...America Today in the Prison’s Melanie Fife American InterContinental University March 17, 2013 Chad Faries ABSTRACT I’m writing a paper that has 5 different sources, that have books, newspaper articles, and Government papers, that has something to deal with America’s prisons today in society. America has a huge problem with our prison system being overcrowded. The crime rate has increased so much and we are just making me people go to jail or prison. The topic I chose was the prison system being over-crowded. I know many people that have been on both sides of the prison's walls, which allows me to see both sides of the prison system. Prison's in American are very over-crowded due to crimes being committed more often than what they were ten years ago due to not being staffed properly, not having enough room for all the inmates, and the system just trying to have you do your time and not trying to get you back to society. Prison Overcrowding has so many issues understaffing can lead to security and control difficulties. It can also cause heath and the well-being of the inmate’s problems. They will have more violence and conflicts because they are understaffed and cannot be watched properly. Not enough security can make it harder to manage the prison. They can increase opportunities for exercise, sports, and church. Active inmates are less likely to feel stressed or hostile. We can also classify offenders due to the level of their risk and their crime. Improve organization...
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...existed throughout society for many years and continued to change and evolve in the United States reflecting society’s values and ideals throughout the centuries. In the criminal justice system, corrections exist in more than one form. Not only do corrections refer to jails and prison systems but they also pertain to community-based programs, such as probation, parole, halfway houses, and treatment facilities. Past, present, and future trends in regard to the development and operation of institutional and community-based corrections vary between states but corrections have grown immensely since the early 1800s and have continued to expand over time. Corrections are adamant to continue to expand into the future because crime is not slowing down so there will remain a strong need for corrections throughout society. The subject of this paper pertains to research of past, present, and future trends in the development and operation of corrections. In some ways corrections are similar to the operation trends of two decades ago. In other ways the development of corrections has come far compared to corrections in the beginning. Other subjects of the paper include current and future issues for prisons and prison administrators and an explanation for why these issues overwhelm corrections. A last topic for discussion is the roles of alternate corrections as a developing trend. Conditions in the early era were inhumane because of prisoners starving, and trends of punishment were...
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...Policy Development Prison crowding is becoming more and more of an issue in the United States. Every day the problem continues to grow as each person who is arrested, taken into to custody and ultimately convicted joins the prison population. Concerns have been raised when it comes to the topic of prison and its population by everyone from the public to law makers. Over the years, the growth of prison capacity has been slightly behind that of the inmate population always resulting in an overcrowding issue. “There has been no consistent evidence that crowding is associated with mortality, morbidity, recidivism, violence, or other pathological behaviors, but rather due to changes to both federal and state sentencing policies. These changes have increased the proportion of the individuals who are charged with felonies and sentence to lengthy jail and prison sentences” (Van Ness, 2008). In addressing any problem area, one first must define the terms or operational definitions. “The United States Supreme Court on November 30, 2010, heard oral argument in Schwarzenegger v. Plata about whether a federal court in California properly ordered the release of 40,000 prisoners to relieve the severe overcrowding in the state's prisons that has led to inadequate medical and mental health care for prisoners” (“U.S. Supreme Court Reviews Prison Overcrowding And Horrendous Conditions Of Confinement,” 2010). “America’s prisons now hold more than 2.3 million people, and many of the...
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...THE BUDGET COST AND EFFECTS OF PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES Christina Adonia Turner June 15, 2013 Introduction to Public Administration TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Table Of Contents…………………………………………………………2 2. Executive Summary………………………………………………………..3 3. Scope and Statement of the Problem………………………………………4 4. Literature Review………………………………………………………….5 5. Methodology………………………………………………………………7 6. Analytical Results………………………………………………………....8 7. Discussion………………………………………………………………...10 8. Bibliography………………………………………………………………16 9. Appendix………………………………………………………………....17 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In summary, the cost of housing an incarcerated inmate does affect the budget of the United States. Whether, the inmate is sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty. The facts in this research paper leans heavily in favor of life imprisonment as a cheaper form of punishment verses an inmate being sentenced to death row. The judicial system and politicians have formed several alternatives to assist our country with the ability to lower the cost of housing an inmate in our prison system. For example, the United States detaining systems are concentrating more on issuing a fair sentence to nonviolent offenders, such as, substance abusers and prostitutes. They realize that the majority of the inmates are in need of drug rehabilitation and have a mental illness. Also, the research shows that women offenders are the most affected with drug addiction...
