I think that Jeremy Travis, the man that is arguing to reduce the incarcerations in prison and jail by half by 2030, had a good point that I didn't know other countries did this. I was amazed that Germany try to make there prisons environments closely as possible to a free society environment. I do agree with Travis for America to adopt this point he gave. The American society has this perspective that people in jail are vicious and cold hearted, that they need to be locked up like animals. If you treat these inmates like animals they start acting like animals. It didn't go into great details what Germany has in the prison or what they do to make it close to a free society but my mind wonder at this point Travis gave in his speech. That inmates could be working to get paid and could pay for there own thing like clothing, food, television, etc. It would benefit to the economy for the jobs that they are doing. I watched a show called, "locked up" and it talks about how some inmates can't afford some stuff and the government have to provide them with the essentials like tooth paste, tooth brushes, etc. The money the government is using to pay for these essentials are the tax payers money and if the inmates had there own job like a free society would have, they would be able to buy stuff for themselves and that tax payer's money could be used for better things. I could go on forever about this but I think you get what I'm saying. Phenom789
I agree with everything that you are saying we should give the inmates a chance to know what its like to work like the free world does. If we just keep handing them everything that they need while they are in there that is going to teach them nothing. So if we teach them nothing then they have nothing to go off of when they get released so that is exactly why they go back to their old habits and commit new crimes. Green789
I can see your point but I'm not sure that we should make prisoners feel too free. They are in there because they have done something wrong, not saying they deserve to be treated like animals, but they still need get the prisoners to feel like they are being punished. -Acerunner789
I agree I've also watched that show,there should always be second chances. many people learn like that. the inmates who are sitting in jail may have learned their lesson already from the time they went in but. no one could benefit from being in certainly not the tax payers im pretty sure once the inmates has returned to society they are more than delighted to buy and do stuff independently without being watched they may need a little help here in there but not help from prison guards. LifeImagine789
My point is that we have people wasting their life away, when the could be doing something productive in their to help everyone else. That inmates could be learning skills like welding, cutting hair, etc. So they don't have trouble finding a job. I just think they shouldn't be sitting around worrying about not getting a job when they get out because of not being skilled and for being in jail. Phenom789
I strongly agree with Travis in this article. We do need to down size our prisons however we can not do this if once we release an inmate they have nothing to come home too. Like it is said in the article we should help the people that work in the prisons and also the inmates that live there. We should make it more aware of the programs that are out there that will help inmates get a job and a place to stay when they come out. A lot of them probably have no idea that there is a program that will help them. If they were aware I believe that we could reduce the prison size by doing this and we also have to stop making arrest that are not worth taking their life away from society. Having them go to more probation and drug classes could also help. I hope that one day we can reduce these problems. Green789
Sentencing someone to jail for 20 years on a drug charge that could easily be fixed with a few years of treatments and help is one problems I have with the prison system. Doing that to someone who has never been to prison before will completely destroy their future and could eventually make them become dependent on prison life because once they get out of prison there's almost no chance they can regain their place in society. Flitzy789
What about those who have committed these crimes multiple times? Should we continue to send them to rehab after rehab? Or how about those who don't finish the rehab program or skip out because they have better things to do? Even though treatment facilities are ideal, there are so many factors that would have to be taken into consideration and it will take a lot of time to define all of these loopholes. -NavyAME789
With the points being presented in this article I can fully understand why this topic is being discussed and why Jeremy Travis is trying to cause a change but I can’t see these things to be realistic at all. I would love to see some of these changes happen if they would help with saving money to spent somewhere else like to help people rather than punish them but it just won’t happen with the way this country is ran and the split between the people. He talks about people should get a sentence that is proportional to the crime that they have committed but hasn’t the country already decided on these proportions? Although some crimes seem like they are a bit overkill I understand why some states have done this. When you have a high amount of people committing the same crime and the punishment is not that serious at then it only makes sense to increase the punishment causing people to stopped committing the crime. At some point we just need to let the people realize that it’s their fault for being there they committed the crime and they got caught. -Acerunner789
