Prison Overcrowding Essay

The Solution to Prison Overcrowding in the United States In the 1980 's the media sensationalized crime and the only way to contain this threat was to imprison criminals for as long as possible. In turn, the United States began to fight a metaphorical "War on Drugs". This "tough on crime" mentality began to lead to a system of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is the vast system of laws, customs, and policies that makes up the justice system that is responsible for the enormous amount of people that occupy prisons in the United States. Some of these policies include aggressive charges for minor convictions, stiffening criminal codes, and parole denials. As a result of these strict policies, incarceration rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed since the 1970 's. The result is prison overcrowding which affects not only prisoners, but prison staff and tax payers. An overcrowding prison system has harsh living conditions, even for convicts, which are in most cases "appalling, inhumane, and unacceptable" according to Doyle Wayne Scott, a former head of the Texas prison system

In majority of cases there is a lack of professionals such as doctors and psychiatrists on hand. This means that ultimately, prisoners have a minimal chance of receiving the help they need. Although prisoners are convicts that broke the law, they are still humans "with organs that fail and extremities that break" and should be treated as such (Mayeux). Lack of essential staff also inhibits prisons from serving their correctional goal. Prisons must protect citizens from criminals but are also intended to function as correctional facilities that rehabilitate inmates and prepare them for life after prison. However, overcrowding hinders this goal by sacrificing many of the necessities that prisoners must have. Therefore it is essential to maintain an environment that will nurture reform and contribute to the