Debtors Prison: A Case Study

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

“Americans cannot be imprisoned for debt,” is a statement that I am sure most of the public believes is true, while people who are more knowledgeable of criminal justice know it is untrue. The statement is true due to there being no explicit law stating that Americans in debt must be imprisoned. There are currently no laws in place that specifically target indebted citizens for imprisonment. Debtors’ prisons were banned in 1833, and the practice of imprisoning someone due to debt is a civil-rights violation. In 1983 this decision was upheld when incarcerating debtors was determined to be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause (Hager, 2015).

State run jail are one of the three local control of jails alternatives. State run is an operated jail system that is ran in four states such as Vermont, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. These four states have full operational responsibility for jails. This is for the exception of Alaska and five locally operated jails. Cooperative regional arrangements is local control of jails that focus more on the local or state control. The states that was the first to adopt the regional jails are Virginia, North Dakota, West Virginia, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. The arrangements takes place when jurisdiction is willing to contact with neighboring cities and countries to discuss the housing of prisoners. If the government decides that no

Within this paper, you will find a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They return for the same things that they were doing before. So, this leads us to ask what exactly are we doing wrong? When this happens, we as a nation must continuously pay to house and feed these inmates. The purpose of a prison needs to be examined so we can decide if we really are reforming our inmates, or just continuing a vicious cycle. What is the true purpose of prison besides just holding them in a cell? There must be more we can do for these hopeless members of society.

Defendant Smith has been arrested for possession of enough ecstasy for two hits and has admitted to using alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana in the past. Clearly this indicates that he has a drug problem. However, he has no prior criminal record, has held down a job in construction for the past two years, and has a child for whom he must pay child support. He has fallen behind as of late and may be tied to his drug abuse, for which he has never received counseling or treatment. Give that he has never received treatment, has a job, and a child to support, I would recommend that he be placed into a Drug Court Program.

Nowadays, when criminals are being convicted for acts like murder and other high terror threats, courts and jurors usually try to figure out if there’s a mental problem or disorder that contributes to the criminal’s reasoning. The history and transformation of American prisons since the eighteenth century has widely shaped the conception that an inmate’s sanity and their wellbeing should be taken into account with prison placement. The first prisons, realizations and shifts in the system throughout time, as well as the shift in thought have all contributed to this idea. Although, not all criminal’s mental health has a direct correlation to their crimes, the two go hand and hand when thinking about the incarcerated as a whole.

America loves to claim they`re the beacon of freedom throughout the world and yet ironically, it has the highest prison population in the world. According the ACLU, America, which only makes up 5% of the world’s populace, holds nearly 25% of the world’s inmates, surpassing Russia. This doesn`t add up when compared to the statistics. If crime rate is at a low, why is the prison population so high? What is contributing to the mass incarceration across the nation? Well, with the evidence presented, it would appear that the private sector is the main contributor to this new American pandemic and more specifically, the privatization of prisons

The American Prison System For years the American Prison System has had many problems. Two of the main problems that we face with the American Prison System are overcrowding of the jails and the way the inmates are treated. There has also been a problem with the joint planning and budgeting among the different agencies of the American Prison System. According to the textbook (Abadinsky, 2015), when this occurs, the system is known to not be systematic.

One simple question asked by many familiar with the American prison system is “Is it Effective?” The word effectiveness can take on many meanings such as cost effective or effective in reducing recidivism. Recidivism, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the “tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially: relapse into criminal behavior”. In the United States, the time of relapse into criminal behavior has been measured by as much as 8 years by the Bureau of Justice. It is the belief of many professionals and experts that American prisons are both cost-ineffective, and ineffective in reducing recidivism rates. The focus of American prisons and justice system is primarily to punish the criminal.

What do we do as a society if we no longer had prisons in the United States? This idea appears radical to me, because of the way I have been taught by society that we depend on prisons to function as a society. In Angela Davis book she disagrees, stating that we could function without prisons as long as there is something to replace it. In the book she states,” we would try to envision a continuum of alternatives to imprisonment- demilitarization of schools, revitalization of education of all levels…” (Davis, 1385). There have been arguments that our current education system is very reminiscent of the prison system, in particular with low income schools that require armed security. Davis argument is to end that, and produce a new invigorated

Presently, there are seven privately run prisons in Florida. These corporations make donations to campaigns to increase the possibility of them winning the contract. For instance, the Geo Group donated 25,000 to Governor Rick Scott’s Inauguration festivities. In addition, Geo Group and Core Civic donated $2 million to various candidates and political parties.

This study explores patterns of educational engagement among formerly incarcerated young men. Among the three individuals that where interview prior to attending any transitional housing 100% of the interviewees where completing their high school diploma/ GED within the Los Angeles area. The process reflected below, looks at the question, post college admissions, what are some of the acclimation challenges that minority males who were previously former juvenile offender face when trying to obtain a degree in higher education? The emerging themes derived were:

The United States has reached a state of emergency in dealing with the opioid crisis. Change needs to occur by decriminalizing all drugs. Decriminalization would look like reducing prison time as well as expunging the criminal record of a minimal offender, the money that was previously used on jail would now be used on rehabilitation. This hopeful policy will be brought to the institutional level of the state, also known as the state legislature. The policy would be important to bring to this level because the state has the power to reduce jail time for drug crimes, as well as change drug felonies to misdemeanors*. A recent example of this state power has been seen in Oregon. Starting in July 2017 the state reduced jail

Abstract: In 2006, long-term forecasts indicated that Washington faced the need to construct several new prisons in the following two decades. Since new prisons are costly, the Washington legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to project whether there are “evidence-based” options that can reduce the future need for prison beds, save money for state and local taxpayers, and contribute to lower crime rates. The institute conducted a systematic review of all research evidence that could be located to determine what works, if anything, to reduce crime. We found and analyzed 545 comparison-group evaluations of adult corrections, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs. We then estimated the benefits and costs

Throughout research financial adversities has been found as the most predominant theme among prisoners families (Light & Campbell, 2006, Middleton, 2005, p.6, Piachard, 2005, p.6, Braman, 2002, Phillips et al., 2006, Smith, 2008, Smith, 2007, Social Exclusion Unit, 2002, Comfort, 2007, Murray, 2005, Arditti, 2003, Geller, Garkinkel & Western, 2011). Many partners of prisoners find themselves in overwhelming financial hardships (Light & Campbell, 2006). Research has suggested multiple reasons for this occurrence. Light & Campbell (2006), report that some partners may be inexperienced managing finances due to the prisoner handling all financial affairs prior to the incarceration. As money is often seen as a sensitive