I completely agree with the fact that we have to keep the punishment consistent and severe enough or people will never take the blame for their actions. I, for one, could care less what the crime is...if you do the crime, you better be willing to do the time. -NavyAME789
reading and stating facts from this article I do believe that a lot of inmates are being held for a long period of time behind bars for a not so criminal charge. "with about 2.2 million people in prison and jails, the u.s. incarcerates 25 % of the worlds prison population while it is home to just 5 % of the total world population. 5% doesn't seem a lot to me if you asked. a lot of times needs to be re thought because many people go through a lot in life life throws people fast balls their not able to catch, then they fall back on drugs to comfort them. All we need is a few more help from our community workers and personal to step up and the hurting out the deep in. A lot of officers don't look into the individual daily lives they make one little observation and the assume the wrong thing. alot would be easier if we didn't have early judgements. LIfeImagine 789
Travis has a great point that "long standing American values" can help shorter prison sentences and help lawmakers pass new policies to greatly reduce the prison population. Also that all political parties and activists can come together and help solve this national crisis before it becomes too big solve. I knew that we imprison more people per capita in the United States than pretty much the rest of the world, but I had no idea that this boom comes after 40 years. I thought that it started in the 1980s with the "War on Drugs" that began the growth and handed down longer and stricter sentences for drug crimes. I also believe that drug sentences shouldn't be up to 20 years, that could easily destroy a young person's life after making a mistake one time. Also that their drug problem could most likely be fixed in 2-5 years of court ordered treatment instead of alienating them from society and giving them no chance at a fresh start after they've paid their debt to society. -Flitzy789
I agree with your argument that a drug sentence shouldn't be up to 20 years. I have seen first hand that if the person spends longer time in prison the more "friends" they make in their. Once they come out they find those friends and go back to those bad habits. I also believe that sometimes the individual comes out worse than before they went to prison. -Barcelona789
While I agree that the amount of prisoners incarcerated in the country is ridiculous, I think that this article is loaded with a bunch of garbage. For instance, "we need to humanize our prisons"-what the heck is this? The prisons that I've personally researched have better accommodations than a lot of hardworking people get. They have running water, food to eat and a roof over their head with heating and air conditioning to protect them from the elements. We need to put phones in the cells? Are they serious? I, for one, think that prison should NOT be an enjoyable experience. Why would someone care if they committed a crime if where they're going to be sent (the prison), is more comfortable than their home? They wouldn't. They would commit crime without second guessing it. Do I think that we need to be realistic about the crime to punishment ratio? Yes, I do. The statistic of the United States having "25 percent of the world's prison population" is obviously out of control. We need to prioritize the criminals based on things such as the level of violence portrayed in the crime, the amount of offenses that they have, etc. For those who commit crimes involving drugs or alcohol, we, as a society, should definitely be on board with putting our tax dollars towards a treatment program rather than a prison sentence. Overall, the idea of reducing the amount of prisoners in our jail system is absolutely realistic and necessary but we need to figure out a way to balance the fine lines of "too easy" and "too hard" for the prisoners. -NavyAME789
I totally agree with this that prison should not be an enjoyable experience. When you see a show or documentary, you don't think to yourself that this was a place you want to go because of all the accommodations that were there. It was supposed to be something you never wanted to experience. Now a days, they have privileges like phones, televisions are even allowed as well as skyping with a loved one on "good behavior" days. CSI 789
As I agreeingly stated in my own response, I do not feel we should make prison a "fun" place. It's still a prison. You're not supposed to feel at home or "all cozy in your cell" while you're an inmate. I believe we need to keep the prison environment the same, however, we need to people who shouldn't be there out of prison. Mostly by rehabilitation for non-violent criminals. -Pack789.
