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Contemporary prison overcrowding: short-term fixes to a perpetual problem
Contemporary prison overcrowding: short-term fixes to a perpetual problem
Solutions to prison overcrowding uk essays
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Rated capacity.
Rated capacity, as defined by Bureau of Justice Statistics, is the “number of beds or inmates assigned by a rating official to institutions within the jurisdiction” (Terms & Definitions: Corrections, 2014). In most instances, the term rated capacity refers to the maximum amount that something can handle, i.e., say a cranes rated capacity is 5000 lbs., that means that the operator should never use it to lift more than 5000 lbs. or it might break.
Operational capacity.
Operational capacity is “the number of inmates a prison can effectively accommodate based on management considerations” (Schmalleger, 2014, p. 436). This is very similar to rated capacity, but it is determined by the amount staff and resources available.
Design
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436). Rated capacity is the maximum it can handle, but the design capacity is the recommended amount it should handle. To go back to my previous example with the crane, if the rated capacity is 5000 lbs., then the designers, in hopes to prevent it from breaking, could set a design capacity at say 4000 lbs., just to be safe. Many prisons are built with a design capacity of one person per cell, but they immediately modify that with two bunks mounted in each cell to have a rated capacity twice that of the design.
Ideas of how to reduce prison overcrowding.
The question of how should we reduce the egregious overcrowding in the U.S. state and federal prison systems is very complex. It would most certainly be multifaceted. Some of my ideas on how to reduce the prison population would include but would not be limited to the following.
1) One major thing that would help would be to stop this abysmal War on Drugs. This would cut our prison population by over half (Miles, 2014, para. 2).
2) Next let’s let out the aged and incapacitate. Really why hold a ninty year old in prison, or a person who is completely incapacitated for that matter? Just let them all go home and die with some semblance of
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I know that some would perfer to stay in an American prison, for the simple fact that their home country may be even worse, but I know that many would jump on the opertunity.
4) Give judges greater discretion over sentencing. Abolish manditory sentences but have a general framwork for sentencing and let juges decide on a case by case basis.
5) Implement some major misdemeanor reform. Many things that are concidered a misdemeanor should be mere infraction like dog-leash violations, and things like feeding the homeless, yes it is a misdemeanor in many places like Las Vegas, NV (ARCHIBOLD, 2006).
The crazy thing is that even lawyers need lawyers to know all the complex laws we have in this country these days. Is it no wonder our prisons are bursting at the seems? I am sure there is many other things we could do. Preventing more young people from a life of crimiality would also be helpful and the key to that is education and social change.
References
ARCHIBOLD, R. (2006, July 28). Las Vegas Makes It Illegal to Feed Homeless in Parks . Retrieved from The New York Times:
handle the War on Drug? One very important topic in any conversation about drug abuse is drug abuse prevention. We should be regarding illcit drugs as health and social issue once we make the decision, we have to raise the funding for health and social intervention. Penalties should be cut that to point where you should not be going to prison for 10 years for a small amount of drugs. Have better drug education class for schools and communities. Public health issues can be solved only by changing the environment that means the focus off the individual and putting on the whole world where their individual live. The world that influences the choices that people
Riveland, C. (1999). Supermax Prisons: Overview and General Considerations. Retrieved August 25, 2010, from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1a1pkDvbgh0J:nicic.gov/pubs/1999/014937.pdf+Supermax+prisons+consolidation+model&hl=en&gl=us
Many of the prisons are so crowded that they have converted the gymnasium into a massive housing unit. These massive housing units hold hundreds of prisoners inside small gymnasiums. The bunk beds are stacked four or five high with every available space reserved for the bunk beds. Even though the prisons are over double capacity they have not added one extra toilet or shower at any of the facilities. Because of this many of the prisoners report tha... ...
