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…
Stern’s (2006) book, “Creating Criminals: Prisons and People in a Market Society”, gives us the black and white truth about important topics that are not usually talked about in the media, nor acknowledged by most in American society. The author explains that she is in no way defending criminals with her literature, rather researching and informing society about the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system and the market society. She argues that many policies go in favor towards those who have money, leaving people who don’t have money behind, which ultimately leads to creating criminals. She explains the dangers of overcrowded prisons, who are the people more likely to be imprisoned, and the role of a market society within…
Elizabeth Johnson was a model student. She was characterized by her teachers as hardworking, driven, and goal oriented. After being placed on the honor roll and graduating early from Morris High School in Will County, Illinois, she attended Northern Illinois University to become a lawyer. Within her first year at college, her life derailed. She was caught by the police and arrested for possession of marijuana. Johnson was expecting to be placed in prison but she found herself in a drug court, which assigned her mandatory drug rehabilitation. After graduating from the rehabilitation program, she went back to school at John Marshall Law School, and passed the bar exam. Now, after seven years of completing the drug program, she has…
In the United States, the government preaches equality for all, while in upholding a system that discriminates against almost everyone that is not white, or not male. Packing prisons in the United States is second nature, since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the populations in prisons have increase at least 400%. And when talking about the prison system in the U.S., there has to be a conversation about race, because the prison system systematically targets people of color. U.S. soil bleeds racism, from the countries racist words about refugees to the color of skin dictating your pay. There is nothing number one about a country with a broken and racially biased criminal justice system, with racism directed at refugees of war because of their…
There are over two thousand drug courts in America, each one specializing in its own level of drug abuse. A drug court’s primary role is to handle cases with offenders of substance abuse. They offer offenders an opportunity to enter a rehabilitation program in lieu of sentenced jail time. The road to recovery is of course challenging and difficult, making the drug courts so strict and costly. Drug courts were generally created for non-violent drug abusers. Although these offenders are given the chance to avoid jail time they are extremely supervised by the court officials. Drug tests, substance abuse treatment, must make regular appearances in court and constant checkups are required to continue in the program. These offenders’ cases are usually dismissed due to their involvement in the program or their sentence is only shortened. Participation in these programs are completely voluntary and if qualified to enter, the offender must agree to complete all the tasks given and report to every summoning from the court. If an offender doesn’t complete the program, they can be prosecuted or their sentence will be revised and will be placed in jail. Drug courts are considered one f the most effective ways to eliminate drug abusers and avoiding incarceration. While in the program offenders are monitored and results of every drug court case is very astonishing, but the long term effect of these cases are beyond the rulings of the court. It is not known if those who participated in the programs continued their lives drug free. These courts have been examined and tested to see if the results justify the cost of the program. The operations evaluated such as the number of participants, referrals issued, and drug court graduates. The cost savings of processing the offenders through the program instead of straight jail time, and results compared with those who have been completed their sentenced jail time as opposed to those in the programs. The therapeutic jurisprudence theory…
This paper will discuss how state and federal budgets are affected by the overcrowding of prisons. I chose this topic mainly because I use to work for the Alabama Department of Corrections from 2002 to 2005 as a Correctional Officer I. During the time I was employed for the department, I witness a lot of overcrowding in Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. Things had gotten so bad due to the number of women whom were now committing crimes and Julia Tutwiler being the only female prison for women in the state of Alabama, overcrowding was bound to happen. As effect of the overcrowding at Julia Tutwiler Prison for…
Current research regarding overcrowding in prisons and jails is relatively limited in its scope. Most research focuses on only prisons and is primarily quantitative research. Quantitative research is incapable of examining personal opinions of inmates who serve time in overcrowded institutions; and ask whether or not inmates accredit their failure to rehabilitate to overcrowding. Qualitative research would help better understand how inmates perceive the issue, and whether or not the statistical issues are reflected in their minds. Quantitative data clearly shows that overcrowding in prisons has negative effects such as lack of resources, poorer living environment, and ultimately higher recidivism…