From the first few sentences of this article I couldn't help but shake my head and agree with Jeremy Traivs that the prison population needs to be cut drastically but I also didn't agree with some of his view points. After reading the sentence that said, “”long-standing American values" can guide new policies of significantly shorter prison sentences.” I began to question what American values he was referring to because many Americans have very different values. In some parts of Travis’s argument about the rate of incarceration should be based on four principles being proportionality, parsimony, citizenship and social justice I didn't agree with one of the four principles. I didn't agree with the citizenship principle because I don't believe you should treat someone who murdered someone as freely as you would treat a “free American”. The murderer is in prison because of the actions in which he/she partook and shouldn't be given the freedom of having a job in prison while some “free Americans” don't even have a paying job. I think there is ways in which the prison population can be decreased but it will take time and new laws on how to punish people who commit a crime. Barcelona789
Jeremy Travis has many good points about how and why the prison population should be cut. 2.2 million people, the U.S. incarcerates twenty five percent, and five percent of the total population are in prison or jail. How many of those people don't belong there? How many people on the streets should be in there but are not? When the world population is about seven billion people and 2.2 million of those people are imprisoned I find that to be a lot. Travis said, "will never lead to the significant reduction in our prison that is possible or desirable." I feel there will always be crime. There will be one or two people that are out, but will always have three or four going back in for something minor or even something serious. So I honestly don't think there will be a time when everyone is happy with the reduction of prison populations. CSI 789
I like the points that Jeremy touches on throughout the article. More specifically the outrageous statistics like how the U.S. accounts for 25% of the world inmate population but only 5% of the total global population. His points he makes in his argument really sway the reader to agree with prison reform. I also agree that we need to focus more on violent crimes and criminals rather than the petty drug offenders who do no harm. We need to provide rehabilitation centers that will get these people the help they need. Which in turn will save tax dollars and lower the incarceration rate. However, I do not completely agree with every statement in the article. More specifically, making the prison environment resemble free society. I believe that, whatever the case may be, a person is in prison for a reason. We should not turn our prisons into a "getaway" to the point of rewarding someone for going to prison. All in all, I hope the prison reform goes through but in a sensible manner. -Pack789
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jeremy Travis, the man that is arguing to reduce the incarcerations in prison and jail by half by 2030, had a good point that I didn't know other countries did this. I was amazed that Germany try to make there prisons environments closely as possible to a free society environment. I do agree with Travis for America to adopt this point he gave. The American society has this perspective that people in jail are vicious and cold hearted, that they need to be locked up like animals. If you treat these inmates like animals they start acting like animals. It didn't go into great details what Germany has in the prison or what they do to make it close to a free society but my mind wonder at this point Travis gave in his speech. That inmates could be working to get paid and could pay for there own thing like clothing, food, television, etc. It would benefit to the economy for the jobs that they are doing. I watched a show called, "locked up" and it talks about how some inmates can't afford some stuff and the government have to provide them with the essentials like tooth paste, tooth brushes, etc. The money the government is using to pay for these essentials are the tax payers money and if the inmates had there own job like a free society would have, they would be able to buy stuff for themselves and that tax payer's money could be used for better things. I could go on forever about this but I think you get what I'm saying. Phenom789
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that you are saying we should give the inmates a chance to know what its like to work like the free world does. If we just keep handing them everything that they need while they are in there that is going to teach them nothing. So if we teach them nothing then they have nothing to go off of when they get released so that is exactly why they go back to their old habits and commit new crimes. Green789
DeleteI can see your point but I'm not sure that we should make prisoners feel too free. They are in there because they have done something wrong, not saying they deserve to be treated like animals, but they still need get the prisoners to feel like they are being punished. -Acerunner789
DeleteI agree I've also watched that show,there should always be second chances. many people learn like that. the inmates who are sitting in jail may have learned their lesson already from the time they went in but. no one could benefit from being in certainly not the tax payers im pretty sure once the inmates has returned to society they are more than delighted to buy and do stuff independently without being watched they may need a little help here in there but not help from prison guards. LifeImagine789
