1. “The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” So they have said that incarceration numbers have decreased increasingly over the years, but why does it seem like we still have many people locked up? Because we have advanced our technology and have a way different lifestyle than people back then, do you think it is time to change our laws to be more fitting towards our current lifestyle? What are we doing right that we can keep doing so our numbers will decrease even more? 2. “The United States locks up more people, per capita, than any other nation,” If this is the case, then why don’t we adopt the ways other nation takes care of their incarcerated. Maybe we are being too harsh and arrested people for things that truly aren’t that important. Or maybe we need to enforce the laws more to the upcoming generations. 3. “Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.” This is the reason why we are running out of room. More and more people go to jail then are let out every year. 4. “Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails have not been convicted. Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial.” Many people can’t afford to bail themselves out of jail. Or even have family that is willing to use it to bail them out. Then they have to sit there until their trial to see what the next step is. Then, by that time comes, they have lost their job because they haven’t showed up to work. And they have lost their living space because they weren't able to keep up on their bills because they weren't there to pay them. 5. “The data that the pie chart makes clear that ending the War on Drugs will not alone end mass incarceration, but that the federal government and some states have effectively reduced their incarcerated populations by turning to drug policy reform.” This could be the solution to our problem. But we will never know until we try. ProbdrinkingStar$’s711
I also agree with your second point, in comes a time when we just need to start giving the infraction that is none violent and can be solved just a simple traffic ticket or whatever, because we in a time where the budget is beyond terribly bad and we need to start finding ways that we can stop making it worse Statechamp 711
I agree with your second point. We start to arrest people for doing stupid things now a days and it is taking up so much space in the prisons and jails for people who needs to be in there. Some rules do need to be changed to this upcoming generations because half of these crimes people commit today is so different from years ago crimes.-babyblue123
1) “We find that 13,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws, and 13,000 more are held pretrial by U.S. Marshals”. This article also says that another 34,000 immigrants are civilly detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (also known as ICE).They are separate from criminal proceedings and are confined in feral or privately- run immigration detention facilities or in local jails across the country that are under contract with ICE.
2) “Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year”. The number of people who go to jail is practically high is because most of the people in jail have not been convicted yet. Only a small amount of people, about 150,000 on most days, have been convicted of a crime. Generally, they are serving misdemeanor sentences, which are served under a year. The rest have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days. Those who don’t have the money to make bail must remain behind bars until their trial date.
3) “Almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense”. The data collected for this article confirms that a nonviolent drug conviction is one of many defining characteristics of the federal prison system. They only play a supporting role at both the state and local levels. While most people at state and local facilities are not locked up for the offense, most states will continue the practice of arresting people for drug possession. This will ruin the lives of the individual and their family and the community in which they live. By arresting someone who either has a drug problem or made a one-time error could reduce the number of employment opportunities and will increase the chance of a longer sentence of any offenses in the future.
4) “2,300 youth are locked up for ‘status’ offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility”. Too many youth are in our criminal and juvenile justice systems for a most serious offense that are not crimes. Over 8,500 youth are behind bars for technical violations of their probation, rather than a new offense. Also about 2,300 are locked up for what is called a status offense, for example running away and truancy. Almost 1 in 10 youth are held in an adult jail or prison. Other are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate just like adult prisons and jails.
5) “22,000 people are involuntarily detained or committed to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment centers”. Many of the people who are confined to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment center are not even convicted yet. Some are even held in these places indefinitely. About 9,000 of the people being held in these hospitals are being evaluated to see if they can stand trial. Around another 6,000 of them have been found guilty by reason of insanity or guilty, but mentally ill. These facilities are not run by the department of corrections, but they are much like prisons. –Adventureflight711
These are really interesting things and they do need work. Even though I don't agree with these laws, I believe there needs to be a lot of changes so that way someone doesn't go to prison for 30 years for selling pot. Or how juveniles are tried as adults and do time for running away. I also believe that in time the changes will be made especially because more people are paying attention to the problems. -pizza711
1. “The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S.” 2. It honestly baffles me that roughly 53,000 juveniles are being held in the criminal justice system. 3,700 of that being tried as and kept in adult prisons. And what is the worst is the fact that out of 53,000 juveniles or minors 10,900 are being incarcerated for “offenses” that are not even crimes. 3. Roughly 731,000 people are in jail and of that 615,000 are being held for the local authorities. Out of that 615,000 only 150,000 will be convicted and the other 465,000 are not and are most likely released. 4. According to the statical pie chart there are roughly 82,000 people being incarcerated for drugs. Most of that being for possession or usage of drugs rather than the sale or manufacturing of drugs. And between the years 1980 and 2015 the total has risen more than 6 times the original amount. Also it seems that states who “end” their War on Drugs seem to have a lower prison and jail population as opposed to those states who have not. 5. “Now that we can see the big picture of how many people are locked up in the United States in the various types of facilities, we can see that something needs to change. Looking at the big picture requires us to ask if it really makes sense to lock up 2.3 million people on any given day, giving this nation the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Both policymakers and the public have the responsibility to carefully consider each individual slice in turn to ask whether legitimate social goals are served by putting each category behind bars, and whether any benefit really outweighs the social and fiscal costs. Even narrow policy changes, like reforms to money bail, can meaningfully reduce our society’s use of incarceration. Meanwhile, some reforms that seem promising have minimal effect, because they simply transfer people from one slice of the correctional “pie” to another. Keeping the big picture in mind is critical if we hope to develop strategies that actually shrink the “whole pie.”” -BoyMom711
