Reducing Prison Overcrowding
- Submitted by: jahnnaomi
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- Category: Politics: Crime and Drugs
- Date Submitted: 06/09/2012 02:36 PM
- Pages: 10
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Reducing Prison Overcrowding
Reducing Prison Overcrowding
Since its inception the criminal justice system has faced enormous problems concerning prison overcrowding. This problem comes from many causes and reasons. The breakdown of the system and the addition of the war on drugs, combined with the financial problems are all wreaking havoc on a much overburdened system. The system is being weighed down by the high costs of housing prisoners with an even higher cost of housing death row inmates. This paper will look at some of the reasons that overcrowding of prisons has become a problem and look to ways to remedy the situation.
Policy Claim
The claim being made here is that the war on drugs has substantially contributed to prison overcrowding. It was not until the war on drugs started did we see a dramatic increase in not only the prison population but also in the construction of prisons. Decriminalization of drugs may be a solution to this problem however, a much greedy system would not profit if drugs were decriminalized.
Statistics
According to criminal justice experts the United States has the largest prison population with the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The reason for this is tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates. The U.S. Justice Department shows that there are a record 7 million and rising or one in over 32 Americans behind bars or on probation or parole. 2.2 million people are in prisons or jails in this nation. More people are behind bars in the United States than any other place in the world. China comes in second with 1.5 million people followed by Russia with 870,000.
Facts
The fact is that the United States is supposed to be the freest nation in the world but it imprisons its people more than any other nation on the planet. “The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in...
Reducing Prison Overcrowding
Since its inception the criminal justice system has faced enormous problems concerning prison overcrowding. This problem comes from many causes and reasons. The breakdown of the system and the addition of the war on drugs, combined with the financial problems are all wreaking havoc on a much overburdened system. The system is being weighed down by the high costs of housing prisoners with an even higher cost of housing death row inmates. This paper will look at some of the reasons that overcrowding of prisons has become a problem and look to ways to remedy the situation.
Policy Claim
The claim being made here is that the war on drugs has substantially contributed to prison overcrowding. It was not until the war on drugs started did we see a dramatic increase in not only the prison population but also in the construction of prisons. Decriminalization of drugs may be a solution to this problem however, a much greedy system would not profit if drugs were decriminalized.
Statistics
According to criminal justice experts the United States has the largest prison population with the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The reason for this is tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates. The U.S. Justice Department shows that there are a record 7 million and rising or one in over 32 Americans behind bars or on probation or parole. 2.2 million people are in prisons or jails in this nation. More people are behind bars in the United States than any other place in the world. China comes in second with 1.5 million people followed by Russia with 870,000.
Facts
The fact is that the United States is supposed to be the freest nation in the world but it imprisons its people more than any other nation on the planet. “The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in...