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Overcrowding in Jails Today, in America, some prisoners are living worse than some third world countries are for little crimes such as theft. The reason for that to happen is rather simple - too many prisoners and not enough room. This country needs to spend more money to build new prisons, or at least attempt to differentiate the people who have committed minor criminal offence (like shoplifting or vehicle theft) from those who appear to be murderers and other type of thugs. This differentiation could lead to the state at which the person is being redeveloped through the rehabilitation program, and not given additional criminal skills by those who are serving terms for serious law breaking. However, as to every option, there is a limitation to building new prisons. One of the major ones is that new prisons cost too much to build.
Besides, there could be more prisoners than the guards can control safely. Because of overcrowding some state prisons are sends their inmates down to local prisons. Some prison inmates are sleeping in hallways, storage rooms and even lavatories. Due to overcrowding some prisons are producing conditions so unhealthy it is against the constitution. Because the new prisons wont be built for a while some prisons are doing the only thing they can, freeing inmates early. Still, building more jails is expensive and does not solve anything.
Giving prisoners no chance for parole and imprisoning only violent offenders can solve these problems. The non-violent offenders should enter a work program for the duration of their sentence. Since 1980, jail and prison populations have grown by 172 percent (Welsh, 11). Overcrowding is both inhumane to the prisoner and dangerous to the prison staff. When you put a lot of people, especially criminals, in close quarters tensions rise and the chance of a riot increases.
If a riot occurs both prisoners and guards are put in danger. In Texas the jails are full. There is an estimated backlog of 29, 000 state prisoners who are incarcerated in county jails awaiting new cells (Beck 24 Apr. 2000). Texas is not the only state with overcrowding problems. For example, Ohio's prison system is operating at 180 percent of capacity (Schlanger 16). Also, the federal prison system is 37 percent over-capacity (Beck 44 Apr. 2000).
Statistics like this are found across the country. Another reason for overcrowding is that more people are going to jail for smaller, less offensive crimes. Because of the number of people in prison, the educational programs are limited. Before the inmate was placed near his or her program but now they are placed where ever there is a bed. Some prisons are placing inmate wherever there can. Some prisoners need special education that is not available in some prisons or jails (Schlanger, 1999).
Because the person committed the crime they do not deserve deluxe accommodations. The non-violent offenders should enter a work program for the duration of their sentence. Prisons should have two results: 1) keep dangerous criminals off the streets and 2) create a deterrent for committing a crime. Our system has failed to do either. Early release programs let prisoners out of jail before their sentence is complete. This promotes good behaviour in prison and keeps the prison population lower.
However, many released prisoners just commit another crime and are returned to jail. In 1992, one in three state prison admissions was a probation or parole violator (Stephan 50). Also, a special report from the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics stated: State courts in 32 counties across 17 States sentenced 79, 000 felons to probation in 1986. Within 3 years of sentencing, while still on probation, 43 % of these felons were rearrested for a felony. Half of the arrests were for a violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault) or a drug offence (drug trafficking or drug possession). This proves that the current system puts dangerous criminals back on the streets without being rehabilitated and that imprisonment is not a successful deterrent.
The three times your out strategy attempts to solve this problem. Although it is a step in the right direction, criminals should not be allowed to break the law three times before they are punished. It would be a much greater deterrent if they were not offered parole at all. Prisoners should not be given a parole opportunity.
Criminals should know that if they are convicted of a crime they will not be able to get out early. This creates a heavier deterrence for people who are considering criminal acts. It would also assure that dangerous criminals are kept behind bars longer and therefore given a better chance at rehabilitation. Some could say that having no parole would cause prison population to increase even more, but not if only violent offenders were imprisoned. Violent offenders are the prisoners convicted of crimes in which a victim was emotionally or physically harmed, for example; murder, rape, or child abuse. They are dangerous and need to be incarcerated.
Non-violent offenders are the criminals convicted of crimes such as embezzlement, drug possession, or petty theft. These non-violent criminals should be put into work programs. There is plenty of work to do on both the national and state levels. Road crews could be used to build and repair roads. National and state parks always need manpower to build and improve on their lands. The possibilities are endless.
Where would these criminals be housed? Since they will only be working in an area until the work is done, they could build their own temporary shelters or stay in tents. Texas is currently implementing this by putting hundreds of inmates to work on land owned by Texas Parks and Wildlife (Beck 54 Apr. 2000). It could be argued that this would take jobs away from the public.
Actually work programs would create jobs. The prisoners would not be skilled at building roads, buildings, or whatever so they would need almost constant supervision by experienced workers and the final work would have to be done by skilled workers. Extra security would also be needed to preserve the guard to prisoner ratio, therefore creating even more jobs. In addition to other negative effects, the overcrowding conditions can lead to increasing violence amongst the sentenced.
Because of large amounts of prisoners and a much smaller amount of guards they feel like they are losing control of the prison. In overcrowded prisons the chance or assaults, suicides and mental disorder. Some prisoners are directly related to death from diseases and violence. The only way for prison guards to control the inmates is by using sheer violence. If prisons decease the number of activities they offer it will almost surely increase the violence there is (Welsh, 76).
In America there are way too less prisons and too many prisoners. This country needs to raise money to build new prisons in the future. Bibliography: Beck, Allen J. , Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1999. NCJ 173414, United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Apr 2000.
Schlanger, Margo, Beyond the hero judge: institutional reform litigation as litigation. Michigan Law Review. May 1999, 97, (6), 1994 - 2036. Stephan, James J. , Census of Jails, 1999. NCJ 186633, Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Aug 2001.
Welsh, Wayne N. , Counties in Court: Jail Overcrowding and Court-Ordered Reform. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995.
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