Dear Boymom711 I appreciate the points that you found interesting. I do agree with many of them but ultimately until we change the laws we can’t do anything. Do I agree with the statistics and who we are sentencing for what, not necessarily but that is the law. What we need to do is elect politicians that are willing to identify where the breakdowns in the law occur. Once we identify that we can fix the problems. -mmmChicken
If you look at the big picture how many a lot of criminals that are incarcerated, are incarcerated for the small crimes like possession of a small amount of cannabis such as weed, marijuana drug of sorts that will only give you a high but really can’t be detrimental to your body in a negative fashion. Let’s take it a step further, when one’s person is suspected of a crime he/she is proven guilty into proven incent per the constitution, so when we look at the statistics and the incarceration rate is sky high but more than have of the inmates that are being considered a statistic in this studies haven’t even been convicted of a crime, so then us the criminologist who is reading the study statistics trying to understand why are numbers are so high aren’t really getting a legit crime report. • From the studies the criminal justice system holds 2.3 million per the source, in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile corrections facilities, 3163 local jails, and 80 Indian country jails and military prison etc.
• Ever year 626,000 people per the source walk out of solitary confinement, but the fact is that 10 million gone to jail every year so the intake of prisoners out way the prisoners who have completed their sentence which is making the number stay constantly at a high rate
• Jail churn isn’t high because most people who are sitting in jail right now as I mentioned before haven’t been convicted yet so a technically innocent people or people who are arrested makes bail within a couple of hours after being arrested.
• Really on a small percentage of people get convicted everyday usually a misdemeanor offense (150,000 people per the source)
• 5,000 youth are sitting inside an adult prison/jail per the source
• Usually people in with priors usually get sentenced for the most violent offense
• Most convictions come by the way of plea bargains
Reding this article really opened my eyes and really showed me the ways that are prisons are ran in and out. Sending someone to prison is very pricey and could really hurt the budget of ones states after reading this, the prison/jails are so clogged and full because of the fact that some people just shouldn’t be in prison to begin with, excluding the murders, sex offenders or just violent offenders that’s a testament to our society in a negative way. Statechamp711
I agree with your review on this article that this article did open my eyes because we do have way too many people just sitting in jail because of a mistake because we are human and everyone makes mistake but, as you said, 150,000 are innocent who are sitting in a jail cell. That number is way too big and we should be watching on who we track down on. "626,000 people walk out" but you are correct on the correlation of these too, walk out and goes in, is completely off. We have a ton more going in and less going out. -z33 711
Over all this article was heavily filled with compelling data. The information was broken up into many different categories where it revealed some shocking numbers; numbers that we as a country should be concerned about. There were five things I found very interesting that this article stated. The first of the five are; “626,000 people walk out of our prison gates.” To me, that seems to be quite a large number, however, we know from studies that the prison population is increasing. Which means that there are more people coming in than 626,000 who are leaving legally. It’s a crazy number to understand. Second, “½ million people are in prison for drug use.” That’s a lot of people; no matter how you look at the number. Also, to consider is there are few states that allow for some drug use, so if all the states had the same restrictions on drugs I bet the ½ million in prison would increase. Third, “8,500 youths are behind bars for technical violations of probation.” 8,500 youths, that’s not including the youth that are on probation that are following their restrictions. It is actually quite mind blowing to be honest. I was surprised to learn about this data. Fourth, there are 5,000 youths that are held in adult facilities due to space. Wow, 5,000 youths that are being forever changed, forever impacted. It’s hard to really grab it all. I would hope the facilities are a better environment for the young as they are important to our society because they are the next generation. Finally, the last thing is, 13,000 people in prison for violating immigration laws. That number 13,000 is sad just sad. They aren’t even citizens of the United States, but yet we punish them like they are. It feels wrong to do it that way, however, it’s not avoidable. -CoalRoller711
I thought is was interesting that there are 5,000 youths are in adult facilities because of space. That makes me sad because I think youths should not should be in the adult facilities. That can have a big affect on them mentally and physically. That can change them forever. I also think that it's sad that 13,000 people are in prison for violating immigration laws. I know that people can't come to the United States illegally but some of them just want a better life and punishing them for that feels wrong. I enjoyed reading your response. -Soccer31711
