American prisons approach on deterrence and rehabilitation of the inmates prove to be inefficient. This conclusion is reached by viewing the rate of deterrence from crime after being sentenced. Also observing minimal sentencing procedures reveals the invalid claim of deterring crime. These sentences have shown to be a waste of public taxes, and an unfair punishment put upon several people. The conditions in the prisons themselves do not allow the full ability to rehabilitate. Without the proper hygienic conditions, the overall recovery of an inmate is difficult to reach.
In spite of contrary belief, prison is not always the finest choice. Alternative sentencing programs have shown to be successful in the rehabilitation process. Alternative …show more content…
For instance, someone who is in the possession of 2.9 grams of cocaine might not spend much time being detained as someone with a fraction of a gram more would result in more than two years of imprisonment. The harshness of these sentencing’s are extremely absurd in some cases. For example, a complete stranger paid a financially forlorn single mother with four children to mail a package that contained two hundred and thirty two grams of crack cocaine. The mother was completely unaware of what she was delivering. She received a sentence of ten years in prison for the transportation of an illegal substance. Even though the sentencing judge saw the sentence to be unfair and wrong (Bernick and Larkin). This is just one of the many examples of minimum sentencing being unjust and …show more content…
This outcome can be found by observing conditions of overcrowding in the prisons themselves. These conditions affect the physical and mental health from the increasing level of skepticism. This happens from the effects of being in a confined space and thus heightens the mental strain of an inmate. Also, mandatory minimum sentencing has shown an unfair punishment put upon several people. Along with these unjust punishments, mandatory minimum sentencing shows to be a waste of public taxes for keeping inmates imprisoned. Instead of these mandatory sentences, alternative sentencing, such as community service, faith-based rehabilitation, and drug treatment should be practiced when in the process of rehabilitating a
In spite of contrary belief, prison is not always the finest choice. Alternative sentencing programs have shown to be successful in the rehabilitation process. Alternative …show more content…
For instance, someone who is in the possession of 2.9 grams of cocaine might not spend much time being detained as someone with a fraction of a gram more would result in more than two years of imprisonment. The harshness of these sentencing’s are extremely absurd in some cases. For example, a complete stranger paid a financially forlorn single mother with four children to mail a package that contained two hundred and thirty two grams of crack cocaine. The mother was completely unaware of what she was delivering. She received a sentence of ten years in prison for the transportation of an illegal substance. Even though the sentencing judge saw the sentence to be unfair and wrong (Bernick and Larkin). This is just one of the many examples of minimum sentencing being unjust and …show more content…
This outcome can be found by observing conditions of overcrowding in the prisons themselves. These conditions affect the physical and mental health from the increasing level of skepticism. This happens from the effects of being in a confined space and thus heightens the mental strain of an inmate. Also, mandatory minimum sentencing has shown an unfair punishment put upon several people. Along with these unjust punishments, mandatory minimum sentencing shows to be a waste of public taxes for keeping inmates imprisoned. Instead of these mandatory sentences, alternative sentencing, such as community service, faith-based rehabilitation, and drug treatment should be practiced when in the process of rehabilitating a