Alexia Mersola
Professor Kone
Political Science
Oct, 24, 2017

Orange is the New Red, White and Blue

In America, our criminal justice systems list of duties is to keep communities safe and treat people fairly, regardless of the color of their skin or the size of their bank account. In order for our system to do a good job, it must be cost effective by using our taxpayer dollars and public resources wisely. But our criminal justice system is not doing a good job. It has failed on every account: public safety, fairness and cost effectiveness. So what needs to be reformed? What could be done to lower the amount of those incarcerated and the costs of running a prison system? The answer is quite simple, in order to reform we need to empty …show more content…
His policies laid down the foundation for growth of a colossal corrections system that currently houses an estimated 2.2 million inmates. The average cost of incarcerating an American prisoner varies from state to state. Some states, like Indiana have managed to keep prices low at around $14,000 per inmate. While states like New York pay around $60,000 to keep its citizens behind bars. The costs of running the American prison system is expensive and has become increasingly so despite public opposition. According to a 2012 Vera Institute of justice study, the number of those incarcerated has increased by over 700% over the last four decades. The cost to taxpayers: 39 billion dollars. Where does all this money go? The study concludes that many corrections related costs, such as employee benefits and taxes, pension contributions, retiree health care contributions, legal judgments and claims are deemed central administrative …show more content…
California, for instance had no problem sentencing a person to 25 to life for stealing a $100 leaf blower back in 1995. Mandatory Sentencing and excessively long sentencing is the main source of the problem. Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crime, which are normally serious or violent crimes. Harsh sentencing laws like mandatory minimums, combined with cutbacks in parole release, keep people in prison for longer periods of time.There has also been a historic rise in the use of life sentences: one in nine people in prison is now serving a life sentence, nearly a third of whom are sentenced to life without parole. We need to start by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and cutting back on excessively lengthy sentences for example, by imposing a 20-year maximum on prison terms. By minimizing these sentences, the cost for almost ever good and service provided by the prison systems will decrease, less prisoners, less security, less supplies. Another point that would help reform our prison systems would be to stop the sentence once an inmate has been released, by this I mean that instead of shaming inmates for being released, try and intergrade them back into