DeleteMy point is that we have people wasting their life away, when the could be doing something productive in their to help everyone else. That inmates could be learning skills like welding, cutting hair, etc. So they don't have trouble finding a job. I just think they shouldn't be sitting around worrying about not getting a job when they get out because of not being skilled and for being in jail. Phenom789
DeleteI strongly agree with Travis in this article. We do need to down size our prisons however we can not do this if once we release an inmate they have nothing to come home too. Like it is said in the article we should help the people that work in the prisons and also the inmates that live there. We should make it more aware of the programs that are out there that will help inmates get a job and a place to stay when they come out. A lot of them probably have no idea that there is a program that will help them. If they were aware I believe that we could reduce the prison size by doing this and we also have to stop making arrest that are not worth taking their life away from society. Having them go to more probation and drug classes could also help. I hope that one day we can reduce these problems. Green789
ReplyDeleteSentencing someone to jail for 20 years on a drug charge that could easily be fixed with a few years of treatments and help is one problems I have with the prison system. Doing that to someone who has never been to prison before will completely destroy their future and could eventually make them become dependent on prison life because once they get out of prison there's almost no chance they can regain their place in society. Flitzy789
DeleteWhat about those who have committed these crimes multiple times? Should we continue to send them to rehab after rehab? Or how about those who don't finish the rehab program or skip out because they have better things to do? Even though treatment facilities are ideal, there are so many factors that would have to be taken into consideration and it will take a lot of time to define all of these loopholes. -NavyAME789
DeleteWith the points being presented in this article I can fully understand why this topic is being discussed and why Jeremy Travis is trying to cause a change but I can’t see these things to be realistic at all. I would love to see some of these changes happen if they would help with saving money to spent somewhere else like to help people rather than punish them but it just won’t happen with the way this country is ran and the split between the people. He talks about people should get a sentence that is proportional to the crime that they have committed but hasn’t the country already decided on these proportions? Although some crimes seem like they are a bit overkill I understand why some states have done this. When you have a high amount of people committing the same crime and the punishment is not that serious at then it only makes sense to increase the punishment causing people to stopped committing the crime. At some point we just need to let the people realize that it’s their fault for being there they committed the crime and they got caught. -Acerunner789
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the fact that we have to keep the punishment consistent and severe enough or people will never take the blame for their actions. I, for one, could care less what the crime is...if you do the crime, you better be willing to do the time. -NavyAME789
Deletereading and stating facts from this article I do believe that a lot of inmates are being held for a long period of time behind bars for a not so criminal charge. "with about 2.2 million people in prison and jails, the u.s. incarcerates 25 % of the worlds prison population while it is home to just 5 % of the total world population. 5% doesn't seem a lot to me if you asked. a lot of times needs to be re thought because many people go through a lot in life life throws people fast balls their not able to catch, then they fall back on drugs to comfort them. All we need is a few more help from our community workers and personal to step up and the hurting out the deep in. A lot of officers don't look into the individual daily lives they make one little observation and the assume the wrong thing. alot would be easier if we didn't have early judgements. LIfeImagine 789
ReplyDeleteTravis has a great point that "long standing American values" can help shorter prison sentences and help lawmakers pass new policies to greatly reduce the prison population. Also that all political parties and activists can come together and help solve this national crisis before it becomes too big solve. I knew that we imprison more people per capita in the United States than pretty much the rest of the world, but I had no idea that this boom comes after 40 years. I thought that it started in the 1980s with the "War on Drugs" that began the growth and handed down longer and stricter sentences for drug crimes. I also believe that drug sentences shouldn't be up to 20 years, that could easily destroy a young person's life after making a mistake one time. Also that their drug problem could most likely be fixed in 2-5 years of court ordered treatment instead of alienating them from society and giving them no chance at a fresh start after they've paid their debt to society. -Flitzy789
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument that a drug sentence shouldn't be up to 20 years. I have seen first hand that if the person spends longer time in prison the more "friends" they make in their. Once they come out they find those friends and go back to those bad habits. I also believe that sometimes the individual comes out worse than before they went to prison. -Barcelona789
