...Jail and Prisons Comparison Paper Jose Salmeron CJ234 July 8, 2014 University of Phoenix Jail and Prisons Comparison Paper Jails and prisons they are all the same. Actually a jail and a prison are different in many ways. A jail is considered the most misunderstood segment of the correctional system. Out of all the correctional components in the in the United States, a jail is the oldest. Jail house individuals who have just been arrested, awaiting sentence, or have been sentenced to only a few months. Throughout the history of corrections, jails have had a major role. Like jails state and federal prisons have had their own history as well. Although jails, stated and federal prisons all hold criminals, there are some similarities and differences between the three. Today the population of the correctional have grown since the first institutions were established. The original reason for a jail was to detain offenders, who were awaiting trial. As history has shown the role of jails have changed throughout time. Jails are the most underrated component of our criminal justice system. The role a jail has within the correctional system, can be considered the most important. Jails are correctional facilities that operated locally. Meaning a jail is ran by a city or the county. A jail serves a variety of functions, and also hold a variety of offenders. Individuals awaiting trial, sentencing, or pending arraignment, are held in a jail. Violators of bail, probation...
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...Evolution of Life in Prison November 11, 2013 Evolution of Life in Prison The purpose of this essay is to do an analysis on the evolution and perspective of prison life. This essay will explain how the evolution influenced the classification of male and female prisoners over time. Last, this essay will explain how the prison populations in jails compare to the population of prison at the state and federal levels. A person could describe prison life as living with thousands of other men and women, who also have criminal convictions by the judicial system. Prisoners will need to realize that his or her prison sentence is not a vacation; however, it is a punishment for his or her criminal mischief. Some people will not understand the true meaning of life in prison because they will not experience it themselves to pass judgment. As Stanley “Tookie” Williams did say in his Life in Prison book is no life in prison is hard for any individual who has to serve life in prison. Inmates will spend his or her time trying to figure out how he or she can win his or her freedom again (Becnel, 2008). The Evolution and Perspective of Prison Life A convicted felon prison life will change as the nature of the institution itself will change. The 1700s life in confinement is life in jail awaiting trial, sentencing, or punishment. Each prisoner will remain in the same jail together. Those prisoners will sleep in dirty and unhealthy jails. The prisons and jails have epidemics and malnutrition...
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...Jail and Prison Mary A. Webster CJA/204 November 9, 2014 MARY ELLEN DE FRIAS Jail and Prison There is a deference between jail and prison. The federal government is in charge of the prison system in the United States where local and state governments are in charge of jails. There is many different types of prisons, where there is only one type of jail. The United States has an issue of over crowed prisons and jails. This in turn has led to many different kinds of prison violence which has but both the inmates and the correctional offices in danger. Two of the ways the government use to reduce prison and jail populations are probation and parole. It is important that the government finds other a ways to reduce the populations of the jails and prisons. In the federal government, there is several deferent types of prisons such as federal prison camps, federal correctional institutions, low security facilities, medium security facilities, high security prisons and administrative maximum (ADMAX) facility. (University of Phoenix, 2014) (Schmalleger, F, 2011) Then there is state and local jails that house prisoners with a sentence that is typically a year or less. (Schmalleger, F, 2011) These jails are low security where prisons can be anywhere from low security to maximum security. In Martinsburg WV, there is the Eastern Regional Jail, and then only a few hours away there is a high security U.S. Penitentiary Known as USP Hazelton, which is located in Hazelton WV. ("The Eastern Regional...
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...Jails and Prisons Matthew Holbrook May 28, 2015 University of Phoenix CJA/234 Brenda Barney Jails and Prisons The criminal justice system is made up of three components which are police, courts, and corrections. Corrections are potentially the largest cog in this machine by volume of employees. Corrections are also often considered the most important, because the other two would have nowhere to send offenders if it were not for the correctional sector. The largest portion of corrections can be seen in the operation of jails and prisons in the United States. These two separate entities, which are often confused by the layman, do share similarities, but along with these similarities also come key differences. In order to understand and appreciate the broad level of care that these types of facilities provide, it is paramount to explore their histories, their differences, and common issues that are faced within them. Jails have the longest history of any other penal institution. They have typically served, and still do to this day, as an area where the accused go to trial and the minor criminals serve their time. Early jails in the United States were fairly direct copies of gaols, which were used to detain individuals awaiting either trial or punishment. This was combined fairly early on with the concept of punishing minor criminals as well. Shortly after their introduction, jails experienced reforms at the hands of the figures that sought to remove unsanitary and inhumane...
