The Growing Problems of the Prison System

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Mr. Governor, there are many ways to reduce the current problem of prison overcrowding; unfortunately many of them are not popular as they are seen as being soft on crime and as we both know that is not favorably looked upon. Some of the options would provide a temporary decongestion of the prisons while others would be a more long term reduction in inmate populations. After reviewing I believe that there are a few that we could possibly accomplish and still portray an acceptable persona to the public. These few include reviewing the mandatory sentencing laws, education opportunities, good time credits earning, conditional release of elderly inmates, foreign national occupation and after prison employment incentives.
Traditionally judges were allowed to weigh the facts of a case when determining sentencing, but since the passing of the mandatory sentencing laws judges no longer have any discretion in these matters. It was believed that the mandatory sentencing would catch the upper end of those in the drug trade and discourage others from starting to participate in it. Unfortunately it catches mostly lower level individuals and has not discouraged people from the use or selling of drugs, leaving judges caught with imposing penalties that many of them have come to resent. These penalties are stiff, mandated by Congress and are tied to the type and weight of the drug as well as if there was a firearm (legal or not) present, most of the entry level sentences are five to 10 years. Another problem with the mandatory sentencing is there are only two ways to reduce or avoid it. First is to implement another person or in some way provide “substantial assistance” to the government. The second way is a safety valve which has such a ...

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...: the mass incarceration of the elderly. (2012, June). American civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/elderlyprisonreport_20120613_1.pdf
FAMM. (1997). Mandatory sentencing was once America’s law-and-order panacea. here’s why it’s not working. Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Retrieved from http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/famm/Primer.pdf
Davis, L. M., Bozick, R., Steele, J. L., Saunders, J., & Miles, J. N. V. (2013 ). Evaluating the effectiveness of correctional education a meta-analysis of programs that provide education to incarcerated adults. In J. N. V. Miles (Ed.), Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR200/RR266/RAND_RR266.pdf
Petrella, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nationofchange.org/10-ways-reduce-our-out-control-prison-population-1348927431

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