Why Are Prisons Overcrowded

Education has played a prominent role in our correctional institutions over time. Unfortunately, there are many prisons which have failing programs with high drop-out rates, poor participation, and weak or non-existent postrelease support. In addition, funding cuts in all levels of government have forced many to reduce their offerings or close programs altogether. It has become apparent that there are

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.

While the states fall short to fulfill their budgetary needs for safety, infrastructure, and education short comes, the prison population has increased each year and its annual budgets. However, in the television show on CNN discussing the failure of our prison system, “In 2011, California spent $9.6 billion on prisons, versus $5.7 billion on higher education.” (Zakaria , 2012)

While in prison, education would provide a crucial key for inmate rehabilitation. Part of that rehabilitation can be in the form of education. Education in the prison system generally geared

The United States tax payer spends, on average, $60,000 per year per prisoner incarceration. Along with that, state and federal spending has grown 400% in the last 20 years and is among the fastest growing line items in state and federal budgets. As a result more tax payers are in inquiry about whether or not their money is providing the best public safety return on their investment. Recently the governor of New York set in motion a program that will offer free college education to inmates and will require using tax payer’s dollars in which he believes is a worthy investment. Should this college education

There are over two million offenders incarcerated in the United States creating a strain on correctional institutions (Williams, 2014). The costs of incarcerating the full seven million offenders alone would deplete budget allowances into the red. The annual costs for one incarcerated offender is over thirty thousand dollars. The math is incomprehensible, housing over seven million offenders annually would require a budget of over two hundred billion dollars just for incarceration. In some cases, the costs are even higher, as noted from the text, in a maximum-security prison the costs could exceed one hound thousand dollars a year (Latessa & Smith, 2011).

However, it has been reported that education programs can help lower the costs associated with returning to jail and decrease the ill effects of recidivism. Educational programs cost about “$1,400 to $1,744 per inmate each year, and can save prisons between $8,700 and $9,700 per inmate” (Bidwell, Allie).Prisons save just under $10,000 because by enrolling prisoners in these educational programs, they are less likely to be imprisoned for a different

Now if George Chocho can get to having 6 college degrees and being incarcerated tehn this jail program must be making a difference in most of these inmates’ lives. As taxpayers yes I know we work hard for our money but most of have family members who shouldn’t be in jail or some who should but have the chance to make a difference. Education was put on this world so everyone can have some confidence and dignity so we shouldn’t deprive that from inmates either. If we saved changed George chochos life then we can change

Experts examined the effect of prison college education programs on the recidivism’s rate. the sample population are offenders who completed a post-secondary education while incarcerated and those held a high school diploma/GED or did not take any education programs. The sampling frame were all inmates released from North Carolina prisons through 2014. Under the direction of NC Court of Appeals Judge John B. Lewis, Jr., committee chair person for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Alternative to present systems of Punishment office, the researchers could mail letters to every Chief Adult Correctional Education Administrator in North Carolina. Also, experts mailed letters to North Carolina public Administer, who might have some information

In 2010, state and federal prisons spent 80 million dollars collectively on incarceration. (Office of the Attorney General, 2014). Mandatory minimum sentencing generally doesn’t target the money spent on mandatory minimum sentencing would be better spent directed towards more serious criminal offenses or towards rehabilitative programs to prevent recidivism. The U.S. accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet it has 25% of the world’s prison population, making it the world’s largest jailer (American Civil Liberties Union). Extending the length of prison stays doesn’t necessarily mean lower crime rates. Prisoners are expensive. In 2005, the average operating cost per prisoner was $23,876 (PEW Charitable Trusts, 2008). Prisoners require beds, food, medical and dental care, and mental health services which all come out of taxpayer dollars. It is much cheaper to provide rehabilitative services to prevent recidivism to nonviolent drug offenders than to incarcerate them for extended periods of time. Overpopulation in prisons also leads to overtime costs for officers to fulfill staff vacancies. In 2006, at least $25,000 was made by 15% of the corrections workforce in California (PEW Charitable Trusts, 2008). Some states have cut spending on higher education and funneled more money towards fighting the War on Drugs. In 2007, five states spent more money on corrections

The relentless fiscal challenges America has faced over the past few decades has quadrupled; galvanizing the probing of the U.S. government’s spending on corrections expenditures. Since the 1970s, the United States has been a substantial increase in incarceration rates, which has grown by more than 700% in the past 40 years. As a result, this inclination has been an imposing cost on American tax payers; who are responsible for the $39 billion price tag, which is 13.9% higher than the cost reflected in at least 40 states

“Keep trying.” An inspirational advice made by one of the former inmates of Highlands County Jail, Carrie Ashby when she witnessed how her life has changed with the education she received even behind bars. The stigma of neglect and discrimination are just too much for the inmates whom we are trying to help improve their lives, and having low to no education at all makes the situation worse than it is. Instead of letting the time pass through watching televisions or over thinking, it is a brilliant move to spend funds in educating inmates.

The same study discovered that out of another sample of 272,111 prisoners released in 1994, 25.4% were resentenced to prison for a new crime, 46.9% were simply reconvicted and 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within the next 3 years. According to data released by the Bureau of Justice, in 2007, an approximate number of 1,180,500 ex-prisoners on parole were suspected to be at risk for re-incarceration. Contrary to the previous study, ten years later, only 16% actually returned to incarceration by 2009 (Langan and Levin 13-14). That’s still approximately 188,880 people who burn themselves once again and ending up back behind bars. With that in mind, in order to understand their motives now, we must understand where these prisoners came from. Generally speaking, a majority of these citizens have poor education and come from unstable homes. Education is the only way to strive in this day and age. “Prison education is a means of rehabilitating and re-directing. If you release someone with the same skills with which she came in, she’s going to get involved in the same activities as she did before (Stern and Western).” This researcher evaluated a woman’s prison in south Florida only to find that the inmates that had high school diplomas were a mere 19%. These women have no way of continuing, or starting, their education and worse yet they have no motivation to do so. Prison systems should use more of their funds to redirect the inmate’s

Secondly, education courses can instruct inmates on how to lead a crime-free life. Aside from just the inmates life, families and society also benefit from the educational programs. Every inmate is encouraged to reach at least a sixth grade educational level. “In support of The Second Chance Act of 2007-which identified correctional education as a high-priority area-the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, has awarded a research grant to the RAND Corporation to provide a comprehensive examination of the current state of correctional education and where it is headed, which correctional education programs are effective, and how effective programs can be implemented across different settings”( Davis, Bozick, & Saunders, 2011). Schooling within our current criminal justice system is very important and has come a long way to assist our society and still has a very long way to go.

Though there is evidence that educational programs are needed to help in reducing crime, politicians and policy makers have not really understood this finding and thereby support the programs they assume are better suited at deterring criminals. Thus, they directed funding from educational programs to other areas, such as in security and anger management or drug treatment (Batiuk et al 2005). Furthermore, studies have shown that those inmates that are released from prison, about two thirds of them end up being re-incarcerated within three years of their release (Klein et al 2004). As a result, when these policy makers ignore empirical research and findings and set up own policies, they are setting up the offenders for failure and anyone else affected by the policies,