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...of Jails and Prisons Jail is usually the first place a criminals go once arrested by law enforcement. “Jails hold only about one-tenth of all offenders under correctional supervision, yet admit approximately four times as many offenders each year as all other correctional components combined” (, ). Jails intentions are to protect the public and citizens of each county by housing criminals and keep them off the streets. Majority of people cannot tell the difference when people say a criminal goes to jail when in reality he should be going to prison. There is confusion with serving time in jails and prisons. Jails are local operational correctional facilities that detain accused criminals before or after a judgment or verdict (Seiter, R., 2011). Jails usually house these criminals for no more than a year. The difference between jails and prisons is that jails are for short sentences oppose to prisons were criminals usually are incarcerated for longer periods. “The average length of stay for a jail is fifteen to twenty days, much less than the average thirty-six month length of stay within a prison”( Seiter, R., 2011p.78 p.2). Sheriffs usually operate the county jails in the different counties of each state and serve as holding of inmates before sentenced. When criminals arrested, get to the jail they will get booked, wait until they receive their sentence or bail out of jail, and await trial. Those criminals that cannot afford to post bail usually stay in jail and...
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...Jails and Prisons CJA/234 February 13, 2013 Janice Rachal Jails and Prisons WHAT IS JAIL? Jail in my opinion is a temporarily place of confinement until the final sentence is issued. According to Prisons and the Criminal Justice System by Lois Smith Owens, “A jail is a facility where people are detained for the following reasons: (1) they cannot pay bail or are ineligible for bail; (2) they have been convicted of a crime and are awaiting sentence; (3) they are being confined because they have committed a misdemeanor; (4) they are waiting for a hearing; (5) the state facilities are overcrowded.” The difference between jail and prison is that jail is used by local jurisdictions such as counties and cities to confine people for short periods. Jails are used to house those with petty crimes or those who are waiting to be sentence. A prison or penitentiary, is administered by the state, and is used to house convicted criminals for periods of a much longer duration. Both are part of a larger penal system, which includes other aspects of criminal justice such as courts, law enforcement, and criminal labs (law.umich.edu). The History of Prisons The 19th Century saw the birth of the state prison. The first National State Penitentiary was completed at Millbank in London, in 1816. It held 860 prisoners, kept in separate cells, although association with other prisoners was allowed throughout the day (bop.gov). Work in prison was mainly centered on simple tasks such as coir (tarred...
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...Checkpoint: Prison Population The article called U.S. PRISON POPULATION HITS ALL-TIME HIGH I found to be very interesting and informative. I happened to learn a lot from this article. This particular article talked about a couple important aspects that have to do with the population in our jails and prison’s all over the country. The main point that this article makes is that the increasing population of the prison and jail system is not due to more crimes being committed but the change in the mandatory sentencing that were set in place in the 1980’s. Another thing that this article talked about is how the population of the jails and prisons break down into race and sex. According to (Munoz, 2009) Angela Munoz the jail and prison ratios in 200l were as follows: “black males accounted for about a third of all state and federal prison inmates. More than 10 percent of all black men in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 29 were in prison, compared to just over two percent of Hispanic males and 1.2 percent of white men in that age group.” The article also compared the United States to Canada with how many people were going to jail and being imprisoned. For instance Canada imprisons 116 people out of every 100,000 and the United States imprisons 702 per 100,000. The article talks about how our country and certain states are paying the costs for the increased rates of population in prisons. The main way the country is paying for the increased population is by paying $40 Billion...