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...Issues Janet Peralta, Latisha Smith, Michael Winters, Sarah Berry, Trent Neffendorf CJA/394 November 24, 2014 Becky Killian-Willis Correctional Issues Introduction The issues of mandatory sentencing have been affecting the prison forecasts, tax revenue, over-crowding in prisons, as well as flooding the court systems and backlogging cases. Mandatory prison sentences take the discretion away from prosecutors, as well as judges. An Inmate who is sentenced under a mandatory sentence does not qualify for early release, good time while in prison, and in most cases, the offender is not required to complete any supervision after release, due to the fact that he or she has fulfilled the obligations of his or her sentence. Several states, including the State of Oregon, have introduced legislation to reform their mandatory minimum sentences. With budgetary constraints in the volatile economy, the government cannot afford to continue to incarcerate individuals without the ability to modify sentences, supervision, etc. How courts are affected by mandatory minimum sentences Congress, as well as some of the state legislations introduced mandatory sentences in the 1970s and 1980s. These mandatory sentences forced the court system to hand down fixed prison sentences to those convicted of certain criminal acts. The lawmakers felt by enacting these sentences then it would help in the battle against the drug trade and hopefully prevent individuals from entering. However, while it did...
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...A1) Identify the link between imprisonment and suicide [10] Imprisonment very often has negative effects on offenders, in some cases they turn into victims of abuse themselves. Prison causes psychological distress, through overcrowding and bullying. This can lead to offenders self-harming and in many cases it can lead to suicide, which is more common in prison than the general population. Deaths in prison can be given various rulings by the coroner such as suicide (the prisoner had the intention to kill themselves), death by misadventure (accidental death) which in some instances can be self-harm gone wrong, and open verdicts. Dooley et al wanted to examine the unnatural deaths that occurred in prisons in England and Wales from 1972 and 1987. This research was in the form of a content analysis of prison department personal papers of prisoners’ records. Dooley compared verdicts of suicide with verdicts of unnatural causes or death by misadventure rulings. The research found that 300 suicides occurred in the time frame, 52 of which were due to self-inflicted harm gone wrong. There was little difference between the suicide group and the group that had self-harmed. However there were some real differences. For example, it was found that the prisoners who committed suicide were more likely to do so at night (this is so there is a less likely chance of them being caught in the act) and that the self-harm gone wrong group were more likely to be found during the daytime (this...
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...Cindy Vargas GS 1140 Unit 2 Research Paper 1 The issue that I want to bring to the table is that our prisons in the United States are filling quickly with repeat offenders. If there was a way to rehabilitate the prisoners why not take it? It would appear from the research that I’ve done that our prison system is geared more towards punishment than rehabilitation. Throughout this paper I will discuss the program I think we need to help reduce the overcrowding of prisons and the return of previous criminals. The Department of Justice data shows that around 730 in every 100, 000 people are incarcerated in the U.S. We currently have 2.2 million people behind bars equal to the size of Houston, Tx. (Natasha Lennard, 2012). My proposition is to adopt the Israeli rehabilitation program into our justice system. Israel is a small country of a population at about 8 million people. This small country has 32 prisons and only estimated 18, 000 people incarcerated. Their recidivism of repeat offender rates are amongst the lowest in the word (Matt Lebovic, 2012). At Hermon prison in Galilee still has the same security measures that you expect from a prison. The way that they treat the inmates and the way the inmates interact with each other is what makes this program so special. The inmates aren’t called inmates they are called “residents”, they walk around the prison as if were a college campus. The unrestricted access to each other is what helps them integrate back into society. They...
