The Ethical Dilemma Of The United States

This paper explores several different sources that cover some aspect of how the United States Penal System went from the Rehabilitative Model to a punitive system. Bryan Stevenson and Betsy Matthews have written about how drug enforcement and the “War on Drugs” are responsible. Yeoman Lowbrow’s analysis of the crime rate and statistics will be considered alongside Matthews’ analysis of the different political parties’ changing views. The change in United States sentencing practices as a result will also be considered. In the conclusion a brief summary of a predicted future will be

There are many examples of ethical decisions throughout American history yet few have had a more profound impact on shaping our country then the paths chosen by the American Revolutionaries. Let’s face it, had it not been for their actions our country would probably look much different today. If it were not for the foresight of our founding fathers, men like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, or Thomas Paine (1776), who authored arguably the most compelling piece of political propaganda the world had seen to date, Common Sense. After reading Paine’s work I believe that many of the ideals and philosophies are still relevant in modern society, so much so that I was drawn into the relevance and found myself pondering the moral palaver which

Mass incarceration has been an issue in the United States since the start of the War on Drugs, because of the political agenda attached to the “tough on crime” regimen thousands of people have suffered as a consequence. The solution to this is one that can only be possibly solved by approaching through several angles. The ten steps presented by Michael Tonry, are an innovative and have merit to some extent. However, mass incarceration results from more than unjust sentencing laws, which is his main focus. If ever we are to resolve the issue, society and the criminal justice system must come together to completely reevaluate what we consider to be “tough on crime” and redefine the purpose of prisons, strictly punishment or rehabilitation. The focus has to shift from harsh sentencing, stigma, racial discrimination to a basic form of rehabilitation and reduction of the prison system in general. The criminal justice system has to do what they are actually meant to do and focus on rehabilitation measures, and when possible completely stop interaction with the prison system all together.

Longer sentences has been a major cause of mass incarceration. Thus, changing how governments respond to all crime, not just drug crime, is critical to reducing the size of prison

There are many ethical dilemmas that occur daily in our hospitals across the world. Not everyone agrees with standards and policies that are required in hospitals or even with the law. If not everyone obeys the law, ethical cases form. In Springfield, Missouri, a holistic nurse got fired for fighting against Cox South hospital policies. Carla Brock has been a nurse at Cox South hospital and not only refused the flu shot, but also refused to wear a mask. She refused due to religious beliefs, she gets short of breath while wearing the mask, and she feels the mask is meant to intimidate and humiliate those who refuse the shot. The ethical question in this case study is to decide if Carla should have been fired for not wearing a mask after refusing the flu shot and what are other potential proposals. The four-way method will separate out what are the truths, consequences, fairness, and character, of this ethical case study.

Laws like three strikes, mandatory minimum sentencing, powder and crack cocaine disparities, and others, must be eradicated. The prisons are overfilled with non-violent, victimless offenders living environments that are overcrowded, in poor condition, and exploitive of prisoners’ lack of basic rights. This is neither conducive to the betterment of prisoners, nor the improvement of their life trajectories once they leave. Additionally, most drug laws produce racially disparate outcomes, furthering stereotypes and the inherent criminalization of men of color. In the long run, America must move toward alternative sentencing programs for low-level and non-violent offenders that issue penalties that are actually proportionate with real public safety

On the fateful May day of 1846, America, under President James Polk, declared war on Mexico. By the end of the war in 1848, Mexico lost nearly almost half its territory to the United States. Do you think this was justified? Taking another’s land through 2 long years of war? Is it worth it? I believe that Polk and Congress’s decision was wrongful for the following reasons: Polk had provoked war, [American but Amerishouldn’t] and finally the United States was committing a robbery by stealing Texas.