In today’s society more people are being locked up for drugs and other less charges than what we should be locking them away for. People walk out of prison after serving their sentence but most of them just wind back up in prison and we have to pay for them to be kept locked up. During their sentencing the defendants get told their punishment but also they get told about bail. Most people are poor and that is the reason they are being sentenced in the first place, but bail these days is set so high that a lot of people can not make bail and are sent to jail until the court date. Civilians and people outside have to pay to keep the offenders held in captivity. In America more people are detained before the trial than other countries have locked up. I find it interesting how everyone around us talks about the debt that our country has. If we would stop locking as many people as we do away and pay for them then all of that money we spend to hold prisoners could be spent elsewhere. I also find it interesting how many people are locked up for drug offenses and serve sometimes more time than inmates who are in there for violent crimes. America also does not focus as much as we should on getting inmates help when they are done doing time so they do not come back and we will once again have to pay more for them to be held when they could have gotten help in the first place. Our justice system needs to focus more on getting people help so they do not end up going back to prison for the same offense they committed the first time they were incarcerated.-crispychicken711
It is very interesting to know that we have more people stuck in jail waiting for trial then some countries have locked up. That is crazy to think about. It should not be this bad. You made a good point on the debt of this country and how we could use the money that we use to take care of inmate elsewhere to better our situation as a country. -Steel711
I like how you mentioned that a lot of people aren't so fortunate to pay for their bail or have families who are wealthy enough to help get them out. Most of the time these are the individuals who are not convicted and waiting for a court date just to be let go and free. It seems to be not only a waste of the individuals time but also a waste to the jails time and causing them money as well just to hold a person who in the end wouldn't not even be convicted. Redbird711
“Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year” More people should be walking out of prison then going in but do to some people not being convicted or wrongly convicted it will not change. “The data confirms that nonviolent drug convictions are a defining characteristic of the federal prison system, but play only a supporting role at the state and local levels. While most people in state and local facilities are not locked up for drug offenses, most states’ continued practice of arresting people for drug possession” This is because arresting people in possession of drugs have become more common than any arrest ever. “2,300 youth are locked up for “status” offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.” Nearly 1 in 10 is held in an adult jail or prison, and most of the others are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate a lot like prisons and jails.” I feel the number should be less than 2300, prisons and jails don’t do nothing but mess with the brain mentally and physically, youth should not be treated that way, like they deserve a lesson , but it shouldn't be like this. “Adding to the universe of people who are confined because of justice system involvement, 22,000 people are involuntarily detained or committed to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment centers. 6,000 have been found not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill” I think that it easy to plea insanity and get away with it, however I dont think its fair that people who commit serious painful crimes can cry insanity. “here are another 840,000 people on parole and a staggering 3.7 million people on probation. Particularly given the often onerous conditions of probation, policymakers should be cautious of “alternatives to incarceration” that can easily widen the net of criminalization to people who are not a threat to public safety.” I agree with this because there is a lot of people that are labeled criminals, but they are not a threat to society but get treated a s one. ~Justice711
I agree with you that more people should be getting out of jail then going. Or it should be a closer number than a 10 million person difference. I also agree with you on the insanity plea seems to be an easy plea for people who commit horrible crimes. It is not fair because people who commit these horrible crimes cry for the insanity plea. We already know that you are a screwed up person to do what you did, you don’t need to cry for the plea. –ClarkKent711
1.“The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” This shows how many people are being put away and some of these people are in their for no reason. Also some of the people in their have done minor crimes and is getting punished very harshly for them. Some of these people desrve to be out of these buildings. 2.“Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prision gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.” These numbers should be flipped flopped. More people should be walking out of prison than going into jail. But I dont think these numbers will every change because of the amount of people who are not convicted. 3.“There are over 8,500 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense.” This should not be how it is. I think their should be more youth behind bars for new offenses. Like I’ve said before, you should not have high time in jail for minor crimes. These youth who are doing minor things are stuck in jail while others are doing worse crimes. 4.“Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial.” I dont think this is fair to people who do not have any money. Your basically putting them being poor against them. There should be something someone could do for the people who do not have any money. 5.“5,000 youth are actually in adult facilities.” I dont think youth should be mixed with the adults. They are younger and have time to mature and make better decisions.
I agree with you it is not fair to some people who commit the same crime and one person has more money than the other so one gets out of jail sooner than the other. There needs to be a equal opportunity system in place, and based on their income as an individual. I agree with you on how youths shouldn't be mixed in with adults they are still kids and not fully developed. I-Like-Cereal711
Ny711, your second point I completely agree with “These numbers should be flip flopped” is absolutely true. 626,000 walking out v over 10 billion going into prison is terrible to look at. I think there should be more people walking out of prison then people going in. A lot of the sentences given are longer than they need to be in my opinion. That and we also have the people going back in that just got out because they are just dead broke because they were behind bars and may not have someone to go back to. Or those going back just because of probation technical offenses. There are several other factors too but I would love to see these numbers change dramatically in years coming in the future but right now it doesn’t look too good. One big example I’m seeing now is immigrants being taken and locked up because of immigrations laws. I really enjoyed reading these points for your response, and hopefully I can see a response to what I have said in reaction to your second point. -Tanlion_nala711
The first thing I found interesting in this article is that The American Criminal Justice System holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons. 102 in federal prisons. 1,852 in juvenile correction facilities and 3,163 in local jails.
