Prison Overcrowding Sam Brandt

Class: Criminal Law and Procedures

Prison overcrowding is an ongoing problem throughout the United States. You

might not see it or hear about it, but the truth is your paying for someone to sit in a jail cell

and await trial. That’s why through my research I will discuss the following questions to

raise awareness about what’s going on in today’s prison systems: What is prison

overcrowding? Why is their so much prison overcrowding? What can be done to fix it?

Which prisons are the most overcrowded? What is the cost of housing an inmate?

Prison overcrowding can stem from a couple of different things. Sometimes the laws

change with the states or federally, which in return can send more people to prison.

Another is the change in crime toll every year (Portland State University , 2015). As this

happens the prisons begin to run out of cell availability for new inmates, causing a dilemma

(Portland State University , 2015).

Each year more and more criminals are getting locked up for drug charges. Drug

charges send the most people to prison, more than murder and rape charges (Gergory,

2006). The United States is leading the world right now with the most prisoners and

prisons compared to surrounding nations (Flatow, 2014). In December 31st of 2013 there

were 1.57 million inmates in federal, state, and county prisons (Flatow, 2014). African

American men have the greatest chance of going to prisons; they are six times more likely

than Caucasian men. A sentencing project and analysis of data was conduct and found

Hispanics are 2.4 times likely to go to jail over Caucasian men (Flatow, 2014). In 2011

federal prisons had 48% of inmates there on drug charges and 11% on immigration

charges, which is the fastest growing segment in the prison population. Federal laws have

remained high for minor nonviolent drug charges (Flatow, 2013). United States offenders

of incarceration have been estimated to be over 2.4 million. It’s hard to believe but 1 in 31

Americans are said to be in U.S. corrections in incarceration, parole or probation according

to a Pew Figures 2009 report (Flatow, 2014). FBI has estimated 1 in 3 Americans have a

criminal record. Federal prison population spiked 790% since 1980 from 2014 (Flatow,

2014). Most local jails house inmates that have a year or less, or have not been sentenced

yet. They have seen a rise in prison population as well (Flatow, 2014).

The prisons these days are packed with uneducated and mental health sickened

criminals. Did you know one in every 100 American adults are incarcerated? That means

the United States has criminals 5 to 10 times per capita of Western Europe. Back in 2012

the United States stood alone as the world leader incarceration. Out of every 100,000

people the United States has 707 people incarcerated. In comparison, China has only 124 to

172 per 100,000 people incarcerated. Twenty years ago we spent 12 billion on prisons,

now we spend a whopping 60 billion (American Psychological Assocaition, 2014). Crime

hasn’t always been this crazy in the United States, things were relatively calm before 1960.

From 1960 to 1980 crime rates soared as drugs such as crack cocaine started to be more

heavily predominate. New crime laws started to take place making minimum sentencing

for drug crimes (American Psychological Assocaition, 2014). Another reason prisons are

reaching their limit to hold in criminals is 64 percent have mental illnesses. Treatment is

not always available for these criminals as some ended up in the criminal justice system

instead of the mental health system.

President Obama and his administration have worked to lessen jail time of those

convicted on some drug charges. Since legislation has become involved they came up with

the idea to impose a cut to mandatory sentencing but increase the number of programs to

help inmates, along with the addition of more programs to hopefully cut the recidivism

among inmates (American Psychological Assocaition, 2014). There is a program act that

has been made, however it is waiting on a vote to be enacted. This is called the Smarter

Sentencing Act, which will affect 46,000 prisoners (MalveauxNNPA, 2014). Under the

Smarter Sentencing Act prisoners of non-violent drug charges will be able to have a more

reasonable sentencing and have the opportunity to gain access to education and

employment. Enacting the Smarter Sentencing Act is aimed to reduce the prisoner relapse

rates (MalveauxNNPA, 2014). Relapsing is a major issue. Seventy-five percent of inmates

who are incarcerated for 5 years get out only to get rearrested. There have been more than

3,200 inmates sentenced to life without parole for minor offenses like trying to cash a

stolen check or trying to shoplift (MalveauxNNPA, 2014).

Cook County jail is the most overcrowded jail in the United States located in Chicago

as of 2013. Daily detainee rates reach 10,000 or more (Davion, 2013). Having an

overpopulated jail causes a heap of issues, one being an inmate stays 20% longer because

of the high influx of cases. Most of the number of inmates comes from unemployment,

poverty and federal and state budget cuts (Davion, 2013). Mental illness or health

problems affect 2,000 prisoners. Those that have mental illness often have to wait to get in

to the state mental institute due to it not have enough room to house them. There is a

county run health service center called Cermak Health Services, where those that have

mental illness sleep on a mattress placed on the floor (Davion, 2013).

As of 2012 the average cost to keep a prisoner in jail was $31,286 (J.Hirby, 2015).

However, federal prisons in Colorado pay $60,000 to put a person in permanent isolation.

It costs $900,000 to house and inmate in Guantanamo Bay. The money to house and inmate

goes towards administration, operations and rehabilitation programs, health care and

security (J.Hirby, 2015).

In closing, prison overcrowding is a serious issue that needs more attention. We

should not just be putting people in jail for long periods of time for non-violent crimes. This

teaches them nothing and most likely they will relapse and taxpayers will pay more money.

Instead we need to develop more programs to help them get worked back into normal

society. Some programs I feel most important are education, rehab, and employment. As a

nation we need to inspire and motivate these individuals that have non-violent crimes that

made a poor decision to live a better life. We have all made mistakes, the difference is we

have learned our lesson. It is up to us as a nation to reconstruct and fix are broken prison

system to lessen the number of inmates.

Works Cited

American Psychological Assocaition. (2014, 10 1). Incaraceration Nation . Retrieved 8 22,

2015, from apa.org: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/incarceration.aspx

Davion, C. (2013, 9 18). Cook County Jail Most Croweded jail in US. Retrieved 8 28, 2015,

from World Socialist Website:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/18/cook-s18.html

Flatow, N. (2013, 1 2). Almost Half Of All Federal Prisoners Held For Drug Crimes. Retrieved

8 22, 2015, from Thinkprogress.org:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/02/1386251/almost-half-of-federal-

prisoners-held-for-drug-crimes/

Flatow, N. (2014, 9 7). The United States Has The Largest Prison Population in the World-

and its growing. Retrieved 8 19, 2015, from thinkprogress.org:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/17/3568232/the-united-states-had-

even-more-prisoners-in-2013/

Gergory, A. (2006, 7 26). The Real Reason Behind Overcrowding in Prisons. Retrieved 8 19,

2015, from Independent.org : http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?

id=1775

J.Hirby. (2015, 1 1). What Is The Average Cost To Hosue Inmates In Prison . Retrieved 8 28,

2015, from The Law Dictionary: http://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-is-the-

average-cost-to-house-inmates-in-prison/

MalveauxNNPA, J. (2014, 8 11). Smarter sentencing act set to modify sentencing

requirements. Retrieved 8 27, 2015, from University Wire:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1552479385?accountid=12779

Portland State University . (2015, 1 1). Prison overcrowding is a growing concern in the U.S.

Retrieved 8 18, 2015, from Portland State University :

http://online.ccj.pdx.edu/resources/news-articles/prison-overcrowding-is-a-

growing-concern-in-the-u-s/