Causes Of Prison Overcrowding

Superior Essays
Show More
Register to read the introduction… The judicial system was buckling down on different drug offenses such as crack-cocaine, marijuana and opium. In 1985 marijuana was marked as the nation’s “number one problem” when it came to drug abuse. More people started using excessive amounts of marijuana since there was a decriminalization law. Eventually, it reached a high of sixty-four percent; programs and treatments were brought upon such as D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and G.R.E.A.T (Gang Resistance Education and Training). These programs were not just for adults, these were mainly targeted towards the youth so they will be pushed in the right direction. Teens are looked at as being rebellious and are more prone to using drugs than any other age group. Gangs are more known to use and distribute drugs and teens are the number one offenders when it comes to marijuana. The war on drugs was to reduce the amount of drugs being dispersed and used on the streets. Although, there are more people in jail for drug possession and usage than any other offense and those numbers have increased over the past few years with long-term sentencing. More people are serving a greater amount of time because of the truth and sentencing act. It was designed to have criminals serve majority of their sentence in jail then on the street. Before the act was passed offenders were serving a substantially less time in jail then what the courts ordered. Since offenders were being released so easily States shifted to determinate sentencing which required a mandatory minimum sentencing guideline in the 1980s. This transition kept offenders behind bars for more time and is one of the main causes of the overcrowding of prisons. The budget cannot currently support the increasing numbers of inmates entering the jails. Many improvements can be made to help the jails …show more content…
(n.d.). Drug Policy Alliance. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war
Improving Conditions in Overcrowded Prisons. (n.d.). — Prison Fellowship International. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.pfi.org/cjr/downloads/ten-keys-to-improving-conditions-in-overcrowded-prisons
Knafo, S. (2013, November 8). 10 Ways To Reduce Prison Overcrowding And Save Taxpayers Millions. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/08/prison-overcrowding_n_4235691.html
Online Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. (n.d.). Online CCJ PDX RSS. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Overcrowding In Prison
    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Overcrowding In Prison

    Haney 2006, found that overcrowding results in correctional administrators implementing policies and procedures that may enable instead of relieving problems that may occur within a prison environment. Unfortunately this trend is evident between mentally ill offenders, because they often face the difficult task of adjusting and conforming to correctional policies. Furthermore, when a prison is also facing overcrowding it can intensify these problems. Thus, considering that mentally disabled inmates tend to become irate and violent in overcrowded prisons, it has become routine to place these individuals in solitary confinement to separate them from others within the facility (Ball, 2014). But while the Supreme Court condemns long term solitary…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Arguments Against Overcrowding Prisons
    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Arguments Against Overcrowding Prisons

    As of today the United States has a total of 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 942 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. Territories. Overcrowding prisons and not enough staff are becoming a serious issue in America. Everyday more citizens are committing crimes that lead them in either prison or jails. And overcrowding prisons lead to having four to five inmates to a cell, which being that close to other criminals can cause violent behavior. It can also cause lack of privacy, which can cause mental health problems and possibly even increase suicide rates and self-harm.…

    • 2582 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Sentencing Changes In Prison
    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sentencing Changes In Prison

    According to the Sentencing Project, which is a non-profit organization that promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more effective alternatives to deal with crime, states that the United States correctional system of the past thirty years has been characterized by a population increasing the exponentially in response to changes in policy towards mandatory minimum and determinate sentencing (Sentencing). In other words, individuals convicted of a crime today are more likely to be sentenced to incarceration and spend longer terms in prison, than their counterparts in previous decades (Sentencing). In 2002, state and federal prison and local jail populations exceeded 2 million, a trend that has contributed to prison overcrowding and has overwhelmed state governments with the burden of funding this rapidly expanding penal system (Sentencing). These changes in policy have resulted in the reality that prisons today are filled with large numbers of non-violent and drug…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Solitary Confinement In Prisons Research Paper
    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Solitary Confinement In Prisons Research Paper

    Natori Moore Title The United States’ prison system is growing rapidly every year. According to the article in the Washington Post “The U.S. has more jails than colleges. Here’s a map of where those prisoners live” author Christopher Ingraham states, “In many parts of America, particularly the South, there are more people living in prisons than on college campuses.”…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    D. A. Re Pros And Cons
    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    D. A. Re Pros And Cons

    The basis of Pro-D.A.R.E sentiments surround the idea that drug abuse education in the youth is what prevents drug abuse in both minors and the generations to come. While the basis of Anti-D.A.R.E opposition revolves around the idea that the D.A.R.E program is completely useless in preventing drug abuse and that D.A.R.E is a waste of effort. While both sides have many good arguments to support them, the best Pro-D.A.R.E argument is stated best in the article “D.A.R.E Prevents Marijuana Use”. It argues, from a D.A.R.E officer’s standpoint, that the job of D.A.R.E is to educate the youth, not use its platform over youth as a way of surveillance on its citizens. The Anti-D.A.R.E program’s best argument is stated in the article “Drug Education Programs Do Not Reduce Teen Drug Use”.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Crime In Prison
    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Crime In Prison

