...PRISON IN AMERICA Since the beginning of time there has been good and evil, as man developed modern society he found that a need existed to separate the bad from the good. Society needed to find a way to protect the weak and defenseless citizens from the dangers of mankind. The use of confinement to punish offenders began in Europe in the early eighteen century. The concept of incarcerating offenders for long periods of time as a way of punishment for crimes is fairly new development in America. (McShane, Williams 1996) Before 1770’s with a few exceptions serious offenders received fines, corporal punishment, death, and banishment, but they were not incarcerated as a form of punishment. (McShane, Williams 1996) Jails were made to only hold people awaiting trail and minor offenses. This was in accordance with Puritan views that man was born into sin and punishment was God’s way of dealing with sin and evil deeds. This type of thinking was thrown out due to changing ways of criminal behavior. Now enter the modern institution designed to deal with this new breed of criminal behaviors. The first prison in America is supposed to be the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia (1790) There is however another, an abandoned copper mine in Connecticut which was converted into a prison. In 1773 Newgate prison accepted its first inmate by the 1820’s it was closed due to rising costs. (McShane, Williams 1996) This was the first institution designed to incarcerate offenders with...
Words: 2321 - Pages: 10
...Mcevoy 1 Brandon Mcevoy ENG 105 Malory Klocke April, 27, 2016 Prison reform in America For the entirety of our lives in America we all know of certain taboos, the no no’s of American culture. Examples being drugs, assault, theft, drug distribution. What needs to be discussed are how these infractions are handled in America, how our justice system operates, how mandatory minimum sentences are discerned, parole and probation are handled as well as their violations, and punishment for violations are handled. Dating back to Sweden around 1746 coffee was made illegal on the basis of public safety without any evidence. King Gustav the 3rd was fighting for prohibition of coffee for 20 years and citizens suffered because of the ignorance of the peoples in power (Gustav III of Sweden's coffee experiment). Alcohol was banned just the same, and the end result? Legalization and the realization that the governing bodies were essentially harassing people unjustly without truly understanding the substance in question. Yet it is common knowledge that using substances may be addictive and harmful. As well the sale of drugs could be considered tax evasion. These non-regulated drugs may be impure and even more damaging by way of containing harmful chemicals. The real issue is your brain gets used to operating on synthetic versions of natural chemicals or large quantities of the synthetic version. (“What drugs do to the brain”) Early prohibition of marijuana originated after the Mexican...
Words: 2621 - Pages: 11
...America Today in the Prison’s Melanie Fife American InterContinental University March 17, 2013 Chad Faries ABSTRACT I’m writing a paper that has 5 different sources, that have books, newspaper articles, and Government papers, that has something to deal with America’s prisons today in society. America has a huge problem with our prison system being overcrowded. The crime rate has increased so much and we are just making me people go to jail or prison. The topic I chose was the prison system being over-crowded. I know many people that have been on both sides of the prison's walls, which allows me to see both sides of the prison system. Prison's in American are very over-crowded due to crimes being committed more often than what they were ten years ago due to not being staffed properly, not having enough room for all the inmates, and the system just trying to have you do your time and not trying to get you back to society. Prison Overcrowding has so many issues understaffing can lead to security and control difficulties. It can also cause heath and the well-being of the inmate’s problems. They will have more violence and conflicts because they are understaffed and cannot be watched properly. Not enough security can make it harder to manage the prison. They can increase opportunities for exercise, sports, and church. Active inmates are less likely to feel stressed or hostile. We can also classify offenders due to the level of their risk and their crime. Improve organization...
Words: 1105 - Pages: 5
...prison emerged in early America as the alternative to servitude. Prisons systems back during early America faced some of the same types of issues we still face today. Most of the American jails were overcrowded and very unsanitary. The jailer would also charge for special services. In some prisons today they charge almost five dollars a minute for telephone calls. After a couple major scandals surfaced about the mismanagement of private providers the correctional facilities were turned back over to the states. In the late 1900s state legislatures started contracting out prison systems to profit-making firms in order to help manage the escalating cost. Private contractors argued that they could manage prisons at a cheaper cost to the government...
