Essay On Jail Overcrowding

Jail overcrowding poses a problem for American society. Non-violent criminals, such as child support offenders and traffic violators who cannot get a speedy court date live for free in our jails while the tax payers support them. Others believe that these criminals belong in jail despite overcrowding. Although Glenn E. Martin, Marc A. Levin, Nicholas Turner, Julia M. Stasch, Malcolm M. Feeley and Kent Scheidegger differ on their opinions of overcrowded jails, they each share concerns about the impact of the judicial systems operations in the slow process of prosecuting, sentencing, and jailing inmates. According to Martin, founder and President of “JustleadershipUSA,” overcrowding is a serious issue in our jails. He states, “Jails have become the easy solution for the problems of addiction, poverty, mental illness, rather than instruments of justice” (Martin para. 2). He feels that most inmates get used to living in jail where they are housed, fed, and clothed and don’t want to, or don’t …show more content…
The justice system holds these defendants in jail despite the fact that it is a misdemeanor and non-violent crime. Traffic violations, failure to pay child support, and other such non-violent crimes leads to the overcrowding. Although offenders should be brought to justice such crimes should be heard rapidly, punished by fines, probation or monitoring, and released back into society in a timely manner. Ms. Stasch also pointes out that in Hennepin County, Minnesota the District Attorney implemented a plan that low-risk offenders made their amends by making payments and participating in community service which kept more than 800 people out of jail. More plans like this could help out local jails with the problem of overcrowding by also helping the community receive services and saving tax payers money (Stasch para.