Life In Prison Analysis

This book is about a man who changed his whole life in prison. The author’s purpose for this book is to inform. He wrote this book for a young adult audience. I know this because I found it in the young adults section in the library, also because some events in this story aren’t meant for children to be reading. For example you wouldn’t read a book about someone selling, transporting, and smoking hash, which is a drug to a child. I chose this book because I needed a short nonfiction book to read, so that I could complete this book report.

As I sat and began reading Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption, I was flabbergasted by the subject matter and storytelling. I had never heard of the book before in my life, but as I read the description on Google and other sites, I expected a book dominated by prejudice and hostility, but as I began to read, even with a biased mindset I was amusingly surprised. I found myself observed in the epic retelling of justice, hatred, love and the power of forgiveness. In the book, two different people, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton have their lives thrown together into a mixer of stout confusion and emotion leading to Ronald Cotton going to prison for the rape of Jennifer Thompson, a rape he didn’t commit. I found the topic of the book to be sort of difficult to process due to the reality in it, a reality of both rape and wrongful imprisonment (especially of blacks), both things that are unfortunately highly prevalent in our society, yet seem to be ignored as our culture does not wish to deal with them. In the book the respective perspectives of both Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson are given as they describe how the trial changed their lives forever.

Lets take a minute to delve into the demographics of incarcerated prisoners today. According to Schmalleger, in 2012, 93% of all prisoners were male, with females picking up the remaining 7%; this is a 3% increase from 1980. 35% of all prisoners are white, 38% are black, and 21% are Hispanic (Schmalleger, 2015). Approximately two-thirds of prison inmates are between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. Why are women and minorities being incarcerated? Well, to be perfectly blunt, they broke the law. The last time I took a gander at old Lady Justice, she was wearing a blindfold; she doesn't care about your color, sex. or religion, she cares about justice. But since I am sure that is not the answer anybody is looking for on here, I'll play along.

The main idea and subject of this article is that parents with unjust harsh punishment techniques cause present and future issues for their children. The article discusses poverty stricken families have harsher techniques in parenting when compared to middle and higher classes. “...parents who live in poverty treat their children harshly more often, researchers say” (Inquirer 1). These punishments may have more than just some tears or a temporary wound. “When parents are too consistently harsh, their children's brains release stress chemicals…these chemicals are released when a person is in danger. These chemicals are toxic, or poisonous, to developing brains.

In 1973, New York State passed the first harshest statewide anti-drug law in the country. Named after New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the Rockefeller Drug laws required a mandatory lengthy prison sentences for all felony-level drug and possession offenses. The intent of lengthy prison sentence was meant to deter drug abuse and drug crimes. Between 1970s and 2000s, the Prison population tripled from 11 percent (12,579) in 1973 to almost 35 percent (70,154) in 2008 (DCJS, 2011; Feinblatt, Berman & Foxx, 2000). The overcrowding of prison in response to drug-related crime created a new opportunity for reformers to find alternative ways in treating drug offenders instead of placing them in prison. As drug courts began to grow exponentially during the 1990s, advocacy groups led the charge in coordinating efforts to lobby efforts in reforming the Rockefeller sentencing. In 2009, under Governor Paterson, the State legislature enacted legislation that shifted away from mass incarceration towards a public health model.

In the article "Prison Conditions for death row and life without parole imates," it includes different facts about how much money the government is actually spending on inmates in prisons. Article also includes the differences between death row inmates and life without parole inmates. For example, "Death row inmates have to eat meals alone in their cells, while life without parole inmates eat in the chew hall, or in a day room. "The article also hits keen aspects of the different lifestyles of life without parole inmates and death row inmates. Another example of this would be that life without parole inmates have more access to not be isolated and more access to more privileges rather than death row inmates.

The Federal Bureau of Prison; as of February, 2010, recorded a growing number of 95,165 nonviolent drug offenders incarcerated in a single month (Federal Bureau of Prisons 2015). Currently those punished for drug offenses are not receiving the effective recovery assistance needed to be successfully placed back in the community without relapse. Negative reinforcement like prison time, will not work for nonviolent offenders. Rehabilitation and treatment provides better recidivism rates, allow the offender to lead a more productive life, and prove to be financially cost effective to tax payers.

