he jails and prisons throughout the United States are filling up fast with severe overpopulation. Those with petty crimes are being thrown in alongside multiple convicted murders. In many cases, these persons go into these facilities as one person but come out as a completely different individual.
When dissimilar inmates are pushed together, they often learn how to perform other crimes. When a convicted person’s time expires in a prison, he or she may be more likely to commit another crime after being part of society again. This could be due to various reasons, but one of the most likely is that it is often more difficult to secure housing, employment and social standing when conviction of crimes has occurred.
Criminalization of petty crimes and various instances of drug crimes with those that only possessed the substances are assisting in causing severe population growths in prisons. Even petty misdemeanors may yield some time in a local or state prison. Some other violations lead to federal incarceration. The standard is to lock these individuals up instead of seeking treatment options that may prevent continued plagues on society through offenses of the law. Separation of those in these facilities may also lead to fewer concerns within their walls and continued peace with the residents. Additionally, prison should only be the last option for the most severe crimes as many problems may be treated with therapy, medication or behavioral modification.
Petty Reasons for Incarceration
There are numerous professionals in the legal world and civil rights groups that are attempting to bring to the attention of the public the increasing issue of over-criminalization in the United States. There are over 4,500 offenses considered criminal in the United States Code with many thousands more in the Code of Federal Regulations. Arrests and imprisonments of individuals and groups of persons have been occurring more and more as the decades pass. The increase of technology has assisted in these processes so law enforcement is aware more quickly of what crime is committed by whom and how.
Criminal Statistics
The years between 1980 and 2008 saw an increase by four times the amount of previous imprisonment. Since 2010, numbers have become greater. America only contains five percent of the entire population of the world, but about 25 percent of those inhabitants of the United States are prisoners in correctional institutions across the country. This country has the greatest amount of people behind bars than the rest of the world. Over 2 million individuals are scattered about in prison and jail. The rate of imprisonment is also the highest globally with over 700 incarcerated persons per every 100,000 citizens of the public population.
New Criminal Laws
Since 2000, there are numerous new criminal laws that have been implemented that may threaten the concept of imprisonment to a greater number of Americans who may have no idea that they are committing violations of the law. Some politicians feel compelled to show their stance as tough on crime when they are susceptible to losing their positions. The more persons that are sent to these correctional institutions, the worse the strain on taxpayers to foot the bill. It has been reported that over $80 billion in taxes and other income has been spent to fund prisons at the local, state and federal levels in the country. As these locations become overpopulated and inflation rises, the costs start to become astronomical.
Possible Alternatives
One United States lawyer in 2013 proposed his intention to implement possible alternatives to imprisonment. These include treatment programs and the release of various individuals that are nonviolent in nature or proven through study while in prison as well as those persons that have become older in age. Some of those proposed alternatives are specific to drug charges and sentencing as many of these crimes are minor in the big scheme of things. These methods have been stated to be a step in the right direction, but greater changes must be implemented to adjust the excessive amount of incarcerated individuals still littering the prison systems. More and wider ranges of alternate possible plans are needed in the entire country to fix the problem.
The Continued Problem
The over-criminalization of various offenses has been and continues to be a severe problem the country faces. When charged with offenses, it is vital to hire or obtain a lawyer for assistance. With criminal defense lawyers, it is possible to seek a positive outcome when facing potential jail or prison terms.
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