Keeping America’s Vulnerable Safe: Fixing the problem of overcrowding in our prisons to create a safer environment for inmates and officers.
The United States has the largest prison population in the world with about 2,193,798 people currently in prison. This amounts to about 737 people per 100,000 people The next highest prison population is in China where there are about 118 people in prison for every 100,000 people. ^1 The overcrowding of American prisons has been a political topic of discussion for quite some time. 18 states have reported that their prisons are operating at over 100 percent capacity.^2 This issue has been caused by several different factors. One reason is the American perspective of those who have committed a crime. It is a common belief held in American society that those who have committed a crime should be put in prison and locked away. A second reason is the length of prison sentences given to those who have committed relatively small and non-violent crimes. And lastly, overcrowding in prisons is caused by high recidivism rates due to the decrease in use of rehabilitation programs in this country.^3
With the amount of people in American prisons comes more risk and safety hazards. One safety hazard presented by this issue is the increased risk of disease and sickness for inmates and officers.This issue has been magnified due to the current global pandemic. The close quarters that inmates live in are similar to those in nursing homes and dorms in college. These communal living environments have allowed COVID to spread at a much higher rate. A second safety hazard is the increased number of assaults that occur. With more inmates comes more anxiety and stress for the prisoners. This leads to increased tension and therefore assaults. Lastly, there are resource availability problems (ie. food and housing shortages) caused by the overcrowding of prisons. By the time food reaches all the inmates it may no longer be at the proper temperature and may be even unsafe to eat. Additionally, with prisons being over capacity, many prisons have had to improvise on where inmates can live.^4
Prisoners, although seen as outcasts of society because of their crimes, are a very vulnerable population, especially today during a global pandemic. It is easy to forget they exist and disregard the problems of overcrowding in our prisons. However, their voices should not be ignored and their crimes do not mean they deserve to be treated inhumanely.
In order to combat this problem of overcrowding and keep this vulnerable population safe, the United States should implement a policy of releasing prisoners who are terminally ill, old, or needed to take care of family members with no other guardian and who no longer pose a threat to society.
Bibliography
1 World Prison Populations, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm
2 Niall McCarthy, “The World’s Most Overcrowded Prison Systems”, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/26/the-worlds-most-overcrowded-prison-systems-infographic/?sh=4519da8d1372
3 Overcrowding of U.S. prisons raises cause for concern in CO, The Law Office of Care Enichen, https://www.carelawboulder.com/articles/overcrowding-of-u-s-prisons-raises-cause-for-concern-in-co/
4 Overcrowded Prisons and Officer Safety, The TASA Group, https://www.tasanet.com/Knowledge-Center/Articles/ArtMID/477/ArticleID/190/Overcrowded-Prisons-and-Officer-Safety
The title is very informative and very applicable to the topic at hand. I would considering maybe shortening/ condensing it as some of that information is provided in the introduction but this is not completely necessary. The intro also does a sufficient job at addressing exigence as there is a clear problem: overcrowding in prisons has become a more relevant problem due to health risks associated with current pandemic. This is becoming more pressing as overcrowding in prisons continues. The thesis is clearly stated in the last paragraph of the intro. This entails a policy change that will likely be addressed in the rest of the paper as it will advance the policy.
The title fits the topic. I do believe it is a little long and can be shortened to just “Keeping America’s Vulnerable Safe” or changing it to something prison related. The issue brought up in your introduction address exigence as overcrowded prisons have become more concerning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, there is a clear and identifable thesis that highlights the content of the essay.