Courts and Criminal Procedure Many of the prisons in the United States are overcrowded, understaffed, lack the necessary resources, and many are in disrepair. Even with the steadily declining crime rates of the past twenty years, many prisons are overcrowded (Kearney & Harris, 2014). African Americans are more likely to be sentenced to prison for the same type of crime committed as a Caucasian criminal. Laws at the state and federal levels are having a major impact on incarceration rates in the United States. The criminal risk factors and recidivism rates are significantly higher when inmates do not receive proper treatment and education. Courts need to their part to help reduce prison overcrowding, lack of resources, and racial injustice
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The need for better educational programs within our prison system is a must. Allowing inmates to use their time while incarcerated to gain their GED and life skills will help reduce recidivism rates. If judges allowed for a reduced sentences following the completion drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment, as well as for an inmate earning their GED, the overcrowding of prisons would be reduced.
Since the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in US v Booker, the racial divide in sentencing has grown. Just within the two years following the ruling prison sentences were on average 15.2 percent longer for African Americans than Caucasians facing similar charges (Hansen, 2013). The war on drugs has impacted the poor communities of color more so than any other community in the nation. According to Morgan Whitacker, “People of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but by waging this drug was almost exclusively in poor communities of color, we’ve now created a vast new racial under-caste” (2013). Judges who have been given discretion in sentencing are imposing longer sentences for people of
The need for better educational programs within our prison system is a must. Allowing inmates to use their time while incarcerated to gain their GED and life skills will help reduce recidivism rates. If judges allowed for a reduced sentences following the completion drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment, as well as for an inmate earning their GED, the overcrowding of prisons would be reduced.
Since the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in US v Booker, the racial divide in sentencing has grown. Just within the two years following the ruling prison sentences were on average 15.2 percent longer for African Americans than Caucasians facing similar charges (Hansen, 2013). The war on drugs has impacted the poor communities of color more so than any other community in the nation. According to Morgan Whitacker, “People of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but by waging this drug was almost exclusively in poor communities of color, we’ve now created a vast new racial under-caste” (2013). Judges who have been given discretion in sentencing are imposing longer sentences for people of