...Prison Overcrowding: California." ALEC: American Legislative Exchange Council. American Legislative Exchange Council. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from Organization of CDCR
My first proposal that I would recommend would be to legalize minor drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine, those drugs should be removed from the criminal-justice system and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco. The criminalization of marijuana and cocaine disproportionately harms young people and people of color, besides it sponsors massive levels of violence and corruption. Furthermore, it adds up to the mass incarceration problem. “Erwin Chemerinsky, points out” Michelle Alexander wrote, Mandatory sentencing laws were frequently justified as necessary to keep “Violent criminals” off the streets, yet those penalties are imposed most often against drug offenders and those who are guilty of nonviolent crimes...” (91). In agreement
The overpopulation in the prison system in America has been an on going problem in the United States for the past two decades. Not only does it effect the American people who are also the tax payers to fund all of the convicts in prisons and jails, but it also effects the prisoners themselves. Family members of the prisoners also come into effect. Overpopulation in prison cause a horrible chain reaction that causes nothing but suffering and problems for a whole bunch people. Yet through all the problems that lye with the overpopulation in prisons, there are some solutions to fix this ongoing huge problem in America.
Frantz, Michael. “Federal Prison Overcrowding-Costs, Reasons, and Alternatives!” PRLog. N.a., 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Although criminal justice professionals are aware of the consequences of high incarceration rates,the problems that these bring and have order states to get rid of their overpopulation in prisons along with other measures, it is still not enough.
also reduce prison and jail costs and prevent additional crimes in the future. Before we can
Maybe if I saw more reports on how prison has improved our society and the criminals who live among us, I would see why we should work on reforming our prisons. Until then, it does not seem to be working. We trust in the government to provide for our safety, but we must take responsibility among ourselves. To understand that the current system does work and that its intent is not to provide a safe society. History has shown us that. What we have done or continue to do will not make this a safer place to live. The problem is not to reform our prison system, for this won't stop criminals to commit crimes, but to find ways and means to deteriorate them from doing the crime.
Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.
The “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” policies of the 1970s – 1980s have caused an over populated prison system where incarceration is policy and assistance for prevention was placed on the back burner. As of 2005, a little fewer than 2,000 prisoners are being released every day. These individuals have not gone through treatment or been properly assisted in reentering society. This has caused individuals to reenter the prison system after only a year of being release and this problem will not go away, but will get worst if current thinking does not change. This change must be bigger than putting in place some under funded programs that do not provide support. As the current cost of incarceration is around $30,000 a year per inmate, change to the system/procedure must prevent recidivism and the current problem of over-crowed prisons.
With the substantial increase in prison population and various changes that plague correctional institutions, government agencies are finding that what was once considered a difficult task to provide educational programs, inmate security and rehabilitation programs are now impossible to accomplish. From state to state, each correctional organization is coupled with financial problems that have depleted the resources to assist in providing the quality of care in which the judicial system demands from these state and federal prisons. Judges, victims, and prosecuting attorneys entrust that once an offender is turned over to the correctional system, that the offender will receive the punishment imposed by the court, be given services that aid in the rehabilitation of those offenders that one day will be released back into society, and to act as a deterrent to other criminals contemplating criminal acts that could result in their incarceration. Has our nation’s correctional system finally reached it’s critical collapse, and as a result placed American citizens in harm’s way to what could result in a plethora of early releases of inmates to reduce the large prison populations in which independent facilities are no longer able to manage? Could these problems ultimately result in a drastic increase in person and property crimes in which even our own law enforcement is ineffective in controlling these colossal increases in crime against society?
The first issue that I would like to address is the overcrowding issues in prisons. In my opinion, overcrowding issues are the biggest issues in our correctional system that concerns every citizen. Running a prison required money, resources and manpower, with overcrowding issues, the government would have no choice but to increase the number of correctional facilities, privatized prisons and increasing manpower. According to (Levitt, 1996), “The incarceration rate in the United States has more than tripled in the last two decades. At year-end 1994 the United States prison population exceeded one million. Annual government outlays on prisons are roughly $40 billion per year. The rate of imprisonment in the United States is three to four times greater than most European countries.” (p.1). Overcrowding issues are not only affect prisons but the society as a whole as well. The reason is simply because prison population directly refl...
There are certain elements that are covered in the concept of capacity such as mental disorder, intoxication, minors and so on.