Words: 256 - Pages: 2
...Alcatraz was one one of the most secure super-prison in America. There have only been a few attempts of people escaping. It was made in 1909. One of the most famous prisoners there was Al Capone. After long years it went out of business, and now it is a tourist place. Alcatraz was the most secure prison in America. It was made in 1909 on an island about a mile and a half off the coast of San Francisco. It was made because the prohibition law caused a crime spree. They made it also because san francisco had a lot of illegal bars that were made. They were in the downstairs of some random places where no one would expect there to be one. One of the most famous person that was sent to Alcatraz was Al Capone. He was...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...one culture will view tattoos from another culture differently than tattoos worn within their own culture. When comparing tattoos between Russian prison inmates and everyday North American tattoos, several similarities and differences can be seen. North American and Russian prison tattoos are similar in many ways in regards to what motivates them to obtain them. One major similarity is that tattooing is a means of signifying identity. Inmates living in the Russian prison system as well as North Americans receive tattoos in order to be identified as a member of a certain group. Russian prison inmates can have coded tattoo designs such as cathedrals, stars, eyes, and skulls that serve as symbols, each with their own meaning, which nonmembers do not understand. These coded tattoos are used to form commitments and are a way to bond with people within the group. This reason also serves as a motivation for people in North America. Another similarity when comparing these two cultures is that tattoos serve as memorials or represent a specific, important event in their life. For example, in North America, a person may obtain a tattoo of a lost loved one to honor their memory. If a tattoo of a rose is seen on a prison inmate this indicates that the inmate turned eighteen (a significant birth date too many) while incarcerated (“Russian prison tattoos”). Other parallels that these two cultures share concerning tattoos are physical endurance, rebellion, and self-expression. It can be thought...
Words: 1166 - Pages: 5
...Solution to Overcrowded Prisons CJA/454 September 9, 2013 Professor The war on drugs has increased the prison population of correctional institutions in every state in America. The war on drugs was declared by President Nixon in 1971. This policy that his administration implemented was part of a Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. Some agree and others disagree with the war on drugs. What we all can agree on, is that prisons have swelled to all-time highs due to the war on drugs campaign. I believe there are many workable solutions that can decrease the prison population in America. First, replace mandatory sentencing laws with more flexible and individualized guidelines. Second, reduce the three strike laws for nonviolent offenders. Third, relax the Truth-in-Sentencing Laws. Last, support community policing efforts. In 1986 Congress passed the anti-drug abuse at which was well intentioned established 5 to 10 year mandatory sentence is for drugs importation and distribution. A couple of years later President Reagan signed the Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act granting the federal government authority to penalize all conspirators and drug related crimes regardless of their role. Believe it or not, most people locked up in the federal system are serving time for conspiracy charges due to drug distribution although nothing was found. By removing minimum mandatory sentences and replacing them with other guidelines, you give the judges more discretion...
Words: 762 - Pages: 4
...Introduction The prison system in America has been a constant issue of mass-incarceration, a lack of rehabilitation, and a rate of reentry that far exceeds that of any other nation, yet this problem’s escalation has done little to bring it to the platform of reformation. The prison system has cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, and a majority of these citizens are completely unaware of the needlessness of the costs with which they are burdened. With 2.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S., Americans cannot afford to continue to turn a blind eye to the economic issues presented by the current prison system (Council of Economic Advisors 3). Due to prison growth, an increasing incarceration rate, and a lack of rehabilitation and...
Words: 1323 - Pages: 6
...America makes up five percent of the world’s population but 25% percent of the prison’s population. This is cause mandatory minimum sentencings, which means a person convicted of a crime must be imprisoned for a least amount of time, as opposed to leaving the length of punishment up to judges. This sentencing is mostly used for drug offense but if the offense is non violent the time in prison is usually a decade. Mandatory minimum contributes to the fact that America has a systematic problem of increase of mass incarceration, and that men of color are being deprived of things because of criminal records . Even though some believe that it prevents drug use. Overall nonviolent drug offense should be prosecuted but mandatory minimum sentencing should be eradicated. Mass incarceration refers to the unique way the United States had locked up a tremendous population in federal, state prisons, and local jails. In the text “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness” by Dr. J. Carl Gregg , it states “ In 1972, fewer than 350,000 people were being held in jails and prisons nationwide, compared with more than 2 million...
Words: 526 - Pages: 3
...PRIVATE PRISON CORPORATION OF AMERICA Nowadays, we are facing a major experiment in privatization. For example, private companies have entered the business of managing public schools, or religious schools. Also, they even run in prison industry. Among them is Private Prison Corporation of America, which is growing fast in prison industry in the United States. Especially, immigration detention business has brought up massive profit for Private Prison of America. Therefore, corporation is planning to join other private prison corporations by making campaign donation and retaining lobbyist to draft and seek the passage of two laws about anti-illegal immigrant and the Intensive Probation Act that will increase opportunities to do business with the federal government. As a manager at Private Prison Corporation of America, I will conduct a stakeholder analysis to determine whether PPA should do it, and my analysis bases on the frameworks Managing for Stakeholders by Freeman, The social Responsibility of Business by Milton Friedman, Ethical Reasoning by Sucher, Five Traditionnal Theories of Moral Reasoning by Werhane, and How to make value count by Joel E. Urbany. The stakeholders of Private Prison Corporation are board of director, corrections officers, offenders, probation and parole officers. Those are employees in corporation. Another, government agency would contract with a provider to supply a service such as health care or programming for inmates. In general, the decision...