For many years now, the criminal justice system has become stricter, causing more and more people to be arrested and sentenced to prison. As prisons become more occupied, the living conditions, health, and treatment of prisoners starts to deteriorate, which has become a trend over the last few decades. However, President Obama has noticed this prison environment and has taken a stand in saying that something needs to be done about it. Though many people would argue that prison reform is unnecessary because prisoners deserve to be treated poorly, there is sufficient evidence that shows that the current conditions end up doing more harm mentally and physically to the

Where has our war on drugs gotten us thus far? Currently, nearly 500,000 Americans are incarcerated for drug law violations, a ten-fold increase in two decades. The overall inmate population has quadrupled to nearly 2 million arrests for drug law violations and continues to rise. The vast majority of these arrests are for simple possession. (Crime in The United States, Uniform Crime Reports, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999.) Personally, three convicted drug-users have shared their battle with addiction with me; the results of these conversations were far from optimistic. Of the two who have become reformed drug-users, a constant battle is being waged, it can only be said that jail terms served irrelevant in

Currently there are over 1.5 million individuals in the United States that are behind bars. The highest population of incarcerated individuals in the world. Since the passing of the War on Drugs and Crime under President Nixon the rate at which individuals especially African Americans are incarcerated has dramatically increased. 1 in 3 African American males are expected to be incarcerated at sometime within their lifetime. With the War on Drugs and different acts such as mandatory minimums and three strike policies in place the rate at which people are incarcerated will continue increasing at alarming rates. This paper will further explore these issues and ways in which this issue can be solved.

Hopefully this will help break the cycle of drug use, crime, and incarceration. The Obama Administration is taking action to provide a balanced approach on. how to addresses the Nation’s drug problem and the effects on its communities. According to Abramsky (2009), the Obama administration is moving away from a ‘tough on crime’ strategy and toward one that favors treatment over punishment.

The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Civil Rights Activist, Thurgood Marshall, once said that the ‘intent is evident in the results’ to mean ‘when we intend to do good, we do, [and] when we intend to do harm, it happens… our intent always comes through’. Former President Bill Clinton said that he didn’t intend to cause an increase in prison expansion, yet, under his administration ‘the incarcerated population rose from 1.3 million to more than 2 million’ (Kilgore 66). In 8 years, the Clinton administration managed to increase ‘federal, state, and local corrections expenditures…[to] $57 billion a year’ (Kilgore 32). His administration also implemented the Omnibus Crime Bill and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 which ‘cut the rights and opportunities for people with felony convictions’ (Kilgore 32) and ended the welfare assistance that once existed. None of these actions actually brought about the safety of U.S. citizens, because at the time of Bill Clinton’s presidency, crime rates were decreasing. Yet, despite this downward trend in prison population rates the Clinton administration ‘enacted notoriously harsh narcotics penalties in the … three-strikes legislation in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and more capital crimes with fewer appeals in the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 and the

President Obama made headlines in January when he granted clemency to roughly 2000 inmates, mostly convicted of drug-possession crimes, The clemency pardoned the prisoners from their mandatory minimums in an effort to rebuild their lives. Mandatory minimums are the required amount of time that convicted felons have to serve for the crime they are guilty of, which is influenced by the type and frequency of the crime. Obama’s action is representative of the increasing criticism of mandatory minimums, due to the belief that instead of creating a safer landscape, the minimums only increase prison populations. Mandatory minimums are detrimental due to their influence on society’s perception of prisoners, psychological toll on prisoners, and destruction of prisoners’ relationships; many propose alternatives to the mandatory minimum such as restoring sentencing power to judges and creating rehabilitation programs as an alternative to minimum sentencing.

The United States of America is a country home to a population of nearly 320 million people, far from the staggering 1.4 billion in China, or 1.3 billion in India. However, our country is leading in incarceration rates with a total of over 2.2 million incarcerated citizens, even over those countries with populations several times larger than ours. Many would be shocked that our “great” country is the home to so many “criminals”, but in actuality, many imprisoned citizens are victims of our judicial system. Overincarceration in the US is an issue that has plagued our society since the “War on Drugs” beginning in 1971. With beaming support from the country and government, president Richard Nixon introduced the policy that would place standard sentencing guidelines for many drug and cartel related crimes. These policies came to be known as “mandatory minimums”.

Obama also saw inequality in the United States justice system. He noticed that the number of mass incarceration for petty crimes was out of hand. In 2014, Obama began a mercy plan that reduced the sentences of mostly nonviolent drug offenders (PBS). For example, Norman Brown was in prison for 24.5 year for distribution of drugs; because this was his third strike that meant life without Parole (PBS). His sentence was cruel considering his reason for conviction because of outdated drug penalties. Obama not only granted Mr. Brown's petition for release but he granted 1,324 other ones and shortened the sentences of 1,176 (PBS). "By exercising these presidential powers, I have the chance to show people what a second chance can look like"(PBS).