    While the United States’ problems with prison overcrowding date back centuries, the problem has suddenly worsened. There are many reasons for this, but the most pressing reason is the war on drugs. This “war”, beginning around the 1970s, perpetuated the overcrowding crisis by drastically increasing the number of nonviolent offenders incarcerated (Schlanger 4). By inserting nonviolent prisoners in jail, the likelihood of violence and psychological problems increases. The problems with prison overcrowding were exacerbated by the war on crime, which also appeared between the 1970s and 90s.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Federal Prison Reform Act Of 2013
    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Federal Prison Reform Act Of 2013

    With its ever-growing population, the amount of inmates has grown by over 700% throughout the past century. This staggering amount far exceeds that of the United States’ population, making 32% look diminutive in comparison. Currently, there are more than 200,000 incarcerated people that are being detained inside a federal prison facility. In an attempt to improve public safety, a set of policies such as the “tough on crime” movement have been enacted, using punishment as the sole response to crime.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Mass Incarceration In The Criminal Justice System
    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mass Incarceration In The Criminal Justice System

    In the 1980s and 1990s political figures across America declared a “war on drugs”. During this time period Americans believed that the nation’s number one problem was drug abuse. The crack cocaine epidemic was in full effect during this time, and the main users were young poor African Americans. As the war on drugs gained popularity, policing agencies arrested more and more users resulting in increasing incarceration rates. The “war on drugs” resulted in locking drug users up to keep them off of the streets instead of assisting the users in turning their lives around.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Against Mandatory Minimums
    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Against Mandatory Minimums

    population has grown by about a third, but the federal prison population has increased by about 800 percent and federal prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent overcapacity, Justice officials said” (Horwitz 1). Currently, “The United States has a quarter of the world’s prison population and both Republicans and Democrats agree that prison spending, which accounts for a third of the Justice Department’s budget, needs to be reduced” (Schmidt 1). In Washington,“a bipartisan group of powerful senators last week proposed a broad overhaul of the existing system for imposing mandatory minimum sentences…” (Schmidt 1). The legislation “would shorten the length of mandatory sentences for repeat drug offenders and would end the federal “three strikes” mandatory life provision”(Lowery 1).…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Role Of Racial Prejudice In Crime Policies
    • 1286 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Role Of Racial Prejudice In Crime Policies

    Introduction Since the 1970s the American Prison population has increased at an exponential rate, making it the highest prison population in the world. This is peculiar in the sense that crime is at an all time low in this country but there has been increase in punitive laws. One of the factors of the prison population growth is the “War on Drugs”. Throughout his presidency until his resignation President Nixon set the foundation for the War on Drugs by creating institutions like the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement. President Reagan’s administration expanded on the precedent set by President Nixon and put the war on drugs as one of the leading issues of his campaign.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The War On Drugs In Prisons
    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The War On Drugs In Prisons

    “ACLU Policy Priorities for Prison Reform.” ACLU.org. ACLU, 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Prison Population Explosion Analysis
    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Prison Population Explosion Analysis

    According to Pettit and Western (2004) “The U.S. penal population increased six fold between 1972 and 2000, leaving 1.4 million men in state and federal prisons by the end of the century”(p. 151). This enormous prison population makes the U.S prison population the largest in the world as of today. The prison population explosion that happened during the time period of 1972-2000 was caused by many factors, however this population was disproportionately that of minorities. During the 1980’s there was a nation-wide crack epidemic that caused crime to get out of control (Pettit & Western 2004). The people demanded a get tough approach on drugs and crime.…

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of Overcrowding In Prisons
    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Effects Of Overcrowding In Prisons

    Why is overcrowding in prisons becoming such a huge problem? The overcrowding of prisons became problematic starting in the early 1980’s as the federal and state laws over sentencing policies shifted into having stricter punishments for criminal activities (BOOK, pg. #). The increase in the length of sentencing for prisoners are causing prisons to become dramatically overcrowded as prisoners are forced into remain in the prison system for a long period of time even though there are new prisoners continuing to enter through the system (article What can we do about prison overcrowding). The prison population as whole has rapidly increased to forty-one percent since 2000, even though the rate of correctional officers within the prison has only…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Prison Overcrowding
    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Essay On Prison Overcrowding

    In the United States, prison overcrowding has reached a crisis level as it becomes ubiquitous and continues to show no sign of abating within the foreseeable future. Courts in the country continue to sentence criminal offenders to serve various prison terms and fail to utilize various sentencing alternatives thus sustaining the problem. The problem has escalated in the last thirty years thus turning into a crisis. Between 1970 and 2005 for example, the inmate population in the country grew by 700% and has continued on an…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Prison Overcrowding Essay
    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Prison Overcrowding Essay

    Prisoners may face misconduct and possible effects on prison management, psychological consequences, an effect on the jail population dynamics, as well as high rates of prison violence among inmates and staff. In order to help improve the overcrowding of prisons a development of a “10-point plan to reduce prison overcrowding” (Penal Reform International) was constructed. The plan was constructed in order to help provide direction to policy-makers on how they can address this situation and ease its harmful consequences. The steps include 1.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings