The American prison system is unlike any other. In the previous four posts, I have highlighted substantial factors that contribute to this broken system. With this being the last post, I have decided to summarize all the aforementioned issues and discuss various solutions to these problems.
Overpopulation
American incarceration rates are of the highest in the world. Per 100,000 Americans, 724 of them are currently in prison. In 2012, the Bureau of Justice released a staggering statistic showing that although the United States only attributes to 5% of the world population, it counts for a quarter of the total prison population. This high prison population can be interpreted as good or bad. The good, criminals are off the streets and serving the time they deserve for committing a crime. The bad, prisons are currently bursting at the seams trying to find room for this ever growing flow of incarcerated people. There are only 7,000 justice system facilities in the United States. These facilities include state prisons, federal prisons, juvenile correctional facilities, and local jails. While 7,000 may seem like a lot, it is nearly impossible to hold 2.3 million people. A specific reason for jail overpopulation is the large population of people who have not yet been convicted, but do not have enough money to be released on bail. In 2018, 540,000 people were being held in jail without a conviction. Overpopulation results a great deal of issues within prisons. Prison overcrowding results in poor and sometimes dangerous prison conditions and understaffing and high office turnover rates.
The Huffington Post reported 10 ways to minimize overcrowding including sending fewer people to prison for drug crimes and shortening the sentences for drug offenders. Other suggestions include reducing prisoner’s sentences for good behavior and sending foreign inmates back to their home countries.
Drug Sentences
Almost half of the total population of inmates are currently being held in prison on drug charges. In the 1980s, the war on drugs resulted in harsher sentencing laws and a large influx of prisoners. The Reagan administration signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 to harshen punishment on high level drug offenders; however, most drug cases that resulted in a mandatory minimum sentence involved low level offenders.
Many people find the war on drugs and mandatory minimum sentences to be unfair and targeted at certain demographics. In an article, the Drug Policy Alliance recommended law enforcement take steps to prevent drug abuse instead of punishing by decriminalizing drug possession and aiding more people to receive drug treatment. Another widely popular suggestion is rolling back mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders.
Recidivism
Compared to other countries who have recidivism rates ranging between 20 and 30 percent, the United States towers at 76 percent. This high
recidivism rate is attributed to many obstacles prisoners face that prevent them from adjusting back into society. It is extremely difficult to obtain a sustainable job with a criminal record, so this results in prisoners going back to their illegal ways and ultimately, getting arrested again. The criminal recidivism statistics signal that there is an evident flaw in our prison system that seems to prevent prisoners from readjusting into society after being released. In recent years, there has been a debate on whether prisons are focusing on punishing prisoners as opposed to rehabilitating them. According to a study on USA Today, “9 in 10 Americans agree it is important to try to rehabilitate those who have committed crimes and are in the correctional system.” Many people refer to other countries, such as Norway, with a low recidivism percentage as a benchmark to what America should do.
Mental Illness
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that more than half of all inmates suffer from mental health issues. Unfortunately, the majority of people who suffer from mental illness often end up arrested and sent to jail, instead of a psychiatric hospital. In 44 states where prisons hold more mentally ill people than mental hospitals. In prison, individuals do not receive the proper medication and treatment needed. Prisoners with mental illnesses are typically arrested for non-violent crimes and receive minor sentences; however, due to their inability to follow behavioral rules, many mentally inmates end up getting longer sentences. The number of inmates who suffer from mental illness is a pressing issue, but due to the lack of prison funding, it is difficult to provide the proper care. It costs $15 billion per year of tax dollars to house and provide care to inmates who have mental illnesses. Imprisoning individuals who have mental illness puts a burden on the individual, prison system, and federal and state budgets.
Works Cited
Chettiar, Inimai M. “Locking More People Up Is Counterproductive.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 11 Feb. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/the-many-causes-of-americas-decline-in-crime/385364/.
“Federal Bureau of Prisons.” BOP Statistics: Inmate Offenses, 2018, www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp.
Knafo, Saki. “10 Ways To Reduce Prison Overcrowding And Save Taxpayers Millions.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 8 Nov. 2013, www.huffpost.com/entry/prison-overcrowding_n_4235691.
“NAMI.” NAMI, www.nami.org/learn-more/public-policy/jailing-people-with-mental-illness.
“NAMI.” NAMI, www.nami.org/learn-more/public-policy/jailing-people-with-mental-illness.
“Recidivism in the United States – An Overview.” Atlas Corps, 2017, atlascorps.org/recidivism-united-states-overview/.
Sawyer, Wendy, and Peter Wagner. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2019.” Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2019 | Prison Policy Initiative, 2019, www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2019.html.
“The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race (English/Spanish).” Drug Policy Alliance, 2018, www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race-englishspanish.
“The Growing Problems of the Prison System.” American Friends Service Committee, 28 Jan. 2016, www.afsc.org/story/growing-problems-prison-system.
I think the many flaws of the American prison system is completely overlooked. This is because alot of people have the mentality that “they are criminals, who cares?” However, there is so much more to the issue including the flaws with bail and our treatment of inmates that no one really considers. I enjoyed learning about the prison system from your blog this semester!
This is very interesting. I knew that the United States has many prisons but not that many. This raises the question: is the fault of the people here (are the American people more dangerous or bad?” or is the fault of the system. It is clearly unsustainable and inefficient to put so many in jail and maybe other options should be considered.
The statistic that the US makes up 5% of the world population, but 25% of the world inmate population is staggering. Before reading your blog, I knew our prison system needed reform, but I did not know the full extent of the problem. I wonder what factors account for our huge prison populations, is it our culture? values? environment?
I think it is ridiculous that we only make up five percent of the population, yet make up a quarter of the worlds prisoners. Those numbers speak for themselves and with how poorly our justice system is being run. The system also needs to take into account the number of prisoners that need mental guidance. It would probably prevent repeated offenders.
My son was placed is Dooley state prison. He has served 3 of a 5 year term. He has been stabbed him & his broke his jaw. Dooley left his untreated so long that he became delirious from infection, he was finally transferred to Augusta medical , the infection ate his jaw bone. He was waiting for a 2nd surgery to take out a hip bone and replace the jaw bone, his mouth is wired shut…the surgery was CANCELLED and he has been placed back in regular population at Dooley, where he can’t eat and he was told infection will set in again. He is the weak and they will attack him. He is sick and can’t eat solid foods for 3 months now. Time is ticking and I am fearful for my son’s life. Please help me know what can I do?
I recently found out that private prisons in the United States have to fill a certain amount of beds with inmates (like 90%-ish) to avoid fines.
I feel like the American government forgets commercialization isn’t always the best choice. The overcrowding isn’t going to change as long as the prisons’ profit depends on the amount of people incarcerated.