Prison Reform in the United States of America - 1318 Words

Prison Reform in The United States of America â€Å"It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones† (Nelson Mandela, 1994). The United States of America has more people behind bars than any other country on the planet. The prisons are at over double capacity. It cost a lot of money to house prisoners each year. A large number of the prisoners are there because of drug related offenses. There are prisoners who have been sent to prison for life for marijuana related drug offenses. Many prisoners have been exonerated after spending many years behind bars due to the corruption in our legal system. 32 States in United States of†¦show more content†¦The perplexing thing is that many of these States are willing to spend vast amounts of money to house prisoners for many years but will spend less than half on education. Because over a quarter of the prison ers incarcerated are there from drug-related offenses, then it seems like the states could save a lot of money if drug policies were geared towards rehabilitation instead of incarceration. Overall they would be able to save billions of dollars. The demographics of the prison population in America are very discouraging with a very high unbalanced proportion of the prison population being African-American. Although approximately 12% to 13% of the American population is African American, African-Americans make up over 40% of the prison population. This number is so unusually disproportionate that many critics believe that the African-American community is judged harsher than it would the Hispanics or the Caucasians. The same critics also believe that it is because many of the policies related to incarceration were designed specifically to target the African-American community. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses were directly targeted towards these communities. Much of the t ime drug enforcement officers go into the African American communities and set up sting operations that entrapShow MoreRelatedThe American Penal System : The United States Essay1705 Words   |  7 PagesPenal System Crime has been an ever-present figure in America even before America officially became a country. Where there is crime, there must be a way to suppress it. That is where prisons come into play. When a person commits a crime, he or she might stay in a prison while awaiting trial and might also stay in a prison as a punishment if that trial does not end in his or her favor. According to The Sentencing Project, as of 2015, the United States’ rate of incarceration was the highest in the worldRead MoreReform, Means Improvement : Prison Reform Essay1558 Words   |  7 PagesReform, means improvement. 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