Carla Smith English 2010 Professor Sanders Saturday, November 09, 2013

United to sto over!ro"ded risons #n the united States there are not enough fa!ilities to hold the long time roblems of lo!$ing high offensive !riminals% #n fa!t the rate of in!ar!erations in the United States is one of the highest in the "orld%

&!!ording to the #nternational Center for Prison Studies one'(uarter of the entire "orld)s inmates have been in!ar!erated in the United States in re!ent years% *his is one of the main forms of unishment for those "ho !ommit offenses in different degrees in our so!iety% &lso $no"ing that there might not be enough fa!ilities available to hel these offenders it+s also a !on!ern for so!iety% *here is not a better time to ut together a lan "here most of our states !an agree and !ome together to ro erly distribute a budget in the best "ay ossible to ro erly evaluate !iti,ens "ho have harmed so!iety% *his a er ro ose the o tions and alternatives some states have ta$en to sto the release of harmful offenders into so!iety ta$ing into a!!ount the roblem of over!ro"ded risons% -ne of the ma.or reasons "hy our risons are overrun "ith e/treme amounts of inmates is be!ause of the 0a!$ of ro er assessment "hen it !omes to senten!ing% *here are four "ays to release over!ro"ded risons% California)s three stri$e la" has hel ed give the state "ith more o tions on ho" ro erly asses situations "here etty theft might be all that ha ened% #t ma$es the ro!ess of

senten!ing go a different dire!tion, "here the a!!used sub.e!t does not need to ne!essarily end u in a rison% Ne/t im lementing a misdemeanor reform by de!riminali,ing offenses as sim le as, dog'leash violation, and o!!u ying multi le seats on the sub"ay% *his "ill really ta$e !are of those !ases "here lesser !rimes have been omitted a more fair a roa!h to the o!!urred event rather than letting it ens to those individuals

fall into the bun!h% 1hi!h starts me "ondering "hat ha

a"aiting trial that have !ommitted a lo" !rime su!h as not aying bail, or traffi! violations2 *his brings me to my third oint, some individuals "ith su!h lo" offenses !an be released ba!$ into so!iety "ith ro er !itations and not been a burden to ta/ ayer money, be!ause they are not a threat to so!iety% *his is also $no"n as re'

trial detention "hi!h may o!!ur "hen the individual does not !om ly "ith the a ayment of bond% 3ourth, im ose no rison enalties on those "ho fail to sho" to a !ourt a earan!e or robation violations%

#n arti!le about the Pro.e!t for -lder Prisoners or P-PS, Newsweek maga,ine, re!ently mentions that it !ost about 420,000 a year to im rison a young, healthy, dangerous man% 1hi!h leads me to my ne/t oint% 1hat if "e !ould better distribute our inmates in all the state risons based on their age and ho" li$ely they are to be a danger to so!iety% &s a result P-PS its !ommitted to removing lo" ris$ geriatri! risoners from over!ro"ded risons% *here are other (ualifiers for inmates to meet in order for them to be eligible for the rogram, inmates must a!$no"ledge their guilt% *he rogram then "ill hel rovide ro er a!!ommodations in a different

setting su!h as retirement home or an old fol$+s home% & great out!ome is the story of 5uento 6ro"n then 70 years old, "ho stole a 17'!ent !herry ie from 8organ City, 0a store ba!$ on 1993% :e !rossed the street, !ra"led under a house , ate the ie and do!ilely surrendered himself and his %3; istol, "hi!h may not have been in "or$ing order, to oli!e "hen they arrived% :e "as senten!ed to 30 years "ithout arole% <ears later at age =9 a la" rofessor study his !ase and advo!ated for his arole% 1ith the hel of P-PS he "as able to get a .ob and reinstate his life into so!iety% 1hi!h ever method of se aration of "ho should stay or must go out of rison, "e have to ta$e into a!!ount those inmates that are !urrently in servi!e time for ossession of drugs that at the same time are addi!ted and suffer from it% *he state of >entu!$y has ta$en a different a roa!h to this roblem% #n their over!ro"ded

