The Incarceration Of The United States

Bryan Stevenson was a lawyer based out of Montgomery, Alabama. He helped many of these people get an honest, fair sentence. Through the publication of his book, he has educated many on the reality of our prison systems in America. He shares his firsthand accounts of children being charged as adults, innocent men being charged for crimes they had clearly not had any involvement with, and women living in poverty being charged with murder for burying their stillborn children. All of these cases had one thing in common: poverty.

Once upon a time, Americans could proudly say that America was the land of freedom and opportunity. As the Pledge of Allegiance states, “One nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” However, under the current criminal justice system, more and more people lose their liberties because of the crimes they have committed. According to Roy Walmsley, a consultant of the United Nations and Associate of the International Center for prison studies, “In October 2013, the incarceration rate of the United States of America was the highest in the world, at 716 per 100,000 of the national population. While the United States represent about 4.4 percent of the world 's population, it houses

In the book he says “Of course innocent mistakes occur but the accumulated insults and indignations caused by racial presumptions are destructive in ways that are hard to measure. Constantly being suspected, accused, watched, doubted, distrusted, presumed guilty, and even feared is a burden born by people of color that can't be understood or confronted without a deeper conversation about our history of racial injustice.” While I agree with equal justice, the cause that Stevenson stands for, I believe that Stevenson’s deep sense of dedication to helping those that are unequipped to help themselves stems from his unique experiences as a poor black youth, which may also serve to taint his perception of justice. Although I do believe that “It is better that ten guilty persons shall go free than one innocent person should suffer” as we argued in discussion 3.1, I do not believe that once someone has been found guilty of certain heinous crimes they shouldn’t be able to get their sentence reduced or even be released based on a technicality (requirement of the law) due to improper procedure or unamended statute.

Mass Incarceration is a huge problem in United States culture. No other country in the world incarcerates its population the way that America does. “The U.S. incarcerates more people than any country in the world – both per capita and in terms of total people behind bars. The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet it has almost 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population.” Worse yet the majority of the incarcerated individuals belong to a minority group despite not participating in illegal activity any more frequently than their white counterparts. Is the United States criminal justice system racist and if so what is the cause behind this racism. After the end of slavery, many southern black Americans traveled to the north to escape endless violence and discrimination. In the south they could only find low paying field jobs whereas in the northern cities there were steady factory jobs promised as well as the hope that discrimination could be escaped. The northerners while against slavery were not egalitarian and were not in favor of hoards of black Americans surging into their cities and taking jobs away from the white working poor. The need for social control by white Americans only grew with the population of black Americans living in the cities and working in the factories. The rhetoric of “law and order” first came about in the late 1950s as white opposition to the Civil Rights Movement was encouraged by southern governors and law enforcement.

Bryan Stevenson’s 2014 book, Just Mercy, is about “getting closer to mass incarceration and extreme punishment in America” (Stevenson, 2014, p.14). Stevenson focuses mainly on blatant racism and classism in the poor south by detailing a case he worked on during the 1980s. Throughout the book, Stevenson also analyzes the discrimination poor women, children, and mentally ill people face that often lands them on death row. The 2015 article “U.S. Education: Still Separate and

The Walter McMillian, Joe Sullivan, and George Daniel cases all have a lasting impact on Bryan Stevenson and his novel, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. The underlying theme found in each case is that of being wrongly convicted of a crime. Unlike many of Stevenson’s cases, these three end positively - with either a lesser sentence, or the removal from prison. These accomplishments, however, took much time and effort due to the differing factors of each case, making them unique and one of a kind. Nonetheless, all three cases share one common detail, Bryan Stevenson and his practice, the Equal Justice Initiative, work to help these men gain the freedom that was stolen from them.

There are always two sides to an argument, but different people have different opinions on which side is right and wrong; as a result, we can compare a debate or argument as of a coin, due to the fact that it has two sides. When it comes to the topic of judicial system in America, most of us will readily agree that it needs to be reformed. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of who will step forward and make changes to the court system. Whereas some are convinced that no one is going to do anything about it, others maintain that the government will be the savior by making the changes. In the introduction of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice And Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson -an American lawyer, social justice activist, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law- Stevenson emphasizes that people are not being treated fairly in the judicial system of America. The book was written to give readers a close up look on mass incarceration and extreme punishment given in America. Convincing the readers is not easy, except if the author uses strategic techniques such as ethos, pathos, and logos. It is even more tough if the topic is sensitive and debatable as this one. Stevenson used these three techniques in a variety of different ways to convince the readers.

Stevenson becomes largely aware of all of the injustices, specifically all the racial injustices that occur within the prisons and specifically within death row. This injustice that occurs within death row is saddening to observe, especially when it comes down to ending one’s life. Stevenson reminds his audience that everyone makes mistakes and deserves mercy because no one is perfect, however every life has value. His most prevailing case of this is the Walter McMillian case. At this time in 1980s, Alabama has the fastest growing prison population. Stevenson therefore spends much of his time in Alabama for the defense of McMillian as he is accused of murder and an alleged drug lord and rapist. With the defense of Walter’s community on his side along with his connection with EJI (Equal Justice Initiative), Stevenson was determined to

There are over two million people in the United States behind bars. Incarceration in the US is one of the main forms of punishment that leads nothing after for people when getting out. Every state, city, country, all have laws we citizens obey and go by to do best for our country, but what happens someone violates the law? According to Google’s definition of a felony, it says that felony means, “a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death”. Getting caught by the law, being arrested, doing time in jail makes you automatically a felon once your name is in the system. What’s promised after being in jail is something no one should experience. With this in mind, people’s human rights are being taken away from the minute their hands and arms are behind in cuffs. For this reason, what our human rights mean is, “The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are considered to be entitled, often held to include the rights to life, liberty, equality, and a fair trial,freedom from slavery and torture, and freedom of thought and expression” ( Houghton Mifflin).