Overall, substance abuse offenders have a recurring problem for the criminal justice system as a result drug courts are an important strategy to reduce incarceration, provide drug treatment and reduce recidivism among nonviolent offenders. Another key point is research study by the National Institute of Justice in 2009 called the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation confirmed that Drug Courts reduced crime and substance abuse, improved family relationships, and also increasing employment and school enrollment. (Marlowe, 2010) Another key point is drug courts have affected the offender’s criminal behavior and substance use with mandated drug and alcohol treatment. Henceforth drug courts has been a popular diversion program for drug offenders since it’s began in Dade County Florida in 1989.…
The United States’ court system, jails, and prisons contain a significant number of offenders that have been convicted with drug related offenses, many of which are suffering from drug addictions. Drug abuse is becoming more prevalent, as drugs are becoming more and more readily accessible. Drug courts are a form of intervention used to treat drug-addicted offenders. Drug courts use the power and authority of a judge to keep a drug offender in treatment, providing rewards for successes and sanctions for failures. This form of intervention is used in order to reduce drug use, reduce crime, save money and restore lives.…
In June 2010, there were about 2,500 drug courts that are being operated in the United States of America. By 2012, the number of drug courts increased to 2,734 that are currently operated in the united states. Drug court programs usually take between six months to a year to be completed. It is believed that offender with unmanageable addictions tends to commit about 63 crimes a year. There are offenders of all ethnicities that participate in drug courts. It is estimated that 62% of the participants in drug courts are caucasian. It is also believed that African Americans make 21% of participants around the world. Drug Courts are very significant in the court system because they have a huge impact on the offender’s life in the long run. In this paper, I will focus on the goals,successes, and failures of the Maricopa County Drug court, Baltimore City Drug Court, and the King County Drug Diversion court…
Third, the drug court program significantly increases the length of time an individual stays in treatment. Moreover, the intimidating authority of the criminal justice system with reverence to getting into treatment and remaining in treatment is extraordinary. Generally, between forty and eighty percent of drug abusers drop out of treatment program within ninety days, and between eighty and ninety percent drop out within twelve months. Contrastingly, approximately two-thirds of the individuals that are in the drug court program complete the program that lasts a year or more. Furthermore, the advantages of the drug court treatment programs have been displayed in urban and nonurban communities. Obviously, the drug-court movement symbolizes a move away from a criminal justice policy focused on punishing drug users to a policy that concentrates on treatment and healing. Experts in the field of drug-abuse treatment state that the mandated treatment approach will prove more successful than in situations in which the choice to go to treatment is made on a volunteer basis (Levinthal,…
From the mid-1980s drug offenses increased primarily due to the pressure put on by the war on drugs (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). This has contributed to overcrowding of prisons across America. In order to ease the overcrowding in prisons, rehabilitation through court sentenced drug treatment programs is a practical and economical alternative. Assigning offenders to applicable drug treatment programs would decrease overcrowding caused by drug offenses, lower recidivism rates, and provide savings for the criminal justice system.…
Incarcerated Person: can cause psychological damage, when more prisoners are crammed into smaller areas. Prisoners become frustrated and angry when they do not receive their fare share of resources in their prison. it can cause anti-social behaviour, stress, anxiety and suffer panic attacks that can lead to more violence…
Incarceration rates have dramatically increased in the United States than in anywhere else in the world. In fact, according to “Incarceration nation,” America has about 707,000 incarcerated people compared to Russia, who has about 474,000 people. Not only has this caused a problem inside the prison walls, it has also increased economic situations for stakeholders.The recent increase in incarceration rates has had negative effects on the United States economy by causing an increase in expenditure on prisons that could be better used for education. This increase in incarceration rates has also led to overcrowding in prisons, leading to unsuitable conditions for prisoners and prison workers.…
The major issue in the United States corrections system is the over-crowding of are prisons. The United States Prison System and department of corrections have become an everlasting part of our justice system, but for various reasons confinement may be causing more harm than good. Although most would say that prisoners who have found themselves in the penal system are nothing but animals who are getting what they deserve. The fact stands that they are human beings who are still by law covered under the constitution. True inmates do not have full Constitutional rights like your everyday tax payers, however; they are still protected under the laws of prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment outlined in the Constitution. In the United…