Too Many Inmates

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that, of all the various social ills currently facing the U. S., one of the most pressing is the relentless overcrowding of its prisons and jails. The paper then looks at the various reasons for this overcrowding and contends that overcrowding is really unnecessary, considering that the vast majority of America's inmates are not violent offenders and could be rehabilitated in some other way. The paper also argues that this massive national effort to lock up criminals and throw away the key is reflective of a change in values and attitudes about crime and that substantial cost incurred by swelling prison populations places a serious drain on state and national resources.

From the Paper:

"There are a variety of reasons for this excessive overcrowding. Since the 1990s, government at all levels has responded to crime with tougher sentencing, a strategy designed to serve as a deterrent for other would-be criminals. Though some studies have established that the tougher penalties have reduced crime in urban areas, the fact remains that the nation's prison system has not been able to keep pace with the constant influx of prisoners (Diiulio, 1995). Thousands of inmates now sleep on the floors or on dining tables, because there is simply no other place to house them. In addition, overcrowding has also meant that thousands of inmates have had to be paroled much earlier than they would have been under less crowded conditions (Marciniak, 2002). The irony here is that tougher penalties sometimes translate into less jail time. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Butterfield, F. (1999). Eliminating parole boards isn't a cure-all, experts say. New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2008 from <http://query.newyorktimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res =9C06E6D61F3EF933A2572C0A96F958260>.
• Demleitner, N. V. (2005). Smart public policy: Replacing imprisonment with targeted non-prison sentences and collateral sanctions. Stanford Law Review 58 (1): 339-360.
• Diiulio, J. J. (1995). Arresting ideas: Tougher law enforcement is driving down urban crime. Policy Review 74 (1): 12-15.
• Dolovich, S. (2005). State punishment and private prisons. Duke Law Journal 55 (3): 437-546.
• Golash, D. (2005). The case against punishment: Retribution, crime prevention, and the law. New York: New York University Press.

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