risons, substan!e abuse offenders ma$e u 20 er!ent of inmates in the state risons% &buse and addi!tion lays another im ortant role some ;0 er!ent of

offenders abuse drugs and al!ohol, and nearly half of .ail and rison inmates are thought to be !lini!ally addi!ted% ?State 0egislature 8ar 2010@% >no"ing the roblem the state fa!es, they have im lemented treatment rograms in risons or .ail% & study of this rogram started in 2007 found a redu!tion of inmates ma$ing the same mista$es and !oming ba!$ to rison% 8ore than t"o thirds of the arti!i ants are not in rison of .ail 12 months later% Senator Ed 1orley of >entu!$y says A Bit ays for itself, there are too many re eat offenders "ith drug roblems filling u our .ails and risons% 1e need to rehabilitate them so they !an !ontribute to so!iety, rather than re eatedly drain our revenuesB% *his is not the only state ta$en a ro riate measures to address the issue% Ce resentative Dery 8adden of *e/as

sees state funds s ent for drugs, al!ohol and mental health rograms as a Breinvestment strategyB that ays off ?State 0egislature 8ar 2010@% *here is not a doubt that our la" ma$ers are struggling to find a solution to brea$ the !y!le of drugs and !rime but many still argue that su!h o tions of reinventing the budget are to be treated as a ubli! health !on!ern rather than a !riminal .usti!e matter% &gain California is another e/am le of a state "ho "as able to ass a legislation !all Pro osition 3= "i!h rovides treatment instead of in!ar!eration for none'violent drug offenders% 8illi!ent Eomes, the de uty dire!tor of the -ffi!e of Criminal Dusti!e Collaboration in California, has noti!ed a big im rovement% She "ill tell you that 30 months, arrest rates of those "ho !om lete treatment are lo"er than for others "ho do not re!eive treatment% # believe that our goverment !an do better "hen it !omes to !riminal legislation% 6ut "e all need to be !areful in the ste s "e ta$e to address this issue% 1e !an not .ust release non'violent inmates .ust to free u the budget% Prison terms are !ostly and long% Non'violent offenders need to be ro erly sele!ted and

evaluated% 8oney !ould be used for s!hools and roads, "here dangerous and violent !riminals "ould still be im rison% 6ut others "ill debate that risons are for safety, not money% Ceality tells us that there is !learly an issue that has to be addressed% *he State of Utah has im lemented a great "ay to get those offenders out of rison but at the same time, they $ee them under the radar% Not only are states releasing risoners in a rush, but a!!ording to an arti!le on USA *oday 1ashington state is abandoning enhan!ed su ervision on its "orst .uvenile offenders, "hile 1is!onsin lans to dum the ele!troni! monitoring of se/ offenders% Utah on the other hand is trying to find money to sto the !uts on robation and arole offi!ers% #t is im erative to ta$e another a roa!h to the roblem "ith !onsisten!y to avoid

having high level offenders out on the streets% 1e need to loo$ into early release rograms that sho" romising results li$e those in California and !ontinue to $ee a budget a side for ro er monitoring after their release li$e in the State of Utah%

1or$s Cited 0yons, Fonna% BCrime and *reatment%B State Legislatures% 8ar!h 2010% Gol%3= #ssue 3, 2='2;% 3 %

Sethi, &r.un% B3our 1ays to relieve -ver!ro"ded Prisons%B Christian Science Monitor% 29 Fe!ember 2011% N% P&E% 1 %

BStates Celeasing Prisoners Early may ay for it 0ater%B USA Today% 0; Dune 2009% 1al$er, Channing% B-ver!ro"ded PrisonsA 1hat to Fo2B Christian Science Monitor% 21 8ay 2012% N% P&E% 1 %

1ill, Eeorge 3% B& Dail 6rea$ for Eereatri!s%B Newsweek% 20 Duly 199;% Gol% 132 #ssue 3%