The United States prison system is an institution which has undergone dramatic changes in its history, from being a short detention center between a criminal and their true punishment, to what was thought to be a place for wayward souls to be rehabilitated through isolation, hard work, and religious repentance so they could reenter society without committing crimes again, to a place of overcrowded conditions, corruption, and prisoner abuse that existed solely for the sake of punishment. Since the prison system reached that point, there have been numerous attempted reforms of the system, and while they all ultimately failed at their goal of completely overhauling the system, they have all at least partly contributed to what we see in the United

Adjusting to life after incarceration can be a very long and difficult process to overcome. There are many obstacles people face when returning home for the first time in years. Most people generally come home to nothing and have to try to make a life out of it. As an ex-con you face stigma, lack of opportunities and the constant risk of recidivism. Recidivism is the ongoing cycle of incarceration. You continue to be in and out of prison because you cannot successfully re-transition into society. This topic is worth investigating because recidivism is a current problem in the United States and it usually takes place because the justice system fails to prepare their inmates for what life will be like. Rehabilitation is key and because there is a lack of that there is a lack of success in offenders returning home. Young adults should be aware of recidivism because they can easily be sucked into the system and this can happen to them. They can find themselves in a position where they end up in prison and fall victim to recidivism. Questions that will guide this research include:

What is the main goal that our jail system is trying to portray? The majority would have the urge to speak that the purpose of the system is to punish, target, and make an example out of those who have committed crimes. The most important purpose of prison systems should be to rehabilitate criminals into the public so prisons can have a life changing attitude towards the men or women that have reentered in the public. Utilizing discipline to restore a criminal is similar to punishing a child for been bad in school. Every discipline action is to resolve just the manifestations, however the problem is still in existence and crime must be eliminated by destroying the main cause.

a reception and classification process. This process evaluates the inmate's case file to see where they should be sent. This process can take up to 120 days. The committee members that evaluate the files try to place an inmate in a facility near their family but that is not always possible. During this process and inmate is also unable to receive any phone calls or packages. However, they are able to receive letters and writing supplies. They are also eligible for visitation from family and friends after a certain number of days and if they are behaving well. After the process is completed they are given an overall score. This score determines the security level

Who is someone close to you? Someone you could not imagine living life without. What would you do if all of a sudden they were convicted of a crime they did not commit? On top of that, what if they were put on death row for 18 years only to be later found not guilty? Well, take that horrific image and make it into reality because for Damien Echols this was his reality. It was 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas when three teenagers; Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were all convicted of the murder and sexual mutilation of three eight-year-old boys. Due to their appearance and the widespread fear of rock music having relations with satanic worship, they were prime suspects in their small town.

Are young offenders truly deserving of life sentences in prison? There are many people who advocate the idea that JLWOP (Juvenile Life Without Parole) should end and underage children deserve a chance to prove they can change. These supporters argue that these kids are still maturing and putting them in prison robs them of the chance to turn their lives around. Meanwhile, there are those who believe that, in some cases, it is necessary to put them behind bars for life. Because these offenders should face the consequences for the wrongdoing, the sentence of life without parole for juveniles is fair in some scenarios.

Prisons have four purposes; retribution, incapaciation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against society. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay a debt to society for their crimes. Incapacitation refers to the removal of criminals from society so that they can no longer harm innocent people. Deterrence means the prevention of future crime. It is hoped that prisons provide warnings to people thinking about committing crimes, and that the possibility of going to prison will discourage people from breaking the law. Rehabilitation refers to activities designed to change criminals into law abiding citizens, and may include providing educational courses

The good guards failed to reject orders given by the tough guards as the good guards appreciated the importance of harmony amongst them. By countering the bad guards, the good guards would have caused a loophole that would have affected their own safety as well as that of the prisoners.