I also found it intriguing that The United States locks up, on average, more people than any other nation. It does not necessarily surprise me but the numbers are absolutely astounding.
The third interesting thing I found in this article was that every year 626,000 people walk out of prison gates. But people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. I think that number comes to show that there is definitely a story behind each one of those people, and some being a phony excuse to be behind bars.
The fourth thing I found that caught my attention was that almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense. 1 in 5 people whom are incarcerated are locked up because of drug. A person in prison that is there for a serious offense, it is only reported as that regardless of multiple offenses. We have a lot of people in prison for drugs. Granted, some need to be there but there are other serious crimes that get less time for drugs.
The last thing that really caught my eye was that there are 840,000 people on parole in the United States and 3.7 million are currently on probation. That is crazy. I agree that we should really hit the nail on the head with possible alternatives and analyzing a situation wholly because that amount is just mind blowing. -notacop711
I never knew the United States lock up more people than other nation, yet this country is suppose to be so great. Reading that there are 840,000 people on parole is crazy because some people been on parole for 15 years plus which mean their whole life have been wrapped around the justice system. -jollyranchers711
`1.there are over 8,500 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense. Further, 2,300 youth are locked up for “status” offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.”Nearly 1 in 10 is held in an adult jail or prison, and most of the others are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate a lot like prisons and jails. 2.we find that 13,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws, and 13,000 more are held pretrial by U.S. Marshals. Another 34,000 are civilly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separate from any criminal proceedings and are physically confined in federally-run or privately-run immigration detention facilities or in local jails under contract with ICE. 3.Peter Wagner is an attorney and the Executive Director of the Prison Policy Initiative. He co-founded the Prison Policy Initiative in 2001 in order to spark a national discussion about the negative side effects of mass incarceration. 4.The local jail population in the main pie chart (614,922) reflects only the population under local jurisdiction; it excludes the people being held in jails for other state and federal agencies. 5.In 2015, there were 1,448,707 drug arrests in the U.S., the far majority of which were for drug possession or use rather than for sale or manufacturing. KenzieLand711
Every year we have 626,000 people walk out of prison gates but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. Many of which haven’t been convicted of any crime but rather are being held because they can’t afford to get out on bail. I think it’s interesting that at the state level nonviolent drug crimes seem to be playing a smaller part of the picture but on a federal level it’s still very much a major part of their prison system. I think this reflects the fact people are getting tired of seeing nonviolent people go to jail or prison and the states are responding but for some reason the federal government wants to keep dragging its feet. Another interesting point is how they classify murder. When looking at the aggregate number of murders it doesn’t take into account the different kinds of murders. This can be extremely misleading because there is a huge difference in Ted Bundy and some guy who killed someone for hooking up with his wife. Both should be in prison sure...but for the same amount of time? And should they be lumped into the same category? I think not. Black people make up 40% of the prison population while only making up 13% of the total population in the country. Women are seeing a great increase in their incarceration rates. What’s especially interesting about this is that apparently our crime rate has been going down yet we see incarceration rates rising. That doesn’t seem like something that should happen. Avatar711
I agree that the number of people convicted without crime is interesting and we should find a better way to keep people from going back into jails just because they are homeless because that's how the system works. I think we should start a new campaign or program to help the homeless get away from being homeless. The number is already outrageous.-MyHandle711
1. White people are underrepresented in the incarcerated population while black people are overrepresented. I am sure with the same crime reported done by each race that black people would still hold that title of being incarcerated the most, which would be nice to have a valid reason why. 2.) Women's state population against male population over the years have increased a lot. 3.) Looking at the arrest against drugs chart says that more than six times as many arrest for drug possession versus drug sales. It is very common that majority of the people arrested for possession and use are likely to have an addiction and need actual help rather than being locked up. The people who are illegally selling and knowingly cause harm to other people should be the main focus for incarcerating. 4.) How many more people are held in jail who weren't even convicted versus the people who actually were convicted. This is probably why jails are so jammed packed for no reason. This could be avoided. With this being a known fact, we would think and hope that in a few years this would be switched around for not only the individuals sake but for the prison population and financial expenses as well 5.) From the statement above, it does not surprise me of why the states have so many prisoners and make as many arrest as we do, when half of the time, individuals are not even convicted. I think new methods are going to be soon needed Redbird711
Your first point is a big problem we have in our country and we can pretty much assume why blacks are locked up more than whites, prejudice. Yes I'm pulling the race card even though it doesn't apply to me. We have a lot of prejudice and discriminatory police officers and judges in our criminal justice system, that really is a part of the problem. As a country we need to find a way to look past race and have the same discretion for blacks, whites, Hispanics, etc. RickyBobby711
1. “The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” So they have said that incarceration numbers have decreased increasingly over the years, but why does it seem like we still have many people locked up? Because we have advanced our technology and have a way different lifestyle than people back then, do you think it is time to change our laws to be more fitting towards our current lifestyle? What are we doing right that we can keep doing so our numbers will decrease even more?
