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…
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,…
The author discusses the acts of 1986, which changed the law pertaining to the Anti-Drug Abuse act and the sentencing of violators. This article also examines the overcrowding of prisons related to mandatory sentencing.…
Mumola, Christopher J. "Prisons & Drug Offenders." Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. .…
Stemming from the war on drugs came three strikes laws and mandatory minimum sentencing. Never in the history of the United States have this many people been incarcerated, but at the same time never have this many people been released from prisons either. Currently, over two million individuals are incarcerated in prisons and jails across the United States, and over three fourths of these people will be released at some point (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/). The justice systems of the United States has been referred to as a revolving door, describing the cycle of so many Americans who are released, reconvicted, and incarcerated. The overcrowding issues in prisons today make it difficult to establish programs to prepare the inmate for release; there is simply not enough funding for these types of programs.…
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.…
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,…
Inmates being released from prison are vulnerable to serious relapse by the effects of drugs and alcohol. Even if we try to help them to the best of our ability then they need to depend on themselves to make sure they don’t fall again. Depending on the person they will learn from their experience in prison or just fall into a cycle so it happens over and over again. This paper has given insight and knowledge about incarcerations around our nation and how we handle inmates by either drugs or holding them within solitary…
Parole: This really is a popular subject in today’s criminal justice system. Several think it’s a chance to quit and others are fighting harder than ever before to maintain it. I believe among the most effective reasons to do away with parole is the overcrowding inside our prisons. Prisoner populations are extremely backed up that there is in fact a waiting list. The other major subject is it cost too much to accommodate inmates in jail. It can cost between $12,000 to $65,000 dollars to hold each prisoner locked up for just one year. Survey carried out by RAND deducted that sustenance misuse treatments is as much as7 times less expensive in decreasing some kinds of drug used in of household law enforcement. This has also been confirmed in real life scenarios. During 1997, the California Department of Corrections (CDC) enforced a fresh drug treatment plan. They have found out that for a two hundred bed center for example Corcoran II saves the DC 7.5 million dollars during 7 years by decreasing abusers come back to custody. “The Scribd (2012)”. Justice advocates argue that the indeterminacy inherent in the parole system is unfair because the board must make decisions based on what will occur in the future. Furthermore, they assert it is impossible to tell when an offender is rehabilitated. Incapacitation advocates also argue against parole. From their point of view, a sentence to prison prohibits an offender from committing more crimes in the community; parole release does not. Both of these perspectives have been influential in changing sentencing in many jurisdictions, and in the past thirty years sentencing changes have dramatically affected the use of parole. “Probation and Parole: History, Goals, and Decision-Making…
If we become serious about dismantling the system of mass incarceration, we must end the War on Drugs. The drug war is responsible for the prison boom and the creation of the new under caste, and there is no path to freedom for communities of color that includes this conflict.…
Within America’s prison system there lies many issues. Although we know prisons have become a permanent part of America’s justice system and are needed to maintain a healthy functioning society. The big picture is this incarceration,in the manner in which the American system is managing it may be causing more harm than rehabilitation. As of today the incarcerated population is at least four and a half times larger than back in 1980. At a population of approximately 2.2 million people in the United States behind bars the need for change becomes apparent due to the high costs of keeping all of these individuals in prison and also having an incarceration rate higher than any other country in the world.…
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…
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…
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…
More than one third of prison inmates suffer with some form of mental illness and more than half will, also, have a history of drug addiction. More often, inmates that are coping with both a mental illness, as well as, an addiction disorder, generally will have more problems as they begin to reenter society. It has been said that, 37 percent of inmates who are released from a state prison are re-institutionalized within the first three years of their release; this is compared it the 30 percent, who do not suffer a mental illness. According to the Department of Correction analysis of 2012, states that, inmates that are battling addiction are fare worst. When looking at the inmate population with an dual diagnosis, around one half have been…