Prison Overcrowding

best suited to minimize the “penetration” of offenders into the “system.” The main goals and objectives of community corrections are to reduce prison populations, protect the public, keep offenders (although under supervision) in community, reduce offender recidivism, generate cost savings and ensure community safety by rehabilitating offenders from prison which helps to break the…

accused person on trial, which is why many defendants and prosecutors try to force a plea deal. The overworked criminal justice system is only one reason for the overcrowding of the prison system. Many of the people who are lower on the socioeconomic ladder are ethnically non-white, this leads to the over-representation of minorities in the prison…

In 2011, Aboriginal people were reported as imprisoned at a rate of 756 per 100,000 in contrast to non-aboriginal Canadians at a rate of only 76 per 100,000 (Jeffries, 2014). However, why are Aboriginal People in Canada overrepresented in prison? Could it be sentencing policies or are these citizens more harmful to society? Many factors are involved in this presumption, including high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and a large percentage of judges will decide jail for their sentence even…

family abandonment, budget expenses, or prison overcrowding. The amount of individuals that go to jail are more than any other prison because half of them are filled with people who didn’t do anything to hurt themselves, others or society around them. Although mandatory minimum sentences stop crime and arrest criminals, it actually puts innocent who don’t deserve such harsh sentences in jail for unwarranted amounts of time. When…

became popular it is a good idea to briefly look at the development of the justice system throughout history leading up to the system affected by a neoliberal view. The first prisons were introduced in medieval times. These prisons were more for containment instead of punishment. This introduced the start to modern prisons (Sharpe, 1988). During this time the death penalty had a main focus in regard to the penal system. Bellamy (1973) stated that even though it appeared that capital punishment…

have failed, not only are non violent drug offenders risking their lives in prison, their causing corrections facilitates to be overcrowded and underfunded. It would seem that there should be other options rather than just sending non violent drug offenders to prison. There is no evidence that imprisonment reduces the likelihood of recidivism. Instead, we find compelling evidence that offenders who are sentenced to prison have higher rates of recidivism and recidivate more quickly than do…

order to fully understand if prisons are effective or not we must look into what the purpose of prisons are and how they came to be. In modern 21st century the 3 main reasons for prisons are: 1. To punish those who have been found guilty of breaking the law, 2. to rehabilitate those in prison so that they are less likely to commit crimes in the future and 3. to deter those people who consider breaking the law, from actually committing a crime. The purpose of prisons was not always the same. In…

Mental Illness in the Prison System The correctional system in the United States has undergone shifts from incarceration and punishment to rehabilitation at various times over time demonstrating a need for policy and legislation that meets the needs of both offenders and members of the community. Fluctuations in opposing policies reflect the cultural values and social norms of the times, but treatment and care for incarcerated adults and juveniles who suffer from mental illness is an issue that…

heir to the DuPont family fortune, pled guilty to fourth-degree rape of his three-year-old daughter, a judge spared him a justifiable sentence – indeed, only put Richard on probation – because she figured this 1-percenter would "not fare well" in a prison setting.” (Walshe) The United States in effect operates two distinct criminal justice systems: one for wealthy people and another for poor people and minorities (Walshe). Yes, many people who are in jail are poor but rich people go to jail too.…

Super maximum security (supermax) prisons, where solitary confinement is standard procedure, were built with the idea that criminals could be rehabilitated by isolating them from society and from each other. These ideas came around in the early 19th century, and criticism came along with it. Among the ones who disagreed with the idea, was well-known author Charles Dickens, who went to visit one of the early prisons and stated that the slow decay of the mind that these prisoners were experiencing…