DeleteWhile I agree that the amount of prisoners incarcerated in the country is ridiculous, I think that this article is loaded with a bunch of garbage. For instance, "we need to humanize our prisons"-what the heck is this? The prisons that I've personally researched have better accommodations than a lot of hardworking people get. They have running water, food to eat and a roof over their head with heating and air conditioning to protect them from the elements. We need to put phones in the cells? Are they serious? I, for one, think that prison should NOT be an enjoyable experience. Why would someone care if they committed a crime if where they're going to be sent (the prison), is more comfortable than their home? They wouldn't. They would commit crime without second guessing it. Do I think that we need to be realistic about the crime to punishment ratio? Yes, I do. The statistic of the United States having "25 percent of the world's prison population" is obviously out of control. We need to prioritize the criminals based on things such as the level of violence portrayed in the crime, the amount of offenses that they have, etc. For those who commit crimes involving drugs or alcohol, we, as a society, should definitely be on board with putting our tax dollars towards a treatment program rather than a prison sentence. Overall, the idea of reducing the amount of prisoners in our jail system is absolutely realistic and necessary but we need to figure out a way to balance the fine lines of "too easy" and "too hard" for the prisoners. -NavyAME789
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this that prison should not be an enjoyable experience. When you see a show or documentary, you don't think to yourself that this was a place you want to go because of all the accommodations that were there. It was supposed to be something you never wanted to experience. Now a days, they have privileges like phones, televisions are even allowed as well as skyping with a loved one on "good behavior" days. CSI 789
DeleteAs I agreeingly stated in my own response, I do not feel we should make prison a "fun" place. It's still a prison. You're not supposed to feel at home or "all cozy in your cell" while you're an inmate. I believe we need to keep the prison environment the same, however, we need to people who shouldn't be there out of prison. Mostly by rehabilitation for non-violent criminals. -Pack789.
DeleteFrom the first few sentences of this article I couldn't help but shake my head and agree with Jeremy Traivs that the prison population needs to be cut drastically but I also didn't agree with some of his view points. After reading the sentence that said, “”long-standing American values" can guide new policies of significantly shorter prison sentences.” I began to question what American values he was referring to because many Americans have very different values. In some parts of Travis’s argument about the rate of incarceration should be based on four principles being proportionality, parsimony, citizenship and social justice I didn't agree with one of the four principles. I didn't agree with the citizenship principle because I don't believe you should treat someone who murdered someone as freely as you would treat a “free American”. The murderer is in prison because of the actions in which he/she partook and shouldn't be given the freedom of having a job in prison while some “free Americans” don't even have a paying job. I think there is ways in which the prison population can be decreased but it will take time and new laws on how to punish people who commit a crime.
ReplyDeleteBarcelona789
Jeremy Travis has many good points about how and why the prison population should be cut. 2.2 million people, the U.S. incarcerates twenty five percent, and five percent of the total population are in prison or jail. How many of those people don't belong there? How many people on the streets should be in there but are not? When the world population is about seven billion people and 2.2 million of those people are imprisoned I find that to be a lot. Travis said, "will never lead to the significant reduction in our prison that is possible or desirable." I feel there will always be crime. There will be one or two people that are out, but will always have three or four going back in for something minor or even something serious. So I honestly don't think there will be a time when everyone is happy with the reduction of prison populations. CSI 789
ReplyDeleteI like the points that Jeremy touches on throughout the article. More specifically the outrageous statistics like how the U.S. accounts for 25% of the world inmate population but only 5% of the total global population. His points he makes in his argument really sway the reader to agree with prison reform. I also agree that we need to focus more on violent crimes and criminals rather than the petty drug offenders who do no harm. We need to provide rehabilitation centers that will get these people the help they need. Which in turn will save tax dollars and lower the incarceration rate. However, I do not completely agree with every statement in the article. More specifically, making the prison environment resemble free society. I believe that, whatever the case may be, a person is in prison for a reason. We should not turn our prisons into a "getaway" to the point of rewarding someone for going to prison. All in all, I hope the prison reform goes through but in a sensible manner. -Pack789
ReplyDelete