In 2003, there were a…
Most of the federal prisons in the Unites States are overcrowded, many are filled with drug users and suppliers. Stiffer penalties were put in place decades ago, which makes it mandatory the drug offenders go to prison. Judges and prosecutors can sentence according to an individual’s…
“When They Get Out” by Sasha Abramsky cries out to the general public for the change in corrections that the convicted are unable to do. Abramsky leaves nothing to chance in his war on the prison systems for the awakening of the American society to an ever growing problem. Therefore, Abramsky commissions an argument with real uncensored facts. In spite of how incarceration envisions reforming the convicted, Abramsky argues that the prison system corrupts prisoners into worse criminal behaviors. Throughout his essay, Abramsky vehemently questions the true motive of the continuously expanding correctional system. As Abramsky blatantly brandishes the numerous faults of corrections, he splits the purpose of corrections into two separate motives,…
Hiller (1999), suggest that the main type of treatment program adapted within the United States prison system is the “In-prison Therapeutic Community”. This particular program sole intent is to house prisoners receiving treatment for drug and alcohol abuse separately from the general population throughout the prison. According to Hiller (1999), this programs foremost goal or function is to operate differently by adhering to stricter treatment protocols enhanced values and beliefs and to increase the functionality of the staff. They should also have shorter treatment durations and give emphasis to “self-help recovery and relapse prevention.” Hiller (2009), states that drugs and crimes are interrelated and that within the United States, over 68% of new arrestees test positive for illegal drugs; as the levels of illicit drug use increase as does the percentage of drug distribution and other…
Women in our prison system have to face many problems that affect their lives and their love once. Women in prison have to face many issues such as victimization, unstable family life, school and work failure, substance abuse and health problems. Some of the social factors that have contributed to the imprisonment of more women are poverty, minority group member, single motherhood, and homeless. Unfortunately some critics argue that in the U.S. prisons are well equip to face these problems but the reality is that they’re not because women who get release from prison aren’t ready to reenter society because of the bad environment that imprisonment has created for them.…
Although female inmates’ time spent behind bars is intended to serve as their punishment, having their health neglected often serves as a further punishment, a punishment that is inhumane. “The blood-sugar levels of diabetics aren’t routinely tested, resulting in life-threatening seizures; inmates with newly detected cancers are ignored until they’re deathly ill with stage four metastasized malignancies” (Berg 144,145). It seems as though the prison system justifies the inhumane treatment of criminals, and female criminals in particular, merely because of the crimes they have committed. While some may argue that mistreatment of those who have committed violent crimes is fair, “the majority of imprisoned women are there for nonviolent crimes: drugs, prostitution, check forgery” (Berg 144). These women are serving time for their wrongdoings, and neglecting them proper healthcare is a violation of their ethical…
In, “Beyond the Prison Bubble,” published in the Wilson Quarterly in the winter 2011, Joan Petersilia shows different choices about the imprisonment systems. The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any free nation (para.1). The crime rate over a thirty year span had grown by five times since 1960 to 1990. There are more people of color or Hispanics in federal and state institutions then there are of any other nationality. The prison system is growing more than ever; the growth in twenty years has been about 21 new prisons. Mass imprisonment has reduced crime but, has not helped the inmate to gradually return back to society with skills or education. But the offenders leaving prison now are more likely to have fairly long criminal records, lengthy histories of alcohol and drug abuse, significant periods of unemployment and homelessness, and physical or mental disability (par.12).…
Throughout history, Mass Incarceration has heavily affected groups of African- Americans living in the United States. The War on Drugs launched the increase of the imprisonment of young black males across the country. Although, The War on drugs began over 30 years ago, it is a battle that we Americans continue to fight today. It is a battle, we have not yet conquered. With the launch of Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs, thousands of people have been incarcerated for crimes that are not violent, but drug- related. Every year, the United States spends an excessive amount of money to lock up criminals, and often convict people who can benefit from rehabilitation and counseling as opposed to a three year sentence. It is a substantial issue in…