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...Many people are focused on the overcrowding of prisons; however, the increasing rates of the mentally ill in the prison system is also a very prominent issue that contributes to a lack of resources for the convicted. According to the US Bureau of Justice, over half of all prison and jail inmates nationwide have mental health problems. Although there is an abundant amount of research on the mentally ill in prison, many people are not aware of the social implications the mentally ill face when they are released back into society. Based on research conducted in North America, there is a repeating issue of recidivism which is the fact that these individuals are more likely to return to prison. The lack of concern for the recidivism in mentally...
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...Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation Anthony Tomlin CJA/394 May 1, 2014 Professor Ken Jones Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation The American criminal justice system serves as a means for retribution and rehabilitation for criminals. In the early inception of the criminal justice system juries held the sentencing powers – convicting most criminals to death. Over the years sentencing powers shifted to judges. In this paper we will discuss the problems and changes in the criminal justice processes. The criminal justice system is not perfect but over the years there has been an continued improvement in the process. There are issues with the system that are being addressed such as prison overcrowding, three strikes rule, the disparity in sentencing for certain drug convictions, and the sentencing of minority groups. There are several future trends, such as training and educating law enforcement personnel, rehabilitating criminals, and law enforcement being proactive versus reactive. There are changes in the criminal justice system occurring and changes being lobbied by politicians. The future of criminal justice is constantly evolving with time but the full extent of how the changes will affect the system is not fully known. Some suggest laws of the past have been left behind by society and that change to the criminal justice system requires an overhaul to laws. Understand some of the crimes individuals commit warrant the sentencing received because...
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...Sentencing Paper Sentencing is really important in the criminal justice system. There are many reasons for sentencing in the United States. Sentencing is the result of punishment from the court. The major reasons for punishment is retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, compensation, and reform. The type of punishment for crimes has been debated by different leaders and law makers for centuries. The punishment for reform is intended to help the offender and society to change the wrongdoer a chance to contribute to society. The punishment for deterrence is intended to benefit society by preventing offenders that would-be from committing a crime. Punishment to extract compensation is intended to benefit the victim of the offender. Finally, retribution is the only object for punishment that is primarily intended to harm the offender. Individuals are sentenced to prison because they broke the rules and would have to serve their time. There are different sentencing guidelines for state and federal prisons. When a person has either pleaded guilty or has been found guilty of a crime, a judge has to decide a sentence that the offender must receive. Sentencing is imposing a criminal sanction by a judicial authority. Each year there are thousands of criminals that appear before a judge or judges to be sentenced for their crimes committed. Sentencing descriptions are primarily for felony offenses, or those that are punishable by less than one year of...
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...Rehabilitation and AB109 Paper Denise Atkinson CJA/234 Joseph Dempsey October 17th, 2012 Rehabilitation and AB109 Paper Offenders are always punished in different ways. Fundamentally, this is in a bid to restore and enhance a desirable state of social cohesion. The characteristic rehabilitation refers to efforts geared toward enabling an individual too effectively to readapt to society and assume practices which are consistent with the societal rules and regulations. In his research, Gottschalk (2006) indicates that the origin of the practice of rehabilitative imprisonment can be traced in penitentiaries constructed at the close of the nineteenth century and were informed by biblical principles. Offenders left in solitude have a chance to reflect penitently over their felonies and are therefore likely to transform or cleanse themselves. With time, discipline, and hard labor were introduced in the practice to be partaken silently. This, according to the reformers helped the prisoners to meditate over their felonious practices. The rehabilitative efforts have undergone various changes and currently, most of them assume a more community based approach. The common method employed in this regard pertains to parole. Woodard (2011) defines parole as the release of an imprisoned offender who agrees to established rules even though he or she has to be closely monitored for a given period. This release is provisional and allows the offender to serve the remaining term from...
