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.…
In the book, A place to Stand, by Jimmy Santiago Baca, Baca writes about prison and how being incarcerated can have impact on a person and their family. With the most beautiful, strong and poetic language, Baca tells us the story of all the people who faces difficult times in order to find their place in the world. Baca always felt like he had no place to stand in society because, all of his life he was put down by his family and friends. From the age of five Baca experienced his dad and uncles going in and out of jail from being addicted to alcohol. Baca knew he would eventually end up in jail sooner or later because that’s what he had experienced all of his life. Baca writes, “Whether I was approaching it or seeking escape from it, jail always defined in some way the measure of my life” (3). Baca felt that his life would always head in the wrong direction because of his family issues. Baca shows being in prison can cause a lot of emotional impact on a person’s life, as well as affect the community.…
Criminals involved in minor crimes such as nonviolent drug charges can be sent to rehabilitation centers which are far less expensive than prison and save tax payers money. Not everyone is a criminals and some have psychological issues related to the environment they are living. Some claim by increasing the certainty of a punishment might deter certain actions such as drinking and driving especially during holidays by having the presence of police officers patrolling the streets and highways in order to not get fined, lose their licence and demerit points. When it comes to punishment involving human trafficking, this might deter some people due to the consequences and severity of the sentence. We can argue that prisoners under the influence of drugs do not fit in any of these categories due to them being under the influence due to…
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.…
“Since the 1970s the rate of incarceration in the United States has quadrupled, after having been relatively flat over the prior half-century.”-Anthony Zurcher. The rate of prison incarcerations has increased so much over the years; the government can’t afford to incarcerate that many people. Karen Thomas’s article “Time to Invest in Schools, Note Prisons” shows that United States incarcerates too many criminals violent and non-violent. Joan Petersilia said in her article “Beyond the Prison Bubble” that, the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any free nation. This also supports the idea that The United States incarcerates too many people.…
Most people do not know what it is like to be incarcerated. Perhaps, there are those few that go out of their way to do some research and get an idea of what it is like to be incarcerated, but it is still not the same. Other ways people get an idea of what prison or getting incarcerated is like is from tv, or movies. Someone does a crime, the cops come, they get handcuffed, placed inside the cop car and then you see them behind bars and the scene ends. If they decide to go more into detail, they show them being fingerprinted and taken their mug shot. As a matter of fact, according to Bierie (as cited in West, 2010) on any given day, there are more than 2 million U.S. citizens incarcerated (2011, p. 341). So what better way to experience first-hand…
Since 2002, the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Although prison populations are increasing in some parts of the world, the natural rate of incarceration for countries comparable to the United States tends to stay around 100 prisoners per 100,000 population. The U.S. rate is 500 prisoners per 100,000 residents, or about 1.6 million prisoners in 2010, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Prison is a place used for internment of convicted criminals. Not including the death penalty, a sentence to prison is the harshest punishment inflicted on criminals in the United States. On the federal level, imprisonment or incarceration is managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a federal…
The high rates of imprisonment among poor men reflect the effects of mass incarceration on the microlevel as well as the outcome of when law enforcement focuses on socioeconomic disadvantages in urban communities. Could it be that the criminal Justice system is deeply embedded in maintain poverty racially condense areas? Evidence shows mixed views of the social consequences of mass incarceration. This is due to the problem of invisible equality where those who are incarcerated are unavailable for social research, thus affecting statistics on severe economic disadvantage regarding mass incarceration. For one employment rates have decreased with the increase of incarceration rates. There is limited proof that mass incarceration undermines family…
Are minorities continually being unfairly arrested, tried and punished as a result of racial discrimination or do minorities just commit more crimes? In order to determine if disparity or discrimination is the cause of current over representation of minorities in the criminal justice system we have to study race, ethnicity and past discriminatory judicial practices. Are the historical discriminatory practices and past laws the cause of the systematic imbalance of power in relation to race, class and discrimination within our society that leads to more crime among minorities today?…
