Overcrowded and Under-funded Prisons

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2005 there were 2,186,230 prisoners being held in federal or state prisons or in local jails. The paper reports that a number of critics blame the U.S. war on crime and drugs for the six-fold increase in the prison population, which has resulted in the construction of the world's largest prison system in less than three decades.

From the Paper:

"As in many states, the Texas state prison system was so overcrowded during the 1970's that many units were operating at 200 percent capacity, with sometimes five inmates to a two-person cell, while others slept on hallway floors and outside in tents (Vogel 2004). By the mid-1990's, despite the largest and most expensive prison-building program in history, correctional facilities still operated at or above rated capacities, and economic problems increased on both the state and federal level (Vogel 2004). A third of those attending the 1999 International Association of Chiefs of Police conference, named overcrowded facilities as the industry's greatest problem (Overcrowding 1999). Although 47 percent felt that keeping sex offenders locked up was the best solution to deterring sex crimes, Daniel Crawford pointed out that "keeping sex offenders locked up presents a bit of a conundrum considering that our detention facilities are overflowing" (Overcrowding 1999). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Demleitner, Nora V. (2005 October 01). Smart public policy: replacing imprisonment with targeted nonprison sentences and collateral sanctions. Stanford Law Review. Retrieved September 18 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
• Dickenson, Rachel. (1996 February 01). The prison population bomb. American Demographics. Retrieved September 18 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
• Incarceration. (2005). The Sentencing Project. Retrieved September 18 2006 from: http://www.sentencingproject.org/issues_01.cfm
• Marciniak, Ed. (2002 January 25). STANDING ROOM ONLY: What to do about prison overcrowding. Commonweal. Retrieved September 18 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
• McCormick, Patrick T. (2000 September 01). Just Punishment and America's Prison Experiment. Theological Studies. Retrieved September 18 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

More papers on Overcrowded and Under-funded Prisons:

• Research Paper # 92650 : "Uninsured and Under-insured"
• Term Paper # 107147 : "Uninsured and Under-insured in America"
• Comparison Essay # 119502 : "A Small Place" and "Under the Tuscan Sun"

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