ReplyDelete2. “The United States locks up more people, per capita, than any other nation,” If this is the case, then why don’t we adopt the ways other nation takes care of their incarcerated. Maybe we are being too harsh and arrested people for things that truly aren’t that important. Or maybe we need to enforce the laws more to the upcoming generations.
3. “Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.” This is the reason why we are running out of room. More and more people go to jail then are let out every year.
4. “Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails have not been convicted. Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial.” Many people can’t afford to bail themselves out of jail. Or even have family that is willing to use it to bail them out. Then they have to sit there until their trial to see what the next step is. Then, by that time comes, they have lost their job because they haven’t showed up to work. And they have lost their living space because they weren't able to keep up on their bills because they weren't there to pay them.
5. “The data that the pie chart makes clear that ending the War on Drugs will not alone end mass incarceration, but that the federal government and some states have effectively reduced their incarcerated populations by turning to drug policy reform.” This could be the solution to our problem. But we will never know until we try.
ProbdrinkingStar$’s711
I also agree with your second point, in comes a time when we just need to start giving the infraction that is none violent and can be solved just a simple traffic ticket or whatever, because we in a time where the budget is beyond terribly bad and we need to start finding ways that we can stop making it worse
DeleteStatechamp 711
I agree with your second point. We start to arrest people for doing stupid things now a days and it is taking up so much space in the prisons and jails for people who needs to be in there. Some rules do need to be changed to this upcoming generations because half of these crimes people commit today is so different from years ago crimes.-babyblue123
ReplyDelete1) “We find that 13,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws, and 13,000 more are held pretrial by U.S. Marshals”. This article also says that another 34,000 immigrants are civilly detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (also known as ICE).They are separate from criminal proceedings and are confined in feral or privately- run immigration detention facilities or in local jails across the country that are under contract with ICE.
ReplyDelete2) “Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year”. The number of people who go to jail is practically high is because most of the people in jail have not been convicted yet. Only a small amount of people, about 150,000 on most days, have been convicted of a crime. Generally, they are serving misdemeanor sentences, which are served under a year. The rest have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days. Those who don’t have the money to make bail must remain behind bars until their trial date.
3) “Almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense”. The data collected for this article confirms that a nonviolent drug conviction is one of many defining characteristics of the federal prison system. They only play a supporting role at both the state and local levels. While most people at state and local facilities are not locked up for the offense, most states will continue the practice of arresting people for drug possession. This will ruin the lives of the individual and their family and the community in which they live. By arresting someone who either has a drug problem or made a one-time error could reduce the number of employment opportunities and will increase the chance of a longer sentence of any offenses in the future.
4) “2,300 youth are locked up for ‘status’ offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility”. Too many youth are in our criminal and juvenile justice systems for a most serious offense that are not crimes. Over 8,500 youth are behind bars for technical violations of their probation, rather than a new offense. Also about 2,300 are locked up for what is called a status offense, for example running away and truancy. Almost 1 in 10 youth are held in an adult jail or prison. Other are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate just like adult prisons and jails.
5) “22,000 people are involuntarily detained or committed to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment centers”. Many of the people who are confined to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment center are not even convicted yet. Some are even held in these places indefinitely. About 9,000 of the people being held in these hospitals are being evaluated to see if they can stand trial. Around another 6,000 of them have been found guilty by reason of insanity or guilty, but mentally ill. These facilities are not run by the department of corrections, but they are much like prisons. –Adventureflight711
These are really interesting things and they do need work. Even though I don't agree with these laws, I believe there needs to be a lot of changes so that way someone doesn't go to prison for 30 years for selling pot. Or how juveniles are tried as adults and do time for running away. I also believe that in time the changes will be made especially because more people are paying attention to the problems. -pizza711
Delete1. “The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S.”
ReplyDelete2. It honestly baffles me that roughly 53,000 juveniles are being held in the criminal justice system. 3,700 of that being tried as and kept in adult prisons. And what is the worst is the fact that out of 53,000 juveniles or minors 10,900 are being incarcerated for “offenses” that are not even crimes.
3. Roughly 731,000 people are in jail and of that 615,000 are being held for the local authorities. Out of that 615,000 only 150,000 will be convicted and the other 465,000 are not and are most likely released.
4. According to the statical pie chart there are roughly 82,000 people being incarcerated for drugs. Most of that being for possession or usage of drugs rather than the sale or manufacturing of drugs. And between the years 1980 and 2015 the total has risen more than 6 times the original amount. Also it seems that states who “end” their War on Drugs seem to have a lower prison and jail population as opposed to those states who have not.
