Prisoner's Rights In America

Whenever you imagine prison, you think up ideas and violent images that you have seen in the movies or on TV.   Outdated clichés consisting of men eating stale bread and drinking dirty water are only a small fraction of the number of horrible, yet “just” occurrences which are stereotypical of everyday life in prison.   Perhaps it could be a combination of your upbringing, horrific ideas about the punishment which our nation inflicts on those who violate its’ more serious laws that keeps people frightened just enough to lead a law-abiding life. Despite it’s success in keeping dangerous offenders off the streets, the American prison system fails in fulfilling its original design of restoring criminals to being productive members of society, it is also extremely expensive and wastes our precious tax dollars.

Those criminals need to be corrected and helped, and then brought back into their societies and Imprisonment is thus not meant to be an avenue for inhumane treatment for members of the community who err in their behavior.

It is interesting to see how our prison came about. Through the years and centuries we have been trying to find the right way to deal with criminals. Yes, criminals where dealt with brutally and maybe too brutal for the crimes committed. Today someone can commit murder and get 25 years. I don't feel that during these 25 years the criminal will really get reformed. How many prisoners get out of prison and go back to society as normal people. It seems to me that they usually have been in prison for so many years they have trouble going back to society. The only way they know how to live is how they lived in prison. In prison they get a bed to sleep in, food and clothing and they don't have to work hard for it. So they are quick to commit another crime to go back there. Seeing this happen over and over I feel that you really can't reform our prisoners or the prisons they are locked up in. In Prays essay we

“Crime control view: Inmates are criminals who have harmed others and must be made to pay for their misdeeds. Convicted criminals have, by definition, forfeited their right to freedom and liberty. The suffering they endure in confinement serves to deter future criminal behaviors. The fewer rights inmates have, the greater the deterrent effect of punishment.” (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 209)

In the book Mass Incarceration on trial, we learn about the difficulties that the country faces now with the huge amount of prisoners the United States have today. Jonathan Simon discusses several decisions including Brown v. Plata, a case that explains that California abuses the cap of the prisoner it holds and how it was ruled unconstitutional, and Madrid v. Gomez, where they find the 8th amendment being violated in the prison system. Our prison system has been a disaster throughout the last several years and our human rights have been violated for many years as well. Simon explains throughout the book that instead of putting people in jail and making more prisons we should look at ways to keep people out of jail, which could save taxpayers plenty of money over time. Our country carries the most incarcerated individuals, more people than even China whose population is three times ours. The United States has been building more prisons than even schools for various years and every time they build a prison it seems to be over crowd within a few year this book also talks about how we should approach in different methods and the way we treat our inmates in our country. Inmates are also exposed to various disease and with very little options for treatment, this disease can sometimes be passed through drugs or tattoos which are very common in prisons. Prisoners have rights and they are not being treated like humans Simons defends their rights and studies the pros and cons very in

At one point the United States Court System paid no attention to inmate complaints and concerns. However, that changed when the Supreme Court took an interest in prisoner litigations. Lawmakers finally began to see inmates as American citizens who still were afforded certain liberties according to the United States Constitution. Once perspectives began to change about the prisoners and their rights, petitions addressing the violations of inmate’s civil liberties started to flood into the courts. The American court system is aware that prisoners do have some rights, but they would naturally be fewer than free citizens (Carlson & Garrett, 2008). The limitation of rights is mandatory to sustain security in prisons or jails. The federal government stepped in and

Prisoner: On an international level, a globally accepted definition for a prisoner is one who is, “a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody;” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Equalizing the constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the jail or prison can create great strain on not only the correctional facilities’ staff but on the inmates as well. The treatment of prisoners is typically left completely to the prudence of prison administrators and other correctional officials. With that being said, this paper will discuss the differences between harmonizing those constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the facility. It will also explain the rights that prisoners are required to have, and how these rights are balanced within other aspects of the correctional institution.

Life is something we all have the opportunity to experience and live the way we want. We are exposed to choices we can make, some being good and some having a negative effect on our life. We are the ones who put these consequences in our life based on the choices we make everyday. No one in life tells you what you can and cannot do and when you make a bad choice it is 100% on yourself. Yes, there are people around us who influence these choices, but in the end the decision made is solely based on what you chose to do. This is why I don’t think California should grant medical parole to inmates in state prisons because it might actually save the government money, prisoners should be held accountable, they need to face consequences, shouldn’t be given the pleasure to leave jail early and we would have a felon the street. I believe these people are there because of something they did wrong and will have to face the consequences for the bad choice they made and if that means suffering; that is their own fault. I think prisoners already receive too good of benefits while serving their term in jail. They have a bed to sleep on, a shower with hot water, games to play, gyms and hot meals three times a day. All of these things are at the expense of the taxpayer. The victims and their families' feelings should also be considered.

Prison life can be harsh, and time spent in a isolation is even worse. A majority of those in prison spend countless hours in idleness. It would be much better if they used that time to reeducate themselves for a productive life on the outside. Some of the prisoners have serious emotional and mental problems that are never addressed and it is illogical to not attempt to correct these problems before they are released.

The issues in the US prisons. There is a lot of them one is the private prisons that cost more to run then a public one. The food is another very big issue. The amount of people in their for the little things. These are the major issues.

Although inmates may not have full Constitutional rights while incarcerated, they are entitled to basic human rights, freedom and dignity. U.S. penal systems have been reformed at the beginning of the 1960’s. The reason for this reformation is to prevent inhumane treatment, provide inmates with religious freedom, and due process (Smith, 2010). The U.S. Supreme Court

Inmates have right just as any other citizen would but with a few restrictions. They get rights as citizens and rights as human beings. They have rights as citizens such as right to free speech, and due process. As humans they have right as health care which the government has the reasonability to provide those services. They have the right to religion, adequate care, personal property, and adequate medical care.

When you think of sending some one away for a wrong they committed against society and/or the too often used term “humanity”, we expect them to be locked away for a period of time then get out a changed man or woman. But think of it this way. When a dog has an accident on the carpet, you toss it into its kennel, and then let it out ten minutes later, yet the dog has another accident on the carpet a week later. Same goes for these criminals. Why would they change, when thrown in jail for a crime they committed. Many times when a person is sent away to a prison or jail they have that internal want or need to defend themselves or push every one away. So how would this help by tossing these people in a cage. Now don’t get me wrong I’m a huge

I think the treatment of prisoners should also be reconsidered. I think that they deserve more time outside of their cells. Inmates only get a certain amount of time outside which I think is entirely unfair. I also think that their visitation rights should be reconsidered. As of right now they are only aloud to talk to their visitors over a telephone. What if they have been in prison for years? I think they should get to physically visit with their visitors and not just talk over a phone. Prisoners do have the constitutional right to enjoy contact visits and I think that this should be reconsidered and changed.