Congestion is a major cause of the poor condition in many prisons around the world. Many regard it as arguably the most significant problem affecting the prison systems with its consequences potentially life-threatening to the incarcerated individuals. According to the government report, the federal prison system has found it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the high numbers of inmates flooding the prison facilities over the last few years despite the government's effort to add space to accommodate thousands of new convicts. As such, the enormous numbers of the incarcerated individuals not only put the inmates in jeopardy but also the guards who are forced to work in a risky environment. Experts have also opined that overcrowding in the American prisons holds back any serious measures towards rehabilitating the convicts. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the criminal justice system holds up to 2.3 million people in all its state, federal, juvenile, local, and Indian country jails. With such an unprecedented rise in prison population, the judicial system will likely face myriad of challenges both to the inmates and prison officials.
Causes of Overcrowding in America’s Prisons
The growth in prison population since the 1970s has become an inevitable aspect of the US justice system mainly due to what has come to be known as "tough-on-crime" policies (Spohn, 2014). The mid-1970s and onwards saw the federal and state legislators pass laws that promote draconian sentencing and parole systems aimed at keeping a large population of people in prison for several decades. Some of the policies that have since come to place include the mandatory minimum sentencing which compels the judges to issue severe sentencing irrespective of a host of individual factors that could effectively merit leniency. Other policies that are usually ignored by the judges include the three-strike laws which play a significant role in expanding the number of crimes that could be dealt with using the life-without-parole sentencing. The result is that more people have faced extended imprisonment and limited chances for release leading to soaring in the prison population. Two major factors determine the population in the prisons including the rate of admission and the term period that the incarcerated individual serves (Tonry, 2013). In the US, both the admission rate and lengths of stay have increased massively in the state and federal prisons.
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Another reason for the increased prison population in the US is the alleged war on drugs coupled with the mandatory minimum sentencing laws. The late 20 th century saw an unusual increase in drug-related crimes prompting lawmakers to create draconian mandatory minimum sentencing laws tailored to severely punish the manufacture, sale, and use of the illicit drugs (Tonry, 2013). The laws provided for an automatic jail term to those convicted of specific federal and state crimes. With the laws, the judges found it increasingly challenging to design punishment based on an individual's nature of the crime and further limiting their scope on a person's role in the offense or the possibility that they will commit a subsequent offense. The mandatory minimum sentences increase the power to prosecutors who use jail term as a threat to frustrate defendants who would want to explore their constitutional rights. The mandatory minimum sentencing laws mostly operate on drug crimes with a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of life imprisonment without parole (Tonry, 2014). Most fundamentally to appreciate is that although the laws have been designed to punish drug offenses, such penalties have done little in curbing drug dealing which has remained constant for the last 40 years. It would, therefore, be true to intimate that harsh drug laws are significant for a huge prison population more so in the previous 15 years.
Prison Statistics in the US
Understanding the problem of overcrowding requires a proper appreciation of the prison statistics in the country vis-à-vis the prison officials and facilities available to ensure that the correction process becomes a success. The current jail population in all the federal, state, local, and juvenile prisons stands at around 2.3 million people. The US locks up more people per se than any other nation in the world. Another vital statistic to note is that a majority of individuals jailed in the US is due to drug offenses with statistics showing that its1 in every five persons was a drug criminal. Despite the vast prison population as postulated by the BJS, there are only 7000 facilities to accommodate these individuals (Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis, & Minton, 2016). As such, despite the decrease in crime levels over the past 20 years, what remains astonishing is that overpopulation remains a reality. For instance, the state of California had to reduce its prison population following the Supreme Court's order that the overcrowding in the prison facilities was not only a cruel but also an unusual form of punishment. The number of federal jails stands at 102 with a further 1719 state prisons. Juvenile correctional facilities are at 1852, and local jails amount to 3163. Although the US only accounts for 5% of the world's population, it holds up to 25% of the entire world's prison population (Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis, & Minton, 2016).
Prison Conditions in the US
The overpopulation experienced in the prisons, juvenile and immigration detention centers among other correctional facilities have resulted in deplorable conditions that interfere with the rights of the incarcerated individuals. Some of the problems include physical mistreatment, extreme physical conditions, and lack of adequate medical and mental health care. Despite such conditions, little support emanates from the politicians tasked with the duty of conducting reforms in the country. The overcrowded prisons are a function of the surging prison population and the reluctance of the public to fund the construction of new facilities. Social problems have since increased in the confines of the prison with animates killing and injuring each other. Other antisocial behaviors experienced include intimidation and extortion which have become the order of the day. Inmates have also failed to get opportunities for training, working. Treatment and counseling because of the few facilities and personnel available. The mentally ill inmates in the US prison are estimated to constitute between 6 and 14% of the total incarcerated population. The overpopulation in the jails has also resulted in dilapidated conditions especially in the local prisons. The facilities were characterized by vermin-infested, unsafe, and dirty areas that denied the prisoners an opportunity to exercise or even get fresh air. Some jail authorities have also been implicated in placing inmates in restrained conditions for longer periods without consideration of any safety measures.
