History of the Jury System Juries have been used in the legal system for over 1000 years. Originally they were used for providing local knowledge and information and acted more as witnesses than decision – makers. By the middle of the 15th Century, juries had become independent assessors and assumed their modern role as deciders of fact. Independence of the Jury Bushell’s Case (1670) – jurors refused to convict Quaker activists of unlawful assembly. The trial judge would not accept the ‘not guilty’ verdict and ordered the jurors to resume their deliberations without food or drink.
In some of these inmates crime and deviance is all they know. The strain they have put or have been put in for most is hard to come out of. Some inmates have been there more than 20 years and have no hope of ever getting out. The gang activity is so great at this facility that the inmates have managed to control the gangs still on the streets from prison. Can or will this stop is the question criminologist have to find the answers
Corrections Trend Evaluation Angela Masters CJA/394 August 5, 2012 Hollis Severns Corrections Trend Evaluation In the past most have watched the correctional system in the United States go from one extreme to another. In the beginning, the only concern was putting prisoners in prison and leaving them there. In present time our goal is more emphasized towards rehabilitating and treating prisoners. Issues such as funding and crime rates play a critical role in the corrections department. During the “lock them up” theory, emphasis was placed on longer sentences, fewer paroles, higher levels of security, and no focus was placed on rehabilitation programs.
‘The treatment of offenders was demeaning, unsafe and fell below what could be classed as decent.’ This quote has been taken from a 2011 independent HM inspector report of Wandsworth Prison. The aforementioned quote shows that there is little difference between the current prison system and the social context of the 1980’s prison system, which is the backdrop of Hare’s fictional play. Unfortunately, this is a sad in indictment of the present day prison system which has barely changed in the past twenty years. In this context, in Act 1, scene 4 we see the character of Gerard’s first impressions of the prison system. We previously saw the character of Gerard in Act 1, scene 1; when Mc Kinnon, and two other men were convicted of a warehouse robbery.
Are Prisons Obsolete Rather than asking “are prisons obsolete” what it seems Angela Davis is asking is “are prisons really necessary?” In chapter one she is quoted as saying that more than “two million people (out of a world total of 9 million now inhabit U.S. prisons, jails, youth facilities and immigrant detention centers…The prison has become a looming presence in our society to an extent unparalleled in our history or that of any other industrial democracy…however the practice of mass incarceration during this period has had little or no effect on official crime rates.” Although I can understand the point Davis is attempting to make, in that prisons and jails overtake much of the country, filling large parts of our states, becoming eye sores, atrocities and school trips for the masses, however, what I feel she fails to mention, is that not only do these prisons serve to incarcerate the guilty, and, for lack of a better statement, most likely guilty, but it serves the public, taking criminals and those who create and instill fear in those who exist in communities. Perhaps it is more for those who need a sense of peace of mind, rather than those who have committed the crime. Davis also states that although it took 100 years to construct 9 prisons in California, over the course of 10 years the number of prisons in California had nearly doubled. Although she raises a valid point in her discussion, and mentions that the incarceration does not lead to a decrease in crime rates, she fails to mention whether the building of these prisons and incarceration of said prisoners was due to an increased crime rate in the areas in which these prisons were built. I would assume that these prisons, would in fact, not be built for absolutely no reason.
These people may spend years of their lives in jail; years that they will never get back. Who knows what they would’ve or could’ve done? So how much should these people be compensated? Compensation of people who have been wrongfully convicted should be based on how long they were in jail, how they were treated in jail, their income prior to entering jail and it should be capped at $150,000 per year. The definition of solitary confinement is, “a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, with the exception of prison staff.” People who get put into solitary confinement have committed very bad crimes and barely see the light of day.
Solitary confinement and repentance were the key components of life in prison. Prisoners were separated in cells to prevent contact with other prisoners they were only allowed to see institutional staff and visitors occasionally. Prisoners worked to help with the offset of the cost of incarceration. This proved to be an expensive method of housing prisoners which caused a lot of criticism. The Auburn System was created in 1821, it had individual cellblocks and required inmates to work ten hours daily, six days per week.
Cost of keeping a prisoner in custody per year for a maximum security prison is 32,547 more than most of us pay for tuition. States spend more on prison and penal institutions than we do on school and education I would like to point out that it is more about money than it is about reforming these prisoners. The prison system has become a monster throwing people in jail like its nothing. The government isn’t concerned with rehabilitation all they care about is keeping all the people involved in the prison, correctional, law enforcement, and justice system in business and with a healthy salary. The correctional officers who are in charge of prisoners typically have a high school diploma; they are essentially baby sitters of so called criminals.
The Field Of Corrections By: Tony Workman 1 of every 133 Americans is in jail or prison, even though the prison population has dropped in 20 states, that is roughly 2.3 million people behind bars. There is a huge demand right now for corrections officers, and is projected to increase over the next five years. It is a physical and mentally demanding job and needs specialized training, but it is also a very rewarding profession. Correctional officers, also known as detention officers when they work in pretrial detention facilities, are responsible for overseeing individuals who have been arrested and are awaiting trial or who have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to serve time in a jail, reformatory, or penitentiary. The jail population
Recidivism - Its Causes and Cure by John Dewar Gleissner For many decades, the U.S. recidivism rate - the rate at which released prisoners return to prison or get convicted again - has hovered around two-thirds or 70%. In other words, our correctional methods don't rehabilitate very well. A wise prison warden in 1912 set forth the requirements of a good prison system, but our society has not listened to his advice. Instead, prisoners get worse over time by learning sick prison values, the process of "prisonization." The gang culture thrives in prison, sometimes recruiting new members there or simply continuing previous gang membership.