RUNNING HEAD: THE ISSUES 1 The Issues of Overcrowding in Prisons By Barbarito Capote ENGL107-1203B English Composition 2 July 29, 2012 RUNNING HEAD: THE ISSUES 2 Outline: I. Intro a. Overcrowding in prisons a huge issue i. Not enough prisons to reduce overcrowding b. Solutions to prison overcrowding c. Prisons as an end result have suffered from overcrowding causing higher suicide rates as well as increased diseases, sharing of beds and toilets, etc. Because of this overcrowding of prisons is a big issue.
Because the extent of crowding, along with the reasons, consequences, and potential remedies can vary considerably depending upon whether the focus is on prisons versus jails, it is important to separate the two. In this discussion, focus will be primarily on the issue as it involves state and federal prisons. Research and Discussion Overcrowding Versus Over Imprisonment Much of the literature on prison crowding focuses on the overall size and growth of inmate populations and correctional facilities as indicators that the United States builds prisons and incarcerates at far higher rates than most other countries. Data on prisons and prison populations to support such conclusions are usually drawn from two general sources. The most complete picture is found in the annual reports and on the Websites of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and many individual state departments of corrections (Hough,Solomon,2008).
IT WAS FORMED IN 2005. IN 2011 THE ANNUAL BUDGET WAS $10.1 BILLION. THE CDCR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OPERATION OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE PRISON AND PAROLE SYSTEMS. ITS HEADQUARTERS ARE IN SACRAMENTO, CA. AS OF 2009, CDCR EMPLOYED APPROXIMATELY 29,000 PEACE OFFICERS (STATE CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS) , 1,800 STATE PAROLE AGENTS AND 692 CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS/ SPECIAL AGENTS.
Jails are a confinement facility administered by an agency of local government, typically a law enforcement agency, which holds people detained pending adjudication or committed after adjudication, usually those sentenced to a year or less. Usually, a county sheriff’s department runs the local jail. In most states, there is at least one jail in every county. In some bigger counties, they may have more than one jail to house the inmates. Criminal offenders who are sentenced to jail usually carry a sentence of less than one year.
Prison Industrial Complex Today in the United States we are seeing a change in state of incarceration, according to prisonpolicy.org, since 2010 be have seen the prisoners released exceed prison admissions. This in fact is a major transformation because since 1977 releases have not exceeded admissions. One can view this in a positive aspect by thinking that the United States has finally started shifting their policies away from this asinine system of incarceration but in fact this may only be ploy to systematize a greater portion of our population. Even though release rates have grown, the United States still imprisons the highest percentage of its population. So in actuality, today, we are institutionalizing the greatest number of citizens in our history.
Specifically, 10 percent of the private prison inmates were rearrested in the 12 months following release versus 19 percent of government prison inmates. Six percent of private releases were resentenced to a new offense versus 10 percent. Furthermore, 10 percent of private inmates were reincarcerated compared with 14 percent of government inmates. The overall indicator showed that 17 percent of private releases have an indication of recidivism versus 24 percent of government releases. Nine percent of private prison inmates had a technical violation of release terms compared to eight percent government prison inmates.
The incarceration rate is determined by the number of people per 100,000 U.S. citizens who are incarcerated either in jail or prison. There was a study conducted on inmates incarcerated in Texas jail. The study advises that over half of the jail population consisted of inmates there for drug offenses, in possession of control substance or
Since the mid-1970s, the prison population in the nation’s largest state has risen by more than 750%, from about 20,000 to more than 160,000 (Equal Justice Initiative, 2010). California’s prison system is among one of the worst in the system and part of it is due to their adaptation of their “Three Strikes” laws. The laws are harsh and the criminals, especially the ones already having two strikes don’t seem to care about the seriousness of committing crimes. California’s prisons, 33 total, are operating at almost twice their design capacity. Overcrowding is a very serious issue that worries the state officials such as Governor Schwarzenegger.
Scholars Mears, Cochran, Siennick and Bales will discuss implications of the findings for research and policy in this article. America has entered what many scholars have described as an era of mass incarceration in recent decades. (Clear, 2007; Garland 2001; Gottschalk, 2006; Rosenfeld & Messner, 2010). It is estimated that over 1.6 million individuals are in America's state and federal prisons (West 2010) and perhaps over 735,000 are released back into society annually. (Sabol, West & Cooper, 2009).
The issue of prison conditions and the impacts they have on the future lives of inmates has attracted significant interest in the American society. One of the most important trends in the U.S justice system is that out of 600, 000 inmates that are released from prison each year, about two-thirds end up being rearrested after three years (Chen & Shapiro, 2007). In this respect, the objective of this paper is to discuss prison life and strategies that can be adopted in prisons to reduce recidivism. Analysis of the Purposes for Prisons in the U.S Justice System The correctional facilities in the U.S are principally meant to ensure that the sentences that have been prescribed by the Courts on offenders are implemented to the letter. Nevertheless, correctional administrators in the modern correctional facilities have been enlightened in that they recognize a broader responsibility and mission of prisons.