Are Police Practices Contributing to Prison Overcrowding?
“Good people — they make bad decisions — but they shouldn’t be punished for it for life,” says Bobby Reed regarding the way non-violent drug offenders are being treated in the United States. Bobby Reed is one of many people who have been incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses due to the injustice of our criminal justice system. As a result, prison overcrowding is very common all over the United States. Many factors contribute to the overcrowding of prisons, such as mandatory minimum sentences and lack of money for bail; nonetheless, police practices are also major contributors.
In many cities across America, most people arrested by the police and put in prison are non-violent …show more content…
Most officers are told to be on the hunt for drug offenders in order to “end” the war on drugs. The arresting of these non-violent drug offenders has done nothing to make the slightest dent in the war on drugs, more or less end it. Also, the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders benefit the police officers, because the number of arrests they gain increases. As a result, prisons are dangerously overcrowded and everyone is suffering because of it. The government is forced to pay billions of dollars, the families of the people imprisoned are torn apart, and, not to mention, the non-violent drug users are suffering …show more content…
Blacks and Hispanics are mostly arrested for drug offenses, even though drug use is basically equal between white and colored people. One in three black men goes to prison in their lifetime, while only one in seventeen white men goes. There is a major discrepancy between the number of arrests in poor and majorly colored neighborhoods as oppose to majorly white neighborhoods. This is not because poor people and colored people use more drugs than white people. This is because the police seem to neglect majorly white neighborhoods when it comes to arresting people for drug use. In other words, if you are poor and colored then you are most likely to almost always be presumed guilty. More often than not, the people that are incarcerated for non-violent drug abuse are unable to afford bail, which causes the overcrowding of
“Good people — they make bad decisions — but they shouldn’t be punished for it for life,” says Bobby Reed regarding the way non-violent drug offenders are being treated in the United States. Bobby Reed is one of many people who have been incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses due to the injustice of our criminal justice system. As a result, prison overcrowding is very common all over the United States. Many factors contribute to the overcrowding of prisons, such as mandatory minimum sentences and lack of money for bail; nonetheless, police practices are also major contributors.
In many cities across America, most people arrested by the police and put in prison are non-violent …show more content…
Most officers are told to be on the hunt for drug offenders in order to “end” the war on drugs. The arresting of these non-violent drug offenders has done nothing to make the slightest dent in the war on drugs, more or less end it. Also, the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders benefit the police officers, because the number of arrests they gain increases. As a result, prisons are dangerously overcrowded and everyone is suffering because of it. The government is forced to pay billions of dollars, the families of the people imprisoned are torn apart, and, not to mention, the non-violent drug users are suffering …show more content…
Blacks and Hispanics are mostly arrested for drug offenses, even though drug use is basically equal between white and colored people. One in three black men goes to prison in their lifetime, while only one in seventeen white men goes. There is a major discrepancy between the number of arrests in poor and majorly colored neighborhoods as oppose to majorly white neighborhoods. This is not because poor people and colored people use more drugs than white people. This is because the police seem to neglect majorly white neighborhoods when it comes to arresting people for drug use. In other words, if you are poor and colored then you are most likely to almost always be presumed guilty. More often than not, the people that are incarcerated for non-violent drug abuse are unable to afford bail, which causes the overcrowding of