5. “Now that we can see the big picture of how many people are locked up in the United States in the various types of facilities, we can see that something needs to change. Looking at the big picture requires us to ask if it really makes sense to lock up 2.3 million people on any given day, giving this nation the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Both policymakers and the public have the responsibility to carefully consider each individual slice in turn to ask whether legitimate social goals are served by putting each category behind bars, and whether any benefit really outweighs the social and fiscal costs. Even narrow policy changes, like reforms to money bail, can meaningfully reduce our society’s use of incarceration. Meanwhile, some reforms that seem promising have minimal effect, because they simply transfer people from one slice of the correctional “pie” to another. Keeping the big picture in mind is critical if we hope to develop strategies that actually shrink the “whole pie.”” -BoyMom711
Dear Boymom711 I appreciate the points that you found interesting. I do agree with many of them but ultimately until we change the laws we can’t do anything. Do I agree with the statistics and who we are sentencing for what, not necessarily but that is the law. What we need to do is elect politicians that are willing to identify where the breakdowns in the law occur. Once we identify that we can fix the problems. -mmmChicken
DeleteIf you look at the big picture how many a lot of criminals that are incarcerated, are incarcerated for the small crimes like possession of a small amount of cannabis such as weed, marijuana drug of sorts that will only give you a high but really can’t be detrimental to your body in a negative fashion. Let’s take it a step further, when one’s person is suspected of a crime he/she is proven guilty into proven incent per the constitution, so when we look at the statistics and the incarceration rate is sky high but more than have of the inmates that are being considered a statistic in this studies haven’t even been convicted of a crime, so then us the criminologist who is reading the study statistics trying to understand why are numbers are so high aren’t really getting a legit crime report.
ReplyDelete• From the studies the criminal justice system holds 2.3 million per the source, in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile corrections facilities, 3163 local jails, and 80 Indian country jails and military prison etc.
• Ever year 626,000 people per the source walk out of solitary confinement, but the fact is that 10 million gone to jail every year so the intake of prisoners out way the prisoners who have completed their sentence which is making the number stay constantly at a high rate
• Jail churn isn’t high because most people who are sitting in jail right now as I mentioned before haven’t been convicted yet so a technically innocent people or people who are arrested makes bail within a couple of hours after being arrested.
• Really on a small percentage of people get convicted everyday usually a misdemeanor offense (150,000 people per the source)
• 5,000 youth are sitting inside an adult prison/jail per the source
• Usually people in with priors usually get sentenced for the most violent offense
• Most convictions come by the way of plea bargains
Reding this article really opened my eyes and really showed me the ways that are prisons are ran in and out. Sending someone to prison is very pricey and could really hurt the budget of ones states after reading this, the prison/jails are so clogged and full because of the fact that some people just shouldn’t be in prison to begin with, excluding the murders, sex offenders or just violent offenders that’s a testament to our society in a negative way.
Statechamp711
I agree with your review on this article that this article did open my eyes because we do have way too many people just sitting in jail because of a mistake because we are human and everyone makes mistake but, as you said, 150,000 are innocent who are sitting in a jail cell. That number is way too big and we should be watching on who we track down on.
Delete"626,000 people walk out" but you are correct on the correlation of these too, walk out and goes in, is completely off. We have a ton more going in and less going out.
-z33 711
Over all this article was heavily filled with compelling data. The information was broken up into many different categories where it revealed some shocking numbers; numbers that we as a country should be concerned about. There were five things I found very interesting that this article stated. The first of the five are; “626,000 people walk out of our prison gates.” To me, that seems to be quite a large number, however, we know from studies that the prison population is increasing. Which means that there are more people coming in than 626,000 who are leaving legally. It’s a crazy number to understand. Second, “½ million people are in prison for drug use.” That’s a lot of people; no matter how you look at the number. Also, to consider is there are few states that allow for some drug use, so if all the states had the same restrictions on drugs I bet the ½ million in prison would increase. Third, “8,500 youths are behind bars for technical violations of probation.” 8,500 youths, that’s not including the youth that are on probation that are following their restrictions. It is actually quite mind blowing to be honest. I was surprised to learn about this data. Fourth, there are 5,000 youths that are held in adult facilities due to space. Wow, 5,000 youths that are being forever changed, forever impacted. It’s hard to really grab it all. I would hope the facilities are a better environment for the young as they are important to our society because they are the next generation. Finally, the last thing is, 13,000 people in prison for violating immigration laws. That number 13,000 is sad just sad. They aren’t even citizens of the United States, but yet we punish them like they are. It feels wrong to do it that way, however, it’s not avoidable. -CoalRoller711
ReplyDeleteI thought is was interesting that there are 5,000 youths are in adult facilities because of space. That makes me sad because I think youths should not should be in the adult facilities. That can have a big affect on them mentally and physically. That can change them forever. I also think that it's sad that 13,000 people are in prison for violating immigration laws. I know that people can't come to the United States illegally but some of them just want a better life and punishing them for that feels wrong. I enjoyed reading your response. -Soccer31711
DeleteIn today’s society more people are being locked up for drugs and other less charges than what we should be locking them away for. People walk out of prison after serving their sentence but most of them just wind back up in prison and we have to pay for them to be kept locked up. During their sentencing the defendants get told their punishment but also they get told about bail. Most people are poor and that is the reason they are being sentenced in the first place, but bail these days is set so high that a lot of people can not make bail and are sent to jail until the court date. Civilians and people outside have to pay to keep the offenders held in captivity. In America more people are detained before the trial than other countries have locked up. I find it interesting how everyone around us talks about the debt that our country has. If we would stop locking as many people as we do away and pay for them then all of that money we spend to hold prisoners could be spent elsewhere. I also find it interesting how many people are locked up for drug offenses and serve sometimes more time than inmates who are in there for violent crimes. America also does not focus as much as we should on getting inmates help when they are done doing time so they do not come back and we will once again have to pay more for them to be held when they could have gotten help in the first place. Our justice system needs to focus more on getting people help so they do not end up going back to prison for the same offense they committed the first time they were incarcerated.-crispychicken711
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to know that we have more people stuck in jail waiting for trial then some countries have locked up. That is crazy to think about. It should not be this bad. You made a good point on the debt of this country and how we could use the money that we use to take care of inmate elsewhere to better our situation as a country. -Steel711
DeleteI like how you mentioned that a lot of people aren't so fortunate to pay for their bail or have families who are wealthy enough to help get them out. Most of the time these are the individuals who are not convicted and waiting for a court date just to be let go and free. It seems to be not only a waste of the individuals time but also a waste to the jails time and causing them money as well just to hold a person who in the end wouldn't not even be convicted.
