Imprisonment: Two Alternatives To Prisons

Alternatives to Imprisonment There have been many people who have come forward and advocated for the fact that not every criminal needs to be thrown in prison. The reasons why people feel this way I believe are pretty clear. The biggest reason being the fact that money has to be sent in order to keep these people alive and when I say money; I mean a lot of money. There are states that are currently spending more money on prisoners rather than on children’s education. In a New York Times article, a study done by the Independent Budget Office showed that New York City spent on average $167,731 per inmate in 2012. Although that number already seems like a lot of money, it will blow your mind when you realize that on an average day, New York …show more content…
Although community service and restitution are two alternatives to imprisonments that have been on the rise and the last couple of years, especially in juvenile cases, I feel as if it isn’t used enough. Community service involves unpaid work in the community, usually for a set number of hours or until the completion of a particular project. The type of assignment can be linked to the person’s crime or to his/her skills and occupation. I believe that this is a good alternative to imprisonment when it comes to petty crimes. I obviously do not believe that if someone commits a double murder that they should be allowed community service instead of imprisonment. If they are ordered to do community service while their trial is ongoing then that’s something completely different but I do not believe someone with a crime of that nature should be allowed to do community service. What I do believe is that someone who has been damaging people’s properties or first time offenders of selling drugs should be able to do community service. By them doing community service, they see the people and the community they effect. They see the long-term damage they have caused to people by committing the crime that they did. It may also force them to do work that they would have never have wanted to do which will also serve as a deterrence in preventing them from ever wanting to committing …show more content…
Electronic monitoring is a type of surveillance used widely across the United States. Although it typically is not a sanction or alternative to incarceration in its own right, it is used to monitor the movement of people on other forms of supervision. I left this for last because I believe it is the best alternative to imprisonment. With the electronic monitoring system, you know the whereabouts of the person who is being monitored 24/7. Also the person on the electronic monitoring system now cant go to certain places and has to be home at a certain time. In my eyes, this is a different form of imprisonment. A form of imprisonment where the state doesn’t have to feed or clothe the individual which would ultimately save the state a lot of money. I believe that electronic monitoring is a great deterrence when it comes to crime as well because the fear of being monitored 24/7 is a fear that many people have. Although you may not be behind bars, your freedom is very limited which isn’t very