Longer Prison Sentencing

3: Yes I think some of the current punishments do deter crime because people can actually see that not everything is good when you’re in jail and when you’re out. I think the most effective punishment is jail time because even if you did something minor there are people in there who did way worse things and you have to live with those people for however long your sentences is.

Since jails can take on much more offenders that may have taken up space in prisons, this frees up space for more dangerous criminals. This reduces the issue of overcrowding for prisons, which will lead them to reducing the amount of inmates they send to be held in jails. The second pro I would see with holding offenders in jails for long term is producing more jobs. Because there will be a need for more staff to work within jails because of more offenders and longer sentences, this produces more jobs within the county. The third pro would be instead of sending non-dangerous criminals to prison; like drug offenders, non-violent offenders, etc.; they can now be given a longer sentence to a jail facility instead of a sentence to a prison.

When assessing current problems associated with the prison system, many of the issues arise from the central finding that increases in the United States incarceration rates have led to overcrowding in prison which negatively impact the living conditions for inmates and working conditions for staff. To improve these conditions overall, efforts must focus on decreasing the number of inmates in state and federal facilities. Over the years, prison sentencing reform proposals have targeted revisions to sentencing guideline with a goal of reducing the number of citizens entering the prison system. In a editorial from staff at The Economist, the authors discuss one of the many reforms that could aid in decreasing the number of prisoners entering

When we talk about mandatory-minimum sentences, we first have to look at the time frame when this law came into effect. The country was in a period where violate crime was on an increase due to the drug trade. The demand for drugs in society was at an all time high rate.

For example there have been amendments in under provision of crimes amendment act 1982 in New South Wales and section 8 of the crimes amendment act 1986 in Victoria to enable judges to impose less severe sentencing. Also in Victoria and South Australia life sentencing prisoners can apply for minimum set terms in court. Of course it relies on their good behaviour, but punishment does not help in changing their criminal attitude or behaviour. Though abolition of prison is not something can be achieved overnight, of course it is a very long term goal. We have example of Sydney siege, the worst offenders should be behind the bars to protect society. An article by Carol Lawson outlines the strategies for reducing recidivism by focusing on reforming prisons conditions and to turn them into more rehabilitative place, encourage prisoners’ transition to society that is to support ‘throughcare programs’ and to divert offenders from prisons to alternative punishment. Self- report also helps to measure the level of stress and discomfort of prisoners in

The US prison system is famous for its notorious inefficiency. While not being the largest nation in the world, America has the largest prisoner population, surpassing countries such as India, Russia, and China in both inmate population rates and numbers of inmates per 100,000 people. As it stands, there are over 2,100,000 incarcerated prisoners, with over 7 million being supervised as part of their probation period (World Prison Brief, 2015). According to McLaughlin, Pettus-Davis, Brown, Veeh, and Renn (2016), the total burden on the US economy for maintaining the prison system, including the social costs, exceeds 1 trillion dollars a year. US prison population began growing exponentially ever since the adoption of the so-called “War on Drugs” policy, declared by President Nixon in 1971, which was an attempt to curb the flow of drugs flowing into the country through the Mexican border. While this effort proved to be a failure on its own, it also significantly contributed to the increase of prisoner population in the US.

Now this act helped form the United States Sentencing Commision which was an independent commision in the judicial branch of the Unites States. Now the Sentencing Commission was in charge of creating sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system. In line with Sentencing Reform Act this will increase prison overcrowding. This overcrowding has led to many unsanitary and horrendous conditions that the inmates have to live in. “Under the Act, fewer convicted criminals will be sentenced to probation. Only those few with a minimum guideline sentence of zero to six months will be eligible for probation. As a result of the Guidelines, some ninety percent of defendants sentenced in federal court will go to prison” Stanley A. Weigel. (1988).

These types’ of sentences are considered a more severe punishment as they require the offenders to loose their liberty of freedom as they serve jail or prison time. The desired outcome of these sentences are that the offender will spend the duration of the sentence participation in correctional programs with the anticipation that upon release they have become law abiding citizens who can be a functioning member of society. The loss of liberty due to imprisonment impacts offenders and proves to them that unlawful actions have severe consequences. However, this is not always the case as there are many repeat offenders. In these cases, incarceration is benefits society by thwarting repeat offenders from committing additional crimes while serving ether a determinate and indeterminate

There are many people who are critical of the US‘s prison sysetm; the idea of locking up those who commit crimes against a society simply to keep them from doing harm. Many say that more rehabilatation is necessary to improve these individuals and, therefore, society as a whole. What are some ways of doing this? Do you agree/disagree with this view and why? Is the prison system currently in place the best option for society? 2 pages, double spaced, 12pt. font.

Although I agree with Gobry’s assertion that prison can harden criminals and gangs may appear, I maintain my belief that prisons are needed to punish criminals. If there were no prisons, and punishment was left to be resolved by community service as well as working for minimum wage, crime levels may be higher because criminals would not be as concerned about the consequences. What would a criminal believe is worse, getting caught and sent to jail for twenty years to life, or having to do community service? The question is, should society give time and effort to those who do not respect the laws that have been established for the protection of the people?

There have been theories made by people in government position on the crime epidemic and how to lower crime the crime rate. Many believe that the tougher the consequences, the better it would help people deter away from a life of crime. Unfortunately, this is not true for countries like the United States. We have very strict consequences for people that commit crime, yet we also have one of the

Currently as a nation we use severity as our biggest form of deterrence; our threat of imprisonment has grown dramatically over time. In 1985 the average release time for a conviction of robbery was 32 months and in 2002 it jumped to a minimum of 53 months (Incarceration and Crime). We focus heavily on severity and longer incarceration rates; the idea is that a 10% increase in incarceration would lead to a 1.6%-5.5% decrease in crime (Lieka 2006) but this is not true. Prison rates have increased tenfold since 1970 and yet the crime rates have not dropped near those percents.The leading argument against increase in incarceration uses other states as examples of how ineffective it is; for example Florida heavily focuses on imprisonment to reduce crime with no effect (Incarceration and Crime). This idea would be great and a good mode of deterrence if those who go to prison actually learn their lessons and mend their future ways. Also if the unwanted effects of prison were at least tolerable this might deter crime but sadly even after experiment and evidence it is not a well functioning theory. The cost of funding our mass incarceration does balance out the decrease in overall crime. Besides when we have a nation who is majority hard on crimes compared to other crimes we end up severely punishing people who probably would respond better to rehabilitation than jail.

Ever since the beginning of time man has committed crimes. Crimes were described as acts which go against the social and moral norms of society and people. People have learned to deal with these crimes in many different ways. One of the most used forms of dealing with crime is punishing those who commit crimes. There are numerous ways in which people have punished those who commit crimes throughout history from making the criminal pay fines to banishing them from the community. However, in modern times, there are fewer acceptable forms of punishment that are used. For very unserious crimes, governments may simply make a criminal pay a small fine or do service for the community in some way. Offenders who

First off, restorative justice doesn’t punish people, and a criminal needs punishment. If somebody knows that they won’t get in trouble for doing something wrong, they will just continue to do it. Prison time has been proven to work effectively. The Observer states that tougher prison sentences reduce crime, according to research by a study from academics at Birmingham University.

The type of punishment that deters crime most effectively is hard to determine. Each punishment is geared at preventing the offender from additional criminal activity, but is not necessarily effective in reducing the amount of crime in the United States. Most victims, and families of victims, are more concerned with seeking retribution. As with most issues of grave concern, the need to find a solution to the problem is a problem in itself. Prisons are violent places where criminals with a violent behavior or non-conforming attitude