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...Prison Population Beverly Moorer CJS200 April 12, 2011 William Hubbard Growth of Prison Population The article I chose to read was written by Brian Gilmore and his suggestion on the growth in the prison population is directly related to drug offenders. According to the nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch, one of the major reasons for the increase in the prison population is the government's unsuccessful war on drugs, and back in 2000 there were over 450,000 men and women incarcerated for drug offenses approximately the size of the total prison and jail population of 1980 an those numbers have grown much higher today. There are too many people in the prison and jail system, the government needs to make this issue of the huge influx of prison population a main concern and in order for them to do that they will need to address the underlining causes. Between 1990 and 2004 the amount of prisoners in jail for drug offense count for twenty percent and in state prisons it is more than fifty five percent. There are some states that have passed laws that may reduce the drug offenders, if an individual is caught with four ounces or less then the authorities may issue a ticket instead of arresting the offender. So far only Austin, Texas has been participating in this program and it is still too soon to see if this program is working. The article suggested that the government should invest more funding into education on drugs...
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...Jail Management System Known as having the largest correctional system in the world the United States of America has a hierarchy of correctional centers. The United States justice system consist of administrative works for adjudicating and processing those who are accused and convicted of various crimes ranging from blue collar crimes up to murder. In 1770 the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia was recognized as the first penitentiary in America, according to Steve Schooner from the University of San Diego. Around the 17th to date, the American prison system has completely changed keeping some of the same principles. The prison system of the United States has clearly changed from its first debut in the late 1700's. The mission of the prison system in the United States then was to keep society safe from those who were found guilty of crimes in a court of law by confining them in full control of the government. Whether state or federal agencies have control of the accused the principles remain the same. State and federal agencies are charged with keeping the accused in confinement until the judicial system deems necessary according for the seriousness of the crime. The impact of the great penitentiary rivalry on our current prison system includes two systems, he Pennsylvania System and the Auburn System. The Pennsylvania System was supported by the notion of keeping all who were committed to prison behind bars and separated from all other prisoners. Silence and continuous...
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...“Education vs. Prison Funding” The government is responsible for security of its citizens and it is also responsible to provide a safe socio-economic environment to its people, and in this context; Jails and schools are two important institutions of any society, which need regular monetary support from the government. Thus government has to be very careful in allocating funds to both of the institutions; as one punishes the convicts and other makes the people skillful, and wise enough to get a job and earn money for family. Government has to be very careful in allocation of funds to them, as it is very critical to decide which institution should be allocated more money. The report, “Prison Spending Affecting Higher Education in California” states that in 2008 one of every 48 adults was in jail; this data states the very reason that why prisons are getting so much funding against education. We need to take very stringent and effective steps to reduce the population of prisons. The article, “Education and Public Safety (2007)” mentions that the lack of proper education is directly proportional to increase in prison population; the fact that most criminals are from some particular areas, where the high school dropout is maximum, proves this theorem. It is dangerous for the future of the society that the education in lack of subsidy and proper funding is becoming unaffordable for more and more students. The prison data shows that around 50 percent population in the prison is of 21-24...
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...Jail and Prison Within today’s corrections system, there are prisons of three security levels; minimum-, medium- and maximum-custody. Inmates may move between these custodies depending on their progress in self-control and responsibility, and movement is possibly in both direction, toward leniency and restrictiveness (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 471). The two facilities I chose are the Van Nuys Jail, the largest local jail in my neighborhood and San Quentin State Prison. Van Nuys is a pretty standard jail; it’s not used for any specific types of inmates, but mostly houses inmates that are awaiting their court date or transport to a county jail. San Quentin State Prison has multiple custodial levels within its wall comprised of a maximum security cell block, a medium security dorm setting and a minimum security firehouse. San Quentin State Prison is also the only facility in California to house a gas chamber and death row (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations, n.d.). The most notable difference between the jail and prison I have chosen lie in size, mission and scope. The Van Nuys Jail is the equivalent in security to a minimum-custody facility. Inmates are only held here until they are released on their own recognizance, post bail or are taken to court for their arraignment (Shouse California Law Group, n.d.). San Quentin, on the other hand, is a much larger facility that houses over 135,000 inmates for all lengths of sentences. The facility provides vocational and...