returns home after being released from incarceration. This is important because in the home, the use of physical punishment is associated with numerous negative outcomes for children (Mustaine, Tewksbury, 2). These negative outcomes can include behavioral problems, impairment of cognitive performance, an increase in use of violence, and an increase in mental health problems both during childhood and adulthood (Mustaine, Tewksbury, 2). The negative consequences for children such as an increase in violence, behavioral problems, and an impairment in cognitive performance are major factors that contribute to later criminal justice involvement. Mustaine and Tewksbury focused on the ways that the incarceration of fathers might lead to the use of…
Furthermore, in other major productions, criminal activities captivated the big screen and introduced African Americans as robbers, gangsters, prostitutes, drug dealers, and addicts. Directors would showcase black actors as being aggressive and engaging in disputes with other cast members. These senseless on-screen acts would lead to them violently beating up someone thus further leading to incarceration. By putting a black male or female in jail is a false accusation that all colored people behave in a certain manner and will end up behind bars. After an individual is incarcerated, the stereotypical implication could be that of a gangster. For example, in the 1989 film Harlem Nights, Sugar Ray, played by Eddie Murphy owns a gambling shack.…
Three major consequences or costs of mass incarceration is, one, sever social consequences. Another consequence is sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. The third consequence is the ability to vote. These three consequences are severe enough where it affects America as a whole. Now, I will discuss each consequence in a little more detail. This will help in the answer of why these consequences are so detrimental to America. I will also, be summarizing the article the Sentencing Project’s (2013) policy brief which touches on major social interventions which helps with the mass incarceration problems we face…
Overcrowding in prisons is one of the biggest challenges facing the American criminal justice system today. The total population of prisons and jails in the United States neared the 2.1 million mark in June 2003, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported incarceration rates of state and federal prisoners continued to rise. At midyear 2003, the number of sentenced inmates was 480 per 100,000 U.S. residents, up from 476 per 100,000 on December 31, 2002. There were 238 jail inmates for every 100,000 on June 30, 2003. Overall, one out of every 140 U.S residents was incarcerated in prison or in jail. During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s state and local governments got tougher on crime by passing legislation calling for mandatory sentences for repeat offenders, such as California’s “three strikes you’re out” law and New York and other cities adopted the “Broken Windows” strategy that called for the arrest and prosecution of all crimes large and small. Because of these polices the number of violent crimes has dropped. Unfortunately, one unintended consequence of America’s new tough stance on crime is that our prison system has become dangerously overcrowded, forcing prison officials to release violent criminals after serving only a fraction of their sentences. The current system used to relieve overcrowding has created a “revolving door” criminal justice system. The recidivism rate among those released early from state and county prisons is extremely high. In fact, a Department of Justice study found that 67.5 percent of criminals released from prison were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within three years (USDOJ, 2013). A Large portion of the overcrowded conditions in the prison system is a result of the” war on drugs”. This war alone costs taxpayers a large amount of money each year because new prisons are needed to be constructed to house the ever-growing…
Mass incarceration is the mass intake of people of color into the justice system. It is being labeled as the “new Jim Crow.” Meaning that it is the unspoken legal separation of people of color from whites. The old Jim Crow made it legal for segregation to exist and the new Jim Crow made it easier to hide the racism that still exists in America. Mass incarceration is the new racial caste system/the new Jim Crow because it made a clear divide between whites and blacks.…
All of the trauma of the streets influence crime, sending members of that community to be incarcerated where more trauma is experienced to be released once again to the streets. In other words, the effects of incarceration list a spectrum of social problems for the incarcerated, " troubles with money, increased general anxiety, domestic crisis, and added stress during care taking of children lead to negative actions even for people who are not incarcerated. Add having a member of the family incarcerated will exacerbate problems that already exist in a household" (Turanovic P.26) Also, incarceration found within the house may not be the only important factor of these results. The results of the survey showed that it was the environment that…