Pros And Cons Of Habitual Felon

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There are many laws that come into play with the end result being less crime. They are intended to make punishments harsher for offenders with the hopes that the offender will not repeat crimes. The Habitual Felon Act was developed in order to increase sentencing time for the repeat offenders. This was considered to be a ""tough on crime" legislation that was adopted by the North Carolina General Assemble in the early 1990s" (Young). The law was also adapted in order to get more violent individuals off of the street, instead it filled the prisons with nonviolent, low priority felons. In North Carolina a habitual felon is defined as "any person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three felony offenses in any federal or state court…show more content…
This sentencing mechanism has certainly contributed to the increase in prison population. It has also placed harsher punishments that often times do not fit with the crime. Repeat offenders are getting sentenced to long prison terms for low priority crimes. “And if structured sentencing was designed to provide consistency in the type of sentences handed down for specific crimes, the habitual felon law does exactly the opposite, as the offender’s status as a “habitual felon” determines the sentence more so than the severity of the most recent felony”…show more content…
Educational programs can help to help children obtain a good education make sure every child is doing well. “Increase existing programs to keep children succeeding in school, and out of the criminal justice system hold the most promise to reduce incarceration rates” (North Carolina Criminal Justice Analysis Center). Lack of education can cause individuals to turn to and remain in a life of crime. “National surveys indicate that 70% of inmates entering state prisons have not graduated from high school and 40% are functionally illiterate” (Young). Making the effort to ensure that a higher level of education is attainable for all citizens would be considered a step in the right direction towards educating youth. Education should also be made available to prisoners. By making education available to prisoners, they could be given the opportunity towards becoming successful in society when they are released. Treating the drug crisis could help reduce the amount of repeat offenders here in North Carolina. Drug intervention programs and rehabilitation centers help to keep people from using and aid in helping addicts “kick the habit”. The idea behind this concept is that if less people were using then there would be less repeat offenders caught for possession and drug
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