mass incac. 1 Essays - Crime, Penology, Free Essays, Term Papers

mass incac. 1 Essays - Crime, Penology, Free Essays, Term Papers The problem of mass incarceration in America is only gradually getting worse as time passes. "The United States now locks up a higher percentage of its population than any country in the world. The more than 2 million people who are incarcerated today make up roughly eight times the number in 1975. Moreover, those in prison are disproportionately African-American and Latino, and much of the increase in prison population over the last decade and a half has been driven by those sentenced for nonviolent drug or property crime". ( Jacobson 8). Michael Jacobson believes that he has found the solution to the this problem and he explain it in his book, "Downsizing Prisons : How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration". First Jacobson calls on decreasing the spending on incarceration. Less spending on incarceration and, as an alternative, more spending on economic or community development. " The argument is that spending now on prevention will result in greater social justice, reduced incarceration, and less spending on criminal justice and corrections down the road" ( Jacobson 10). 80 billion dollars a year are spent on corrections facilities alone while the Board of education has only a 68 billion dollar discretionary budget. I agree with Jacobson stance on this. It cost around 31,000 to be incarcerated for one inmate for a year. The tuition is around 10,000 in public state universities. There is no way that it should be more expensive to attend your local correctional facility than to obtain an education. While a emphasis is placed on murders and rape when it comes to the justice system, a large population of criminals in prisons are guilty of petty crimes such as theft. If resources were made available to place with poverty and low income families rather than funds being poured in the the local prison I believe that reform and change would be made. Second Jacobson calls on the the removal of mandatory sentences. Jacobson states that , "It is precisely in the area of sentencing and, in particular, mandatory sentencing that state legislatures have acted precipitously and with little regard for extant research. The harmful effects of prison to prisoners and their communities on the hugely disproportionate incarceration of minorities on misguided sentencing policies in the form of more mandatory sentences"( Jacobson 27). Jacobson considers mandatory sentencing unjust. "A judge does not have the authority to tailor the sentence to the specific facts. Therefore, someone who was an unimportant part of a drug conspiracy might be stuck with the same minimum sentence as someone who was the ringleader behind the crime. Mandatory sentencing laws also do not allow plea bargains, so even if the prosecutor wants to offer a reduced sentence for a plea, they cannot" ( Jacobson 28). I do not agree with Jacobson and his stance on this sub ject. Mandatory sentences make sure that wealth and position in society do not play a role in how much time you get. For example if someone who is rich commits aggravated sexual assault and someone who is poor commits the same crime, in theory they should both get either life in prison or execution. Mandatory sentencing is on the right side of justice in my eyes. When people who have committed the same crime are treated equally under the law. There are too many judges who are either not competent to do their jobs, or who inject their own personal opinions into their decisions. The result is a very flawed system that needs to be as black and white as possible. Lastly Jacobson calls for decrease of those incarcerated for drug offenses. First, "In 1986, the first Anti- Drug Abuse Act passed Congress and was signed into law by President Reagan. This law imposed 29 new mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses; the bill also created the five-year minimum sentence that equated the crimes of selling 500 grams of cocaine and 5 grams of crack.". This began a "war on drugs" that has carried unto how the justice system works today. Jacobson believes that we should decrease those incarcerated for drug offenses who are non violent because those who suffer from substance abuse need rehabilitation and while that was the