Incarceration in the United States

An epidemic faces the United States. One larger than any other country has to deal with. Mass incarceration of our citizens has, until now, been on the rise, reaching staggering numbers. The “Who Is in Prison” graphic on page 145 in We the People paints a simplified image of the realities of our prison system. America, the home of the brave and land of the free, has the highest prison population in the world. There are about 700 people incarcerated per 100,000 residents nationwide which amounts to over 2 million behind bars. The South and Southwest are home to the worst incarceration rates in the nation, while the Northeast maintains some of the lowest rates. Men are the largest shareholders of prison cells, making up over 90% of the population,…

Ever since America recovered from its 1920s economic collapse, it has been the dream of anyone who resides in the United States to acquire their share of the American dream. While the American dream may come easily to some people, it is difficult for others in some communities to believe in its existence because individual, social, political and economic factors such as mass incarceration in urban communities hinder their chances of claiming their portion of the success pie. To most of these men…

The Incarceration Issue Within The United States The United States is known as a prosperous nation, and being the “land of the free”, but what most people do not want to talk about, or do not realize, when speaking about the United States is the massive amount of prisoners the US has. In fact, we have the most prisoners by far. The US roughly makes up about 5% of the total population on earth, but accounts for nearly 25% of the world’s prison population (Scommegna, Tyjen Tsai and Paola. "U.S.…

Tabitha Jackson SPC 3513 Dr. Lindsay December 2, 2015 Our Prison Population The United States has more citizens incarcerated than any other country in the world (ACLU). According to the American Civil Liberties Union, between 1978 and 2014, the prison population grew over 400% (ACLU). This number means that one in 110 people in the United States are incarcerated in our prisons or local jails (ACLU). An even more staggering number, one in 35 people in the United States is under some type of…

Incarceration in the United States, a practice becoming expansive and critical, has abused the rights and ideals of fundamental American democracy for some of its populations. This democracy, coupled with the stipulation of the thirteenth amendment, includes the opportunity for all American citizens, regardless of whether they are inherently placed or chose to be in any subgroupings, to a set of unalienable rights in life. Unfortunately, certain subgroups are targeted by U.S. institutions and,…

over 1.5 million in 2015 (“Trends in U.S. Corrections”). Compared to the rest of the world, the United States has the highest percentage of the population in prisons (“Trends in U.S. Corrections”). The prison overpopulation is due to the ineffective model of generally longer sentences being given in the United States. It is difficult to determine if the growing number of people being incarcerated affects the crime rate in the United States. Many people argue for tough-on-crime policies but many…

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, defines mass incarceration as an epidemic of racial bias in which a third of black men will go to prison during their lifetimes, mostly for low-level, nonviolent offenses. Republican presidential nominee and businessman, Donald Trump, has not addressed mass incarceration, but has frequently commented on America’s high violent crime rate, especially attacks on law enforcement. In her speech…

Our country faces multiple problems that are all at different levels. Some are more important than others and affect everyone differently. One of the problems in our country is youth incarceration. Youth Incarceration needs to be reconfigured into a positive changing experience for troubled teens instead of a horrible time that effects the reason of their lives in a negative way. Youth incarceration is when a young adult younger than eighteen is sentenced to serve a certain amount of time in a…

Is the American economics and the prison system a positive or negative impact on the system? The United States currently has 2 million people incarcerated more than any country in the world. This is a big issue because most countries don 't hold more than 2 million incarcerated inmates behind bars. According to Fitzgerald J (2015) “(bop) Bureau Of Prisons housed 214,149 inmates roughly 298 percent over its rated capacity”. The bureau went over its rated capacity when imprisoning new inmates to…

York during the 1990’s through the 2000’s. Not only are Latinx people targeted, they are incarcerated, including African Americans in large numbers. The war on drugs is more of a method of mass incarceration for minorities. It is a problem that not only affects men, but also women. This issue tears families apart. Mass incarceration is directly connected to the affected of the drug war, essentially Latinx and African Americans. The effects of the war on drugs on Latinx…