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...Jails and Prisons Andrew Scott CJA/204 March 12, 2013 Jeff Walters There are many types of prisons found in the United States today. Minimum security prisons have housing similar to college dorms, few staff members relative to the number of inmates, as well as minimal to no fencing around the prison. After minimum security prisons, there are low security prisons. These prisons usually have a double fence and a higher staff-to-inmate ratio. Much like minimum security prisons, low security prisons have dorm or cubicle like housing. Like the low security prisons, medium security prisons typically have a double fence; but to heighten security they add an electronic detection system. Most medium security prisons have cell housing, more staff and offer a wide variety of work and treatment programs. High security prisons are typically referred to as United State penitentiaries. These facilities have the highest staff-to-inmate ration, are often surrounded by walls or reinforced fences and place prisoners in either single or multi-occupant cells. Administrative facilities typically have a special goal in mind; whether it is detaining pretrial offenders, treating inmates with serious illnesses or containing dangerous convicts and escape risks. A lot of prisons also have minimum to low security satellite camps adjacent to the main facility. These facilities help provide labor to their main institution and off-site work programs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons also has a facility...
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...accounted for in the United States. African Americans have the highest rate of new HIV infections. African Americans and Latinos account for approximately two-thirds of the United States federal and state prison population. Studies show that people incarcerated are more infected with AIDS and HIV than the general population. It has been proven that transmission of HIV and AIDS occurs behind bars. However, this is a matter that is risking the lives of women who have unprotected sex with men who are released from jail. This is a topic that many people do not want to converse, but this type of situation does occur. This is an issue that creates an ethical dilemma. Should jails and prisons distribute condoms to inmates? I agree that condoms should be distributed to inmates in jails and prisons, to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. Preventing the spread of HIV is not only important for the general population, but it is exceedingly vital to take precaution in correctional facilities as well. Many of the jails and prisons do not want to provide condoms to the inmates, because they believe it would be condoning sex. Though having sex while incarcerated is prohibited, and is considered a felony. It is known that consensual and nonconsensual acts of sexual activity occur. There is only one jail in the state of California that provides condoms to inmates. Transmission of HIV is not only by sexual activity, but also through needle sharing. None of the correctional facilities allow inmates access...
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...held in prison or jails are getting more suicidal thoughts than ever. Just by being there by themselves they drive themselves crazy. Being trapped in those cells make them hallucinate things. A lot of these inmates are being held in solitary confinements, being mistreated, and the population in the jails and prisons are made up of mentally ill offenders. Many of the mentally ill offenders in prisons and jails are being mistreated. A lot of them have experienced shocking, physical and sexual abuse from other prisoners. Many of them across the United States are subjected to routine physical abuse from guards. A lot of these offenders leave sicker than when they entered. From all of these daily abuses a lot of them have died in prison for this cause. What some of these jails do wrong is that they are not required to report the use of force by guards. Inmates are being put in the state psychiatric hospitals due to the mental illness they have. One of the cases that happened in Michigan (2005) was this man...
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...referred to as jails, state prisons, and federal prisons. There are also many different security levels within jails, state prisons, and federal prisons. Let’s start by discussing what jails are, as well as a brief history. * The term “jail” is used by counties and cities to house criminals for short periods of time. Jails normally house individuals who have been convicted to serve a short sentence, awaiting trial, people who have not yet posted bond and detainees who have been arrested on suspicion of committing a crime. * The first jail, also known as “gaol” was built in England by King Henry II in 1166. The gaol’s original purpose was to detain individuals awaiting trial, however, vagrancy had become a problem in the fourteenth and eighteenth century, and jails were used to house displaced persons, mentally ill, and the poor (Seiter, p. 72, 2011). Individuals housed in these early jails lived in deplorable conditions. They were filthy, had horrible food, and little medical care. John Howard, who became the sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773, saw these horrible conditions and drafted the Penitentiary Act of 1779. The Penitentiary Act created four requirements for English prisons and jails: 1. Secure and sanitary structures, 2. Systematic inspections, 3. Abolition of fees charged to inmates and 4. A reformatory regime in which inmates were confined in solitary cells but worked in common rooms during the day (Seiter, p. 73, 2011). * Early jails in the United...
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