DeleteRedbird711
“Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year” More people should be walking out of prison then going in but do to some people not being convicted or wrongly convicted it will not change.
ReplyDelete“The data confirms that nonviolent drug convictions are a defining characteristic of the federal prison system, but play only a supporting role at the state and local levels. While most people in state and local facilities are not locked up for drug offenses, most states’ continued practice of arresting people for drug possession” This is because arresting people in possession of drugs have become more common than any arrest ever.
“2,300 youth are locked up for “status” offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.” Nearly 1 in 10 is held in an adult jail or prison, and most of the others are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate a lot like prisons and jails.” I feel the number should be less than 2300, prisons and jails don’t do nothing but mess with the brain mentally and physically, youth should not be treated that way, like they deserve a lesson , but it shouldn't be like this.
“Adding to the universe of people who are confined because of justice system involvement, 22,000 people are involuntarily detained or committed to state psychiatric hospitals and civil commitment centers. 6,000 have been found not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill” I think that it easy to plea insanity and get away with it, however I dont think its fair that people who commit serious painful crimes can cry insanity.
“here are another 840,000 people on parole and a staggering 3.7 million people on probation. Particularly given the often onerous conditions of probation, policymakers should be cautious of “alternatives to incarceration” that can easily widen the net of criminalization to people who are not a threat to public safety.” I agree with this because there is a lot of people that are labeled criminals, but they are not a threat to society but get treated a s one. ~Justice711
I agree with you that more people should be getting out of jail then going. Or it should be a closer number than a 10 million person difference. I also agree with you on the insanity plea seems to be an easy plea for people who commit horrible crimes. It is not fair because people who commit these horrible crimes cry for the insanity plea. We already know that you are a screwed up person to do what you did, you don’t need to cry for the plea. –ClarkKent711
Delete1.“The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” This shows how many people are being put away and some of these people are in their for no reason. Also some of the people in their have done minor crimes and is getting punished very harshly for them. Some of these people desrve to be out of these buildings.
ReplyDelete2.“Every year, 626,000 people walk out of prision gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.” These numbers should be flipped flopped. More people should be walking out of prison than going into jail. But I dont think these numbers will every change because of the amount of people who are not convicted.
3.“There are over 8,500 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense.” This should not be how it is. I think their should be more youth behind bars for new offenses. Like I’ve said before, you should not have high time in jail for minor crimes. These youth who are doing minor things are stuck in jail while others are doing worse crimes.
4.“Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial.” I dont think this is fair to people who do not have any money. Your basically putting them being poor against them. There should be something someone could do for the people who do not have any money.
5.“5,000 youth are actually in adult facilities.” I dont think youth should be mixed with the adults. They are younger and have time to mature and make better decisions.
-ny711
I agree with you it is not fair to some people who commit the same crime and one person has more money than the other so one gets out of jail sooner than the other. There needs to be a equal opportunity system in place, and based on their income as an individual. I agree with you on how youths shouldn't be mixed in with adults they are still kids and not fully developed.
DeleteI-Like-Cereal711
Ny711, your second point I completely agree with “These numbers should be flip flopped” is absolutely true. 626,000 walking out v over 10 billion going into prison is terrible to look at. I think there should be more people walking out of prison then people going in. A lot of the sentences given are longer than they need to be in my opinion. That and we also have the people going back in that just got out because they are just dead broke because they were behind bars and may not have someone to go back to. Or those going back just because of probation technical offenses. There are several other factors too but I would love to see these numbers change dramatically in years coming in the future but right now it doesn’t look too good. One big example I’m seeing now is immigrants being taken and locked up because of immigrations laws. I really enjoyed reading these points for your response, and hopefully I can see a response to what I have said in reaction to your second point.
