The Pros And Cons Of Mass Incarceration

There is no question that mass incarceration is a worldwide epidemic that needs to be discussed and addressed. America has five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prison population (Just Leadership USA, 2017) Various policies dated back centuries helped to create this problem of mass incarceration (Just Leadership USA, 2017). Today there are 2.3 million Americans incarcerated throughout the state, local, and federal jails (Just Leadership USA, 2017). New York City (NYC) houses approximately 10,000 inmates per year; 43.7% of these inmates are diagnosed with having a mental health disability (New York City Department of Corrections, 2017). 54% of the inmates on Rikers Island are arrested for a minor offense and should be able to fight their cases from home; however, in many instances the family members are of low socio-economic status and unable to post bail (New York City Department of Corrections, 2017). Minor offenses include loitering, jumping the turnstiles, unnecessary Parole / Probation violations, and trespassing. In many instances, it is the mentally ill and homeless individuals who are arrested for trespassing as they elect to sleep in the subways instead of taking residency in a shelter. Moreover, many of these offenses does not have to result in an arrest. Police officers have the autonym to let some of these individuals go with a warning, desk ticket, and/or summons.

When we think about prisons, jails, and courthouses, our minds are meant to draw a connection to cold, hard, justice and fair punishments for guilty and deserving parties. Yet, in our judicial and prison systems around the world, this idea is nowhere close to reality. From inhumane punishments, to mass incarceration, and “trapping” people in the system based on race or financial status, justice is far from being served.

The United States’ ever-expanding prison and jail population has brought about many questions regarding the side-effects of mass incarceration, namely involving the effects on the children and families from which those incarcerated are removed. Regardless of the perspectives on the appropriate position of incarceration in the criminal justice system, imprisonment disrupts many positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. In fact, more than 1.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in a state or federal prison as of 2007 (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). These youths are at risk for developing behavior and school problems in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Parental incarceration, which may also be coupled with economic disadvantage and inconsistent living arrangements (Geller, Garfinkel, Cooper, & Mincy, 2009) can be an extremely difficult experience for children. It should come as no surprise that families with children suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned, considering how each parent in today’s world typically needs to set aside time to earn an income to support their family, and most are unable to support their homes on one income. While it may be considered intrusive to some to intervene in the lives of children and families with incarcerated parents, research has suggested that there are positive societal benefits to intervening in the lives of incarcerated parents and their

Throughout the riveting and eye-opening memoir, Just Mercy, by influential lawyer Bryan Stevenson readers are given a real insight on the predominance of racial minorities on crime sentencings. He opens up on the taboo topics of prejudice and sentencing the poor and weak simply because it’s convenient. This is re-affirmed through New York Times article by Shaila Dewan, “Court by Court, Lawyers Fight Policies that Fall Heavily on the Poor,” where she point blank states “[the justice system] is waging a guerilla campaign to reserve what they consider unconstitutional practices that penalize the poor.” In addition to both of these sources, the video “Keeping the Poor Out of Jail” by Kassie Bracken and Jessica Naudziunas, two Harvard law school students, upholds the same beliefs about inequality as they take on local justice systems and current policies targeting the poor. Although the fourteenth amendment states no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws poverty remains to be an exception to some degree. Those living in poverty lack the same equality as the rest of the US, not being given fair chances in trials or overly punished for their lack of resources. There needs to be an improvement in our justice system so we can eliminate the injustice on the impoverished, whether it be a more involved state-provided lawyer or an adequate, unbiased, and

Over the past few decades, the United States has witnessed a huge surge in the number of individuals in jail and in prison. Evidence suggests the mass imprisonment policy from the last 40 years was a horrible catastrophe. Putting more people in prison not only ruined lives, it disrupted families, prevented ex-prisoners to find housing, to get an education, or even a good job. Regrettably, the United States has a higher percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is increasing exponentially. The expense produced by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. Although people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. By researching mass incarceration, I hope to get society to understand that incarcerating an individual not only effects the family, but we will look at the long term consequences on society and how the United States can remain safe and, at the same time, undo much of the damage that results from large-scale imprisonment.

The U.S. prison system is one of many great controversies when compared to other correctional systems. America’s prison population has increased by 700% (2.4 million current inmates) since the start of the war on drugs in 1971. As a result of this “war”, people that fall into the racial minority have suffered as a direct consequence of unjust legislation. Our prison system is known for its overrepresentation of minorities such as Blacks and Hispanics. This unfortunately gives these groups of people a perennial negative stigma as a result. I argue that the U.S. prison industrial-complex emphatically displays signs of prejudice and racism and disproportionately incarcerates people of color at a rate higher than whites. Yes, there are skeptics who think “the left’s prison-complex” is wrong about their theory of mass incarceration but the statistical data and concrete facts in support of my argument are very compelling.

