United State Prisons Need Of A Complete Overhaul Essay

United State prisons are in need of a complete overhaul. Bad things happen to good people and crime is unacceptable in a civilized society. The question I ask you is what do we do with the bad people that do bad things to good people. Do we as a society send them away to be rehabilitated and reintegrated back into society as a good person or do we send them away to be punished and hope that if they ever return to a society that they are good people? The Department of Justice breaks crime reductions down into three basic principles: punishment, corrections, and deterrents. Citizens in the United States tend to think of prison inmates as being segregated from society. There are walls with barb wire, and guards in towers with firearms in between inmates and civilization. Millions of prisoners are released each year, so today s prisoners could be tomorrow s neighbors so wouldn’t you agree that corrections should be the focus of the America s prison system. Unfortunately, rehabilitation or corrections are not the focus and the United States focuses primarily on punishment. Have you ever heard the saying â€Å"You do the crime; you do the time†? Now most people would consider this completely understandable and maybe even some people would view this as a form of justice, but I will show you why the treatment of our prisoners during and after confinement would be considered injustice, to say the least. Between 1970 and 2005 the US prison population grew a massive 700%. FarShow MoreRelated The Importance of Diagnosing and Treating Inmates With Mental Illness 1497 Words   |  6 Pagesability to live a fulfilling life without confinement. In the last few decades changes in the United States judicial system such as mandatory prison sen ¬tences, longer prison terms, and more restrictive release policies have lead to an exponential increase in the number of inmates located within the jails and prisons. Currently, there are more than two million individuals incarcerated in the United States. Psychiatric illnesses within correctional populations are ex cessively higher compared with theRead MorePrisoner Re-Entry Programs in America734 Words   |  3 PagesAmerica sends more of its citizens to prison than any other country in the world. The United States, though only five percent of the world’s population, incarcerate 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. America is supposed to be the land of the free, not the land of the incarcerated. About 6,937,600 offenders were under the supervision of adult correctional systems at year end 2012. Around two-thirds of the prison population which is released annually (637,400) will recidivate within the firstRead MoreRehabilitation of the Felony Offender Essays1468 Words   |  6 PagesIn 2009 nearly three quarters of a million offenders were released from prisons and jails in the United States, and it is estimated that roughly half of them will reoffend within three years of being released and will return to prison (Katel 1005). Most of these individuals, who are non-violent, low-level offenders, have little education, job experience, limited social skills and a drug or alcohol dependence (May and Pitts 21). That coupled with the fact they have a criminal record, reduces theirRead MoreThe Effects Of Race On America Today1429 Words   |  6 Pagesracism have been an issue seen throughout the history of the United States. During the 60’s the era of the Civil Rights movement Americans saw advances in racial equality. This seems to have created a notion throughout the United States that racism was not an issue for many years. Yet racism still seems to be engrained in American society, it is just hard to realize when it is happening. Recently racial controversies surrounding the United states Justice System have been making the news headlines. WhatRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Pre Trial Release On The United States 1582 Words   |  7 PagesRace Effects Paulsen’s review in â€Å"Pre-Trial Release in the United States† examined â€Å"one of the worst episodes of racial disturbance in the history of the United States† when over 4,000 people were arrested and over half were charged with felonies in Los Angeles, California (1966, pg. 109). Paulsen provides a clear cut charge to a question many ask, â€Å"bail problems are constitutional problems in the United States† (1966, pg. 110). In this particular case, the prosecutors argued for denial of bailRead MoreShould Drugs Be Legalized? Essay1203 Words   |  5 Pageslegalized regime would look like?† (Bennet 548) This encapsulates the author’s disdain towards the ignorance of the intellectuals. Bennet draws a parallel between the the fight against drugs and racism, suggesting that drug use is as bad as racism and both need to be addressed directly. He further suggests that there is no profit in the drug business and therefore its legalization will not help and though the cost of illegalization of drugs is high, the cost of its legalization would be even higher. FurtherRead MoreDoes the Criminal Justice System Work?3437 Words   |  14 PagesDoes the criminal justice system work? This is a very interesting question indeed? Many proponents of system believe it to be a deterrent to manner would be criminals across the United States. However, many pundits point to high profile cases of Trayvon Martin or Emmett Till to show the inequities inherent within the criminal justice system (Crowe, 2012). Proponents for the criminal justice system believe that it is a deterrent for others who are thinking about committing egregious crimes in theRead MoreMentally Ill and Criminal Justice3176 Words   |  13 Pagesthe criminal justice system when compared with the larger United States population. People with mental illness are incarcerated approximately 8 times more frequently than they are admitted to state mental hospitals, and are inca rcerated for significantly longer time than other inmates (Ascher-Svanum, Nyhuis, Faries, Ball, Kinon, 2010). This has been linked to an increased danger to themselves, other inmates and persons employed in the prison system. Effectively identifying and properly treating theseRead MoreThe Education System Has Long Rested On Zero Tolerance Policies3101 Words   |  13 Pagessociety or the education system. Much like the prison system, the public school justice system has long rested on zero tolerance policies (Zehr, 2015). These zero tolerance policies rest on the ideology that by providing swift and harsh punishment to the offender, future violations of social and educational institution rules will be deterred (Vaandering, 2010). And while this methodology may work, it also furthers the reality of a â€Å"school-to-prison† pipeline in modern culture. Rather than relyRead MoreImmigration And The Illegal Immigration Into The United States2080 Words   |  9 PagesImmigrat ion A major part of political platforms in the 2016 race is immigration and how we will deal with it. And it is seemingly unanimous that they are trying to decrease the amount of travel into the United states because it leads to major issues, but does it really? It’s acting as a catalyst in creating a more diverse economy, helping the growth and advancement of diplomatic ties with other countries, and it is the basis for which this country is founded on - immigrate, settle, colonize, grow