Words: 1344 - Pages: 6
...system is one of the umbrella sections of criminal justice that is mandated to deal with lawbreakers and offenders. Primarily, the correction system serves three main functions of punishing, protecting and correcting the criminal offender. In America, the government agencies work together with correction systems to ensure that these responsibilities are met. Also referred to as the penal system, the correctional system is charged with the duty of administering jurisdictions, especially to community based programs, parole and probation victims. This paper is a description of the history of correctional systems in America and discusses two needs that require to be fixed so that correction systems run more safely and efficiently. History of correction systems in America The history of the correctional system in the United States dates back to the 17th century during which imprisonment as a form of punishment had begun to become popular (Roth, 2006). The American Revolution largely contributed to the efforts of initializing a system that would deal with law offenders. During this period, prisons in the form of detention facilities and dungeons were commonly used in different parts of America. The efforts of building prisons in and around America began in three major waves were the first wave began during the infamous Jacksonian Era (Stanko et al, 2004). This era led to extensive use of imprisonment and heavy labor as a way of punishing penalty for most crimes, especially in the wake...
Words: 768 - Pages: 4
...Prison Overcrowding is a Financial Burden John Doe AIU Online Abstract This paper explores the causes of why not enough inmates are getting the rehabilitation needed to succeed outside prison walls. It may be a lot cheaper to provide them with programs than to house them for minor offences. Lastly, this paper will look at the cost effects of housing these prisoners and what kind of programs are offered while prisoners are serving their time. Without the proper rehabilitation, the result will be that our jails will stay overcrowded and cause a financial burden on all of America. Prison Overcrowding is a Financial Burden Something needs to be done about prison overcrowding and the lack of rehabilitation programs. Without proper rehabilitation, prisoners become repeat offenders. This means we have to build new faculties just to keep up with the overcrowding. The current cost to our nation to incarcerate inmates is $30 billion per year, which is expected to quadruple in the next decade (Crawford, 2003). The result is that prison overcrowding is a serious financial burden for Americans. Rehabilitation First, prison overcrowding is a financial burden because prisoners are not getting enough rehabilitation to transition back to society. The responsibility of the Bureau of Prisons is to safely confine its prisoner population. However, another mission of the Bureau is to rehabilitate: to provide inmates with skills...
Words: 786 - Pages: 4
...us found interesting, but we finally conceded on the topic of prison reform. Next, we had to determine if the topic of prison reform was relevant. So we researched prisons to be more informed about it, we found out that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This fact alone made our group question the efficacy of our country's prison system. The topic of prison reform was highly researchable, since there was a plethora...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...Purpose and History Chris Souza CJA/234 May 5, 2014 Moore When you think of the purpose of prison, what comes to mind? To house some of the world’s most notorious criminals? To rehabilitate those who has seen the evil of their own ways? Or has America's melting pot of philosophies has made it difficult to manage societal institutions? Throughout this paper the discussion of how the history of prison development was established. The history of punishment for those who committed their crimes will be in focus. We will compare the Pennsylvania system and the Auburn system to each other. Finally, the impact of prison labor overtime shall be discussed. For some the purpose of prison is to protect society from criminals who intend to harm innocent civilians. For others a prison's purpose is to rehabilitate citizens who need skills to become upstanding members of society. Still others believe that a prison provides a way for criminals to be punished and therefore pay their debt to society. Within the correctional system of America there are varying degrees of incarceration. The history of punishment in corrections of prisons can be dated back as far as 1750 B.C. One of the earliest known written codes that specified different types of offenses and punishments was the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi was divided into sections to cover different types of offenses and contained descriptions of the punishments to be imposed to offenders. (Lych, 2014) There were five punishments...
Words: 1041 - Pages: 5
...racial inequality in America and the rising prison incarceration rates that have resulted due to many factors, such as the vagueness of the 13th amendment. The film includes a variety of speakers to discuss the issue. One of the claims made by a speaker was the claim that the 1915 film “Birth of a Nation” was almost directly responsible for the rebirth of the KKK in the 20th century. The speaker elaborated on this claim by saying the film depicted certain actions that the KKK committed later on, such as burning crosses. It was described as “life imitating art”. In addition, terroristic actions committed by the KKK were said to be more accepted by society because of the film. Another claim made in the documentary was the claim that legal segregation between whites and African Americans was a more formal method of terrorism. This claim was backed up by the fact that segregation laws were passed specifically to push blacks to a lower class than whites. Although by definition terrorism is technically...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