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.

In this examination of economic inequality and the experience of punishment, I express how the American justice system fails to accommodate lower class criminals with the standards it equally guarantees to all citizens. Assessing each level of the correction process will allow me to shed light on the struggles that poor convicts face and apply theories which support my analyses. Highlighting the unsuccessful employment of equal due process, I

American prison systems encompass all three spheres of criminal justice: law enforcement, judiciary, corrections. Within this system, a massive problem exists. America is known as the “mass incarceration nation” (Hamilton, 2014, p. 1271). Comparatively, the United States encompasses the majority of global prisoners, yet the population is nowhere near that proportion. Just how “free and equal” is this system? Since Gideon v. Wainwright, the racial divide in the criminal justice system has grown, which is contradictory to its intentions. The American criminal justice system has failed to provide the justice and protections it promises. There are many injustices caused by the mass incarceration of American citizens, especially those of minority descent. More harm is done by incarceration to the individual, their community, and the nation, than if other forms of justice were used. The criminal justice system is divided, with racial and income disparities defining the nation in way never intended.

Historically Americans are taught that prisons are a place to incarcerate people who pose the greatest threat to society: however, with so many minorities being incarcerated is this really true? After watching the documentary, 13th, one can assert that the effects of mass incarceration are systemically imposed on people of color, and felt throughout generations. Incarcerating African-Americans prevents them from the education system, jobs and families. The inheritance of the 13th amendment and slavery are still visible in black communities today, in terms of the education system, jobs, and family structures.

In our society, there are many stereotypes for every race and ethnicity, but one of the most prevalent throughout most cultures, even among African Americans, is that most black men are criminals. This is something that, although I understand is not true, has become so ingrained in our society that it made me act differently unintentionally. Even if only in insignificant situation, such as keeping a watchful eye on my belongings when a black person was around or by simply being fearful when a black man was walking behind me, I knew my actions were prejudiced. It’s difficult to break a stereotype when statistics seem to prove it correct. The documentary The 13th and Michelle Alexander describe how mass incarceration, partly resulting from the

Did you that there are over 2.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S alone today? Or that the U.S makes up 5% of the world's population, but makes up 21% of the world's incarcerated population. Although our government shells out around 80 billion dollars on the incarceration system every year, it seems to have many flaws. Many people being incarcerated are nonviolent and would greatly benefit from a more potent form of justice. As a result, it is evident that U.S should nationally institute rehabilitation programs as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent crimes.

In the previous 30 years, the United States has come to depend on detainment as its reaction to a wide range of wrongdoings. Research has found that, “overcrowded prison populations continue to be the greatest challenge facing the American prison system” (O’connor, 2014). Indeed, even minor infringements of parole or probation frequently prompt an arrival to jail. Moreover, probation and parole violations led to quickly imposed sentences. Complications in this field is only fueled the recidivism rate, which of course worsened the overcrowding epidemic (Camper, 2012). This has made a prison arrangement of uncommon size in this country. In the 1980's, when Ronald Regan started "The War on Drugs", the individuals who were captured with even little measure of drugs were given to a great degree long prison sentences. Eventually, following 35 years, these elderly detainees are greatly wiped out and failing horrendously due to old age. The war on drugs quit nothing, yet it filled the confinement facilities and the enterprises accepted control because of the money they could make. As per slate magazine, the distinguished court case, Brown v. Plata, expressed that congestion levels in California jails—where the normal inhabitance rate over all state establishments was 187 percent from 1991 through 2010—added up to a type of pitiless and irregular discipline. What is the motivation behind giving someone a fifty-year sentence for drugs? In case he has done a wrongdoing,

Some individuals may misinterpret the objectives of prevention and treatment, which in turn may cause one to assume that nothing works when it comes to addressing offenders, but there is evidence of that notes what works and what does not.

lawmakers institute laws that would help capture their perception of what a criminal is, thus the implementation of laws that allow for increased incarceration. “The dramatic rise in African American incarceration rates in the more recent 1980s and 1990s has similarities with the rise in incarceration experienced by freed slaves. In both cases, the majority of crimes for which blacks were suddenly imprisoned, in disproportionately high numbers, were nonviolent petty crimes only recently made “serious” by changes in law (Hallet).”