In this Prison Term Policy Recommendation Proposal essay it wants you to be a criminologist advisor. The scenario is: According to University of Phoenix (2015)’’You are the criminologist advisor to a member of the state legislature. The legislature will soon vote on a bill that, if it passes, would double the maximum prison term for anyone convicted of armed robbery. Your boss knowns the bill is popular, but wonders if it will do much good”. Consider policy making as it relates to criminal offenses. What recommendations would you? What are the reasons for your recommendations? Is this good bill or a bad?…
Dozens of writers, reformists and activists have already narrated the story of America's harrowing prison epidemic spread wide by the politics of corporate greed and fueled daily by scapegoating the poor and vulnerable. With nearly twenty years experience in public policy development, criminal justice reform, and promoting alternatives to confinement, now comes Marc Mauer, Assistant Director of The Sentencing Project, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. which advocates for substantial changes in our ways of punishing criminal…
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…
Completely, “The critical point is that thousands of people are swept into the criminal justice system every year pursuant to the drug war without regard for their guilt or innocence” (Alexander, 2010, p. 89). The criminal justice system does not rehabilitate, nor does it allow the convict to pay his or her debt to society. Alexander observes that judges are unable to consider mitigating circumstances, such as the likelihood of repeat offense, role, or motive. This sort of determinate sentence exacerbates the problem of prison overcrowding because imprisonment is often the only sentence allowable. Retribution, not rehabilitation, is often the only sentence that judges can impose.…
Given current trends in society today, the next era of corrections will be a hybrid model between the rehabilitation and punitive model. Thousands of studies show the positive and negative components of each of these models. The rehabilitation model was not properly measured years prior due to the lack of technology and society was critiquing the process because they were not able to see the benefits of the program first hand. The punitive model on the other had has had plenty of evidence on its success in increasing incarceration rates and creating issues with overcrowding and lack of funding. Nevertheless, each model has something positive they can bring to the table.…
There are many programs in the criminal justice system that is geared to helping the prisoners while they do their time. One of them is the drug treatment program, this program according to the Federal Bureau of Prison is suppose to provide inmates with drug treatment prior to reentry into society(Peters, R. 1993 ). As drugs are linked to crime most criminals are being incarceration. There are only about half of state correctional facilities that provide substance abuse treatment to its inmates (Peters,…
As a Criminologist Advisor to the State Legislature, I have been chosen to provide a prison term policy on armed robbery. Currently the legislature will soon be voting on a bill that would double the maximum prison term for anyone convicted of armed robbery. First I would like to define what the legal definition of armed robbery is as defined by the Black's Law Dictionary which is: an aggravated form of robbery in which the defendant is armed with a dangerous weapon, though it is not necessary to prove that he used the weapon to effectuate the robbery. The taking of property from person or presence of another by use of force or by threatening use of force while armed with a dangerous weapon (Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition).…
With the decrease of the budget, it has made the parole offices job harder, with fewer people working and less recourse at their disposal. With the increase of caseload, this has created a system where everything is taking to much time by looking at paroles case by case (tt). There needs to be a new system introduced that have a better effect on oversight, control and consistency (tt). There needs to be new policy introduced that bring better community structure that allows the individual to feel a part of society which would stop them to commit a crime. There is the ideology struggle we think incarceration is the best form of punishment this has to change. The parole system does not work most criminal are sent back to prison. There has been…
The last stage of a criminal trial is known as sentencing. During sentencing the convening authority over the criminal court proceedings makes a determination of how the guilty party should be punished. Prior to that determination being made both the defense attorneys and prosecutors may make their arguments as to why or why not the defendant should be punished to the fullest of the law. The judge taking these arguments into consideration makes his or her decision on what type sentence to hand down. While the main goal is to punish those that are found guilty there are five sentencing rationales in use in the American criminal justice system. These rationales are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, restoration, and incapacitation. In the case of State v. Stu Dents, the judge will use the rationales of rehabilitation and incapacitation. The defense and prosecutors will make their arguments and propose the type of sentence Mr. Dents should receive which in turn will protect him and society.…
This memorandum serves as a proposal and examination about a significant issue; that has influenced the United States prison system. Because criminal activities are at an incomparable high, an expansion inside the prison population has incurred, resulting in a financial burden within the system. According to a review directed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), they anticipated by 2018, overcrowding would move to over 45% over the BOP's maximum capacity. In addition, the prison cannot keep up such influx making a consequential problem for prison guards and inmates. As communicated by James, the quantity of the detainees housed in state and government correctional facilities climbed faster than facility capacity expanded. The…
The United States prison system is not a suitable place for nonviolent drug offenders. The high rate of recidivism is caused by one thing and one thing only, prison sentences. Nonviolent drug offenders will have no choice other than to socialize with other inmates, some who have committed irreprehensible crimes, thereby greatly increasing their chance of becoming violent. The population of prisons in the United States is on a steady rise. One way to stop this is by reevaluating the three strikes law, because the proof that this law discourages repeat offenders is simply not there.…
The inmate prison population of the BOP increased over the past few years due to federal sentencing of drug offenses and immigration. Changes in sentencing policies have increased the mandatory minimum sentencing as well as changes in the federal criminal code in which it increased the amount of crimes seen as federal offenses, also the repeal of parole. Since these changes certain crimes are now deemed as federal offenses, which require a longer period of prison time. War on drugs has cause an increase in the prison populations due to high level of harsh prison sentencing’s. Although the attempts at the three strikes system was an effort in decreasing the prison population it did not work. Focus needs to be placed on rehabilitation of inmates…
Within the discourse of American politics, mass incarceration serves as a tool for the perpetuation of social inequalities and injustices against the poor. After a decade of unsuccessful discriminatory drug policies, there was a strong consensus among the public that called for reform in the criminal justice system. Consequently, District Attorney George Gascón filed a ballot initiative known as Proposition 47, which aimed to curtail the penalties for nonviolent and nonserious crimes. As Garson and William Lansdowne explained, the shifting political consciousness among the public shifted California’s outlook on capital punishment (Lagos 2013). Peoples yearn for social change, pushed California legislators to start reforming the criminal justice…
A number of historical developments have set the stage for the shift from being primarily “tough on crime” to effective treatment, but the critical role of substance abuse treatment in the history of rehabilitation in American Corrections is often overlooked. Substance abuse treatment has demonstrated success over the…
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.…