Preamble: Whereas at this time, many of the incarcerated men, women, and children of our great nation are not sufficiently educated to be employed by the various corporations in the United States of America. To further develop the potential workforce of America, these incarcerated peoples should become proficient in the reading and writing of the English language. This in turn will help reduce the tax rates of the Federal Bureau of Prisons by lessening the amount of people imprisoned. According to the article Educated Prisoners are Less Likely to Return to Prison found in the Journal of Correctional Education, the prisoners who undergo an educational program during their incarceration are far less likely to return than prisoners who did not received any education during their confinement. In the state of Ohio, the total rate of recidivism (an inmate 's relapse back into criminal behavior after they received sanctions or underwent an intervention for a previous crime) was 40 percent while the prisoners who had completed an academic program during imprisonment had an overall rate of 18 percent. When the recidivism rate is lowered, these aforementioned correctional education programs produce hundreds of millions of dollars worth of savings annually for the country. Additionally, the education of the incarcerated peoples of America will increase the national literacy rate and promote the general welfare of the country.

Incarceration rates in the United States, and closer to home – in Ohio, have been rising at astonishing rates over the last 20 years. Rising incarceration rates stem from increased sentencing of non-violent crimes, little attention to rehabilitation within most prison walls, and extremely high recidivism rates. The problem of the increasing prison population touches many areas of our society – from reduced workforce to increased state funding for prisons to the adverse effects on children growing up in single-parent households – but has received little public or political attention. Looking at this issue from a social capital standpoint it is important to understand that “social capital keeps bad things from happening to good kids” and then applying this to communities with many families affected by having a member in the penal system (Putnam 296). The rate of recidivism is also increasingly high and an area that must be addressed to move forward in a productive way to ending this problem. When looking at data provided by Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the current penal population is almost 50,000 individuals (49,789 as of 11/13/2012) (DRC). The average cost of keeping a non-violent offender in prison is approximately $26,000 per year (CEPR). Calculations based on these estimates show that incarceration is costing Ohio approximately $1.3 billion each year. With such a financial burden on Ohio, it is time that this issue was taken seriously and actively

Stevenson will reference other people and describes the crimes they had committed with the sentence they were given. These cases were, explained through Stevenson, examples of how our legal system holds corrupt individuals of that profession as well as the use of improper sentencing to those wrongfully convicted of the crimes they have and or haven’t done. Throughout the book we can see what Stevenson endures within his work life and social life. He encountered a confrontation with white police officers which then shined light on how the African American race were being treated based off their race which correlated to a specific stereotype. As an audience, we were left in the end with an understanding of how the McMillian case impacted Bryan Stevenson for the better and the worst.

Our incarceration system once pursued two firm yet opposing goals: retribution and rehabilitation. The Age of Enlightenment spurred an influx of imprisonment ideologies that soon congealed into a justifiable approach towards criminals. Jails, workhouses, and prisons aimed to reintegrate lawbreakers back into society but not before they were punished. The precarious balance between such contradictory motives unfortunately proved impossible. When did this system, once considered virtuous and just, become the hallmark of inequality? On September 27th, 2015, Pope Francis reflected upon this fact during a visit to a Philadelphia jail, “It is painful when we see prison systems, which are not concerned to care for wounds, to soothe pain, to offer new possibilities.” This moving sentiment resonated with the American population, the majority failing to realize that one third of the world 's female prison population is incarcerated in the United States. If the magnitude of that figure does not astound you, maybe the fact that every 1 in 15 American prisoners are black, while only 1 in 106 prisoners are white, will. These statistics, reported by Harper’s Index, quantify the blatant corruption of the American incarceration system and the institutionalized racism America has sustained throughout it’s short life in places where we may not have suspected.

Indeed, once upon a time the incarceration system was set in place with two firm duties: retribution and rehabilitation. When did these institutions, once considered virtuous and just, become the hallmark of inequality? On September 27th, 2015, Pope Francis remarked on a visit to a Philadelphia jail “It is painful when we see prison systems, which are not concerned to care for wounds, to soothe pain, to offer new possibilities,” a moving sentiment that would soon resonate with the American population. Unbeknownst to many listening to his gripping words, ⅓ of the world 's female prison population is incarcerated in the United States. And if the magnitude of that figure does not astound you, maybe the fact that every 1 in 15 American prisoners are black, while only 1 in 106 prisoners are white, will. These statistics reported by Harper’s Index embody the blatant corruption of the American incarceration system and the innate institutionalized racism the U.S has sustained throughout history.

Why do you think the United States incarcerates so many more people than other countries? First it is important to acknowledge the fact that the US does not just incarcerates many people but the number of people US prison's is actually the highest in the world. So what cause such a great number of people to go to prison?