The high rate of incarceration in the U.S has become a burden to the criminal justice system. More so, its impact can be observed in society because it has negative economic and social outcomes. Additionally, high incarceration rates exacerbate the tension between the criminal justice system and societies. Overcrowding in the Federal Bureau of Prison and state prisons is a result of the increased incarcerations. For instance, there are more than 2.2 million incarcerated adults in the U.S, which is the highest number in the world (Weiss et al. 2018). Therefore, this data shows that the prisons are overcrowded, thus risking prisoners to the spreading of communicable diseases.
The criminal justice system increases the rate of incarceration aiming to reduce crimes. However, this activity tends to cause more harm than good because it is responsible for the increased suffering and social disparities among the minority groups. In the past forty years, the rates of detention have quadrupled in which people from underprivileged societies make the highest percentage in these prisons. For instance, most of these people lack sufficient education, have psychological and physical disorders.
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The current high rates of incarcerations can be traced back to the law enforcement Act of 1994. This Act stated that a state qualified to get the federal grant for prison construction if it added the time violent offenders served in prison, as well as their numbers (Centre for American Progress, 2019). This Act prompted changes in the state policies, building, and expanding prisons. However, the criminal justice system has failed to perform its role effectively, which is correcting offenders' behaviors and enabling them to get back to society as changed individuals by enacting the 1994 act.
The police use of force is another area in which the criminal justice system is failing society. People depend on the police to protect them and ensure they are safe. However, the case of George Floyd showed the police are applying force unnecessarily, which results in the death of innocent people, especially from the minority communities (Thistlethwaite & Wooldredge, 2014). High rates of incarceration in the U.S are also burdening the American taxpayer. For instance, parole, probation, and prison operations cost 81 billion dollars to the American taxpayer (Bagaric et al., 2018). More so, Americans incur 100 billion dollars in the form of bail bond fees, prison fees, court, and police costs.
Currently, incarceration is the main form of punishment or rehabilitation for any felony or criminal offense in the U.S. Solving mass incarceration challenges in the U.S requires both legal solutions and overall revolutionizing of the criminal justice system (Hayes et al., 2020). The problem cannot be addressed over a short period because inmates have a varying length of sentence. Additionally, the public campaigns to reform sentencing and prisons are comparatively low. However, states should understand that they can benefit more by diversifying on the use of prison alternatives, especially for non-violent criminal activities. For instance, individuals with mental health issues or who are into substance abuse can be admitted into the healthcare facilities where they are treated instead of being incarcerated (Surprenant, 2017). More so, community correction centers, whereby offenders are counseled and educated can be emphasized to rehabilitate nonviolent criminals.
Other areas that require changes to reduce the high incarceration rates are reducing prison length, parole, and probation terms. Unnecessary punitive sentencing such as the compulsory minimum term ought to be reformed. Additionally, prisons should not be considered as an option for people who violate their technical paroles. More so, the justice system should avoid approaches that are responsible for ethnic and racial discrepancies in prisons. Some of these approaches that need to change are the increased police existence in the minority neighborhoods. Police culture also needs to be redesigned, in which they increase trust in the public to uphold public security (Weiss Riley et al., 2018). As a way of ensuring the American criminal justice system is operated in a just manner, guidelines, nation-wide legislation, and practices ought to be guided by global values implemented to protect prisoners' human rights.
References
Bagaric, M., Wolf, G., & Rininger, W. (2018). Mitigating America's mass incarceration crisis without compromising community protection: Expanding the role of rehabilitation in sentencing. Lewis & Clark L. Rev. , 22 , 1.
Centre for American Progress. (2019, March 26). The 1994 crime bill continues to undercut justice reform—Here’s how to stop it . Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/reports/2019/03/26/467486/1994-crime-bill-continues-undercut-justice-reform-heres-stop/
Hayes, C. M., Sufrin, C., & Perritt, J. B. (2020). Reproductive justice disrupted: Mass incarceration as a driver of reproductive oppression. American Journal of Public Health , 110 (1), 21-24.
Surprenant, C. W. (Ed.). (2017). Rethinking punishment in the era of mass incarceration (Vol. 93). Taylor & Francis.
Thistlethwaite, A. B., & Wooldredge, J. (2014). Forty studies that changed criminal justice . Prentice-Hall.
Weiss Riley, R., Kang-Brown, J., Mulligan, C., Valsalam, V., Chakraborty, S., & Henrichson, C. (2018). Exploring the urban-rural incarceration divide: Drivers of local jail incarceration rates in the United States. Journal of Technology in Human Services , 36 (1), 76-88.