Delete-Tanlion_nala711
The first thing I found interesting in this article is that The American Criminal Justice System holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons. 102 in federal prisons. 1,852 in juvenile correction facilities and 3,163 in local jails.
ReplyDeleteI also found it intriguing that The United States locks up, on average, more people than any other nation. It does not necessarily surprise me but the numbers are absolutely astounding.
The third interesting thing I found in this article was that every year 626,000 people walk out of prison gates. But people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. I think that number comes to show that there is definitely a story behind each one of those people, and some being a phony excuse to be behind bars.
The fourth thing I found that caught my attention was that almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense. 1 in 5 people whom are incarcerated are locked up because of drug. A person in prison that is there for a serious offense, it is only reported as that regardless of multiple offenses. We have a lot of people in prison for drugs. Granted, some need to be there but there are other serious crimes that get less time for drugs.
The last thing that really caught my eye was that there are 840,000 people on parole in the United States and 3.7 million are currently on probation. That is crazy. I agree that we should really hit the nail on the head with possible alternatives and analyzing a situation wholly because that amount is just mind blowing. -notacop711
I never knew the United States lock up more people than other nation, yet this country is suppose to be so great. Reading that there are 840,000 people on parole is crazy because some people been on parole for 15 years plus which mean their whole life have been wrapped around the justice system. -jollyranchers711
Delete`1.there are over 8,500 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense. Further, 2,300 youth are locked up for “status” offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.”Nearly 1 in 10 is held in an adult jail or prison, and most of the others are held in juvenile facilities that look and operate a lot like prisons and jails.
ReplyDelete2.we find that 13,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws, and 13,000 more are held pretrial by U.S. Marshals. Another 34,000 are civilly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separate from any criminal proceedings and are physically confined in federally-run or privately-run immigration detention facilities or in local jails under contract with ICE.
3.Peter Wagner is an attorney and the Executive Director of the Prison Policy Initiative. He co-founded the Prison Policy Initiative in 2001 in order to spark a national discussion about the negative side effects of mass incarceration.
4.The local jail population in the main pie chart (614,922) reflects only the population under local jurisdiction; it excludes the people being held in jails for other state and federal agencies.
5.In 2015, there were 1,448,707 drug arrests in the U.S., the far majority of which were for drug possession or use rather than for sale or manufacturing. KenzieLand711
Every year we have 626,000 people walk out of prison gates but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. Many of which haven’t been convicted of any crime but rather are being held because they can’t afford to get out on bail.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s interesting that at the state level nonviolent drug crimes seem to be playing a smaller part of the picture but on a federal level it’s still very much a major part of their prison system. I think this reflects the fact people are getting tired of seeing nonviolent people go to jail or prison and the states are responding but for some reason the federal government wants to keep dragging its feet.
Another interesting point is how they classify murder. When looking at the aggregate number of murders it doesn’t take into account the different kinds of murders. This can be extremely misleading because there is a huge difference in Ted Bundy and some guy who killed someone for hooking up with his wife. Both should be in prison sure...but for the same amount of time? And should they be lumped into the same category? I think not.
Black people make up 40% of the prison population while only making up 13% of the total population in the country.
Women are seeing a great increase in their incarceration rates. What’s especially interesting about this is that apparently our crime rate has been going down yet we see incarceration rates rising. That doesn’t seem like something that should happen.
Avatar711
I agree that the number of people convicted without crime is interesting and we should find a better way to keep people from going back into jails just because they are homeless because that's how the system works. I think we should start a new campaign or program to help the homeless get away from being homeless. The number is already outrageous.-MyHandle711
Delete1. White people are underrepresented in the incarcerated population while black people are overrepresented. I am sure with the same crime reported done by each race that black people would still hold that title of being incarcerated the most, which would be nice to have a valid reason why.
ReplyDelete2.) Women's state population against male population over the years have increased a lot.
3.) Looking at the arrest against drugs chart says that more than six times as many arrest for drug possession versus drug sales. It is very common that majority of the people arrested for possession and use are likely to have an addiction and need actual help rather than being locked up. The people who are illegally selling and knowingly cause harm to other people should be the main focus for incarcerating.
4.) How many more people are held in jail who weren't even convicted versus the people who actually were convicted. This is probably why jails are so jammed packed for no reason. This could be avoided. With this being a known fact, we would think and hope that in a few years this would be switched around for not only the individuals sake but for the prison population and financial expenses as well
5.) From the statement above, it does not surprise me of why the states have so many prisoners and make as many arrest as we do, when half of the time, individuals are not even convicted. I think new methods are going to be soon needed
Redbird711
Your first point is a big problem we have in our country and we can pretty much assume why blacks are locked up more than whites, prejudice. Yes I'm pulling the race card even though it doesn't apply to me. We have a lot of prejudice and discriminatory police officers and judges in our criminal justice system, that really is a part of the problem. As a country we need to find a way to look past race and have the same discretion for blacks, whites, Hispanics, etc. RickyBobby711
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