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...Introduction The question of whether or not to legalize drugs in America has been a strong debate for many decades. Each year there has been a growing number of deaths because of drugs in the United States. With these numbers, there are still wide spread efforts to legalize illicit drugs around the country. This paper will research drug legalization in the United States versus other countries, the positives and negatives, and a reasoned opinion on the topic. When debating the issue of drug legalization and crime, there are questions to ask: Do drugs cause crime and do they inevitably lead to crime? If drugs are made legal, would there be less crime? If the government subsidized addicts, would they still engage in criminal conduct? What would happen if drugs were legalized (Hartnett, 2005)? States like Washington and Colorado have made Marijuana legal, all other states and countries are watching the results. They are watching what legalizing marijuana does for the economy, tax revenue, and crime reduction. There is an international impact with marijuana legalization. History behind the drug war Throughout the history of the drug war, both state and federal law enforcement agencies have cracked down on both drug abusers and drug dealers. During the late 60s, the U.S. government founded the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). The BNDD worked a study to find a correlation between crime and heroin addiction. They found that 44 percent of...
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...Rehabilitation Paper Zahra Howard CJA 234 Professor King June 14, 2014 Rehabilitation Paper Each day in the United States, the correctional system supervises over six million of its residents. Approximately two million people are in prison or jail, while four million are on probation or parole. With so many people under its control, a central policy issue is what the correctional system hopes to accomplish with those it places behind bars or on community supervision. A simple response might be that the purpose of these correctional sanctions is to punish the criminally wayward. Since the inception of the American penitentiary in the 1820s, however, corrections has embraced as an important goal the transformation of law breakers into the law-abiding that is, rehabilitation or treatment. At times, the goal of reforming offenders has been dominant; at other times, its legitimacy and usefulness have been challenged and its influence on correctional policy diminished. But even today, after a period in the late 1900s of prolonged advocacy of getting tough with criminals, rehabilitation remains an integral part of the correctional enterprise and continues to earn support among the public in the United States. To begin, probation refers to adult offenders whom courts place on supervision in the community through a probation agency, generally in lieu of incarceration. However, some jurisdictions do sentence probationers to a combined short-term incarceration sentence immediately...
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...word “education” would mean for one to be enlightened and obtain knowledge through learning. However, the kind of education received within the United States Prison Systems is actively doing the opposite. The oppressed inmate populations are ultimately being exploited for cheap labor in order to support a capitalist society that they do not benefit from. This paper will argue that the education being withheld from prison inmates is both cultural and educational imperialism. This paper will also argue that the Prison Industrial Complex is intentionally exploiting inmates to contribute to a capitalist labor market instead of receiving education they are entitled to in order to be rehabilitated, reduce recidivism, improve their lives and ultimately better benefit society. Incarceration in the United States is the main form of punishment, rehabilitation, or both as a consequence of felony and other criminal offenses. The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails. This means a 500% increase over the past thirty years (The Sentencing Project.org). These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding, and billions of dollars being spent to house inmates, and supervise them on probation and parole after they are released, ultimately to return to prison as a repeat offender. Instead of an increased amount of funding and expansion of educational programs to keep up with the increase in inmate population, there...
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...CAPITAL PUNISHMENT BRIAN K. PRATER CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJOR-APA Professor: Dr. Corey Martin March 7th, 2014 Abstract Capital punishment or as some refer as “the death penalty” is an emotional subject for all Americans and is a sensitive subject especially on the political stage. This research paper will discuss how the death penalty is not murder nor is it cruel. The death penalty is the delivery of justice to a suspect that has committed the most hideous crime of murder. The death penalty is justice being served after the suspect has been found guilty by a jury and has been through countless hearings in an appellate court. Our society has to have a defense in the battle of good versus evil, and a punishment that would cause one to pause before they commit an action that would end the life of another human being. This research paper will show why it is important to fully understand Capital Punishment and why it is important for all levels of Criminal Justice to have a defense against those who would do society harm. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The death penalty causes a lot of debate throughout the United States. The death penalty delivers a retribution for the victim by ending the defendant’s life. The penalty is a deserved punishment that protects society and causes the defendant to pay the price to the victim for the harm he caused. A killer facing death as retribution is justified in the Holy Bible, “ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood...
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