Increased penalties and incarceration are the main solutions of crime prevention for advocates who believe that drugs should be prohibited. Two main reasons for this are its deterrent effects and social harm factors (Levitt, 1996, Weatherburn, 2014). Levitt (1996), at the height of rapidly increasing speeds of incarceration writes that increased prison population is a threat to deter people from engaging in criminal acts due to an increased threat of imprisonment. Also, incapacitation will be a benefit to society as criminals are unable to commit crimes while incarcerated (1996). His study argues that for each prisoner released as a result of prison overcrowding, it is associated with an increase of fifteen crimes per year (1996). Conversely,…
More than half of prisoners are currently serving time for non-violent drug related offenses, as the popularity for “war on drugs” has increased over the last decade. The majority of inmates are harshly sentenced, including doubling of imprisonment time for repeat offenders. For example, the federal law issues that selling 28 grams of crack cocaine requires a sentence of at least five years. Because even more convicts are being sent to prison, overcrowding has forced institutions to release prisoners early to meet budget requriements. Most of these inmates become homeless and are diagnosed with many medical problems, often getting little to no help. Being that this subject is an issue currently in society, I also had to cope with consequences…
This is concern is thoroughly outlined within a recent study performed by Rachael Young with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Young states that “when offenders ‘pay their debt to society’ by going to prison, society pays, too. North Carolina spends as much as $200,000 more on each criminal incarcerated as a habitual felon than if he or she had been sentenced according to the single offense. The average cost per inmate per day is about $65, or about $23,830 per inmate each year. North Carolina spent almost $789 million on its prison population, much more than the state's entire community college budget.” The reason for such extensive costs is due to the fact that, as previously stated, the nation is imprisoning low-level drug addicts instead of providing them with the rehabilitation required for curing addiction. This is proven by the fact that “a 1997 study found that treating heavy drug users was eight to nine time more cost-effective than long (six- to seven-year) mandatory sentences in reducing drug use, sales, and drug-related crimes, and estimated that treatment reduced drug-related crime as much as 15 times more than mandatory sentences,” (Young). Considering the fact that prison upkeep is payed for by innocent, everyday citizens- one might demand that the government opts for lower-cost plans for keeping drugs off American streets. In order to do so, the government should eradicate mandatory minimums and invest in cheaper, more effective preventative programs (such as rehabilitation) instead of spending more money on prison sentencing (which could otherwise be allocated to new community colleges, healthcare programs, essential highway infrastructure, and…
The number of prisoners incarcerated for drug related and drug influenced crimes has significantly increased over the last two decades. Using drugs inside a prison is a terrifying thing to think about. How is it that under the order of law and in a highly restricted environment, drug use is still possible? It is due to a number of reasons: overcrowded prisons, stealthy smuggling, concealed manufacturing, prison gangs and corruption. Some of the ways drugs are smuggled into prison, is by human bodies. The drugs can also be thrown over the prison walls in tennis balls, dead birds, footballs or just about anything that can be thrown. Often they are smuggled in by visitors, who find various creative ways to leave them. Without adequate supervision it is possible for inmates to smuggle and produce drugs. The many riots are drawing bad public attention in the overcrowded prison crisis.…
Among problems the United States faces, one of the most prominent is the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. While the jailing of drug offenders does not seem so serious at first glance, under close inspection this proves otherwise. Among the flaws of this system, are the elevated crime rates that compare poorly to the rate of nations worldwide, the excessive budget wasted on housing these drug offenders, and finally, the sheer unconstitutionality of it all. By…
Today 's corrections systems often make offenders worse, along with raising the recidivism rates. America needs more then a new system, but a new way of thinking. Reformation or rehabilitation is not something that can be imposed or forced, on another; it cannot be created in the individual offender by the burden of external measures. Prisons in America have been portrayed to be places for reform and rehabilitation; places where criminals belong so that society can be safe. Yet studies and statistics have yielded such an image to be an illusion. With roughly 40% of the world 's prisoners incarcerated in the United States, we just may have to re-think our current systems (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006). What happens when good people are found in an extenuating circumstance, which leads them to become involved in drugs? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? Workable Solutions A policy using boot camp to house low-level drug offenders instead of a long prison sentence would have a three effects; it would cut prison costs and overcrowding, it would be a fairer and more democratic punishment; and it would keep…