Severe overcrowding has primarily been coupled with inadequate staffing which has created hazardous conditions reflected by the severe injuries that inmates sustain during fights. Seizures and other medical emergencies are a common phenomenon, something that is closely associated with the excess population of the inmates. The increased population in the jails has also resulted in inhumane treatment of inmates especially in super-maximum security prisons where authorities depended on administrative segregation to prevent the disruptive or dangerous inmates. Such prisoners were therefore kept in small, isolated, and windowless confinements for almost 23 hours a day. Research showed that approximately 24,000 prisoners were held in such solitary confinements at any point in a year. Such inhumane conditions come as a result of lack of strategies to control and manage the massive population of inmates within the prison facility.
The Rise of Private Prisons
The overcrowding experienced in the public prison facilities and the tight budget tied to the correction agencies has fueled the rise in private correction facilities. Harding (2018) highlighted that more than 100,000 adults are held up in approximately 142 privately owned prisons and jails countrywide. Many policymakers have agreed that imprisonment at record levels is both a moral and economic failure displayed by the government especially at a time when many Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the harsh realities of the economy. However, the private prison industry tends to benefit at the expense of the unprecedented incarceration levels experienced all over the nation. The sector reaps immense dividends from the policies that promote mass conviction of criminals and the economic implications caused by it. Furthermore, such facilities receive government funding and other huge compensations that make it a lucrative business. As incarceration continues to skyrocket, the private industries expand exponentially holding more people and racking up more profits.
The rise in the private prison also poses a new challenge to the justice system in the US. Research has shown that these facilities primarily work under insufficient control from the federal government and the much-needed oversight from various public authorities. States have also failed in creating regulatory standards defining the operation of the private prisons. As such, similar social problems experienced in the public facilities have since been witnessed in the private industry including violence and murders. Harding (2018) noted that the significant levels of violence in such institutions is partly due to the high staff turnover rate that has meant that many private institutions have had to do with inexperienced guards who have shown failure in dealing with the convicts. Reports have shown that most of these prison staff lack proficiency with weapons and consistently ignore signs of danger. The private facilities are closely implicated with atrocious conditions that pose a risk to the welfare of the inmates. For instance, in a Juvenile facility based in Texas, auditors reported that the cells were filthy and had the smell of urine and feces. Prisoner fights have also emerged in many institutions such as in Oklahoma where 46 inmates sustained injuries and 16 taken to hospital for specialized treatment (Harding, 2018).
Escape From Prisons
Bierie (2012) asserted that overcrowding is usually accompanied by understaffing and negligence of the correction officials. Although the escape rates from the American prisoners have primarily remained low, it is a significant issue that could become difficult to address especially with the increased number of inmates. In 2000, the BJS estimated 37.1 escapes per 1000 inmates with the rate having markedly reduced in 2013 to a paltry 12.7 (Bierie, 2012). Out of the cases reported in 2013, it is critical to note that 3 left a community work center with another 16 walking free from a work site. One of these individuals, however, escaped from a secured facility with the remaining people either failing to check in or meeting other additional requirements as stated in their sentencing. Understaffing that has come due to the increased population sets a new challenge for the correctional authorities who find it difficult to man manage the inmates hence increasing the potential for escaping. The numbers of escape attempts have also been documented mainly in the state jails with prisoners trying to take advantage of several loopholes created by understaffing and the huge population. The justice system, therefore, must move fast to ensure that more correctional officials are employed, or more facilities are built to ensure that proper management and security is provided to the inmates.
Degradation of Human Rights
Overpopulation in the US prisons has also led to the challenge of upholding human rights. The justice system has a role to ensure that the strict adherence to human rights accompanies justice. Gottschalk (2016) intimated that many international human rights statutes had prohibited cruel punishment and treatment of any individual including the already incarcerated. However, conditions such as overcrowding have made it increasingly possible for the correction officials to disregard various human rights tents that should guide the justice system. Studies have shown that most state and local prisons are frequently overpopulated to the point of suffocation. Staying in an overcrowded jail would mean spending close to 23 hours in a single cell, some of which contain up to 120 prisoners with beds fewer than the number of people. The prisoners are also exposed to second-hand smoke emanating from the ceiling with space they stay in filled with cockroaches and ants. According to Gottschalk (2016), the Penal Reform International noted that the overcrowding conditions could be so severe that inmates sleep in shifts. The vulnerable, including the children and women, have received little attention with regards to their health and social welfare. Overcrowding has also meant that the jail authorities have found it almost impossible to track the cases of sexual violence in the premises. Inmates have also contracted communicable diseases such as tuberculosis due to the inadequate ventilation system in the prisons.
Recidivism
As earlier noted, the total population of all the America's prisoners is at 2.3 million hence creating the challenge of overcrowding. The role of incarceration as stated by America's justice system is to generate reformed individuals ready to take back their roles in the society. However, the issue of overcrowding is likely to result in the opposite, which is recidivism, the tendency to commit other crimes that result in incarceration. Several problems such as increased burden on the taxpayers will also set in because there will be a continuation in the overcrowding. Research conducted showed that prisoners in overcapacity prisoners are 2.5 times more likely to violate their parole on release (Paulus, 2012). The study focused more on the likelihood returning to substance abuse among the released inmates. In further explanation, the investigation revealed that the overcrowded prison facilities expose the inmates to a form of psychological stress which subsequently leads to a lack of treatment and counseling especially on those facing addiction. People become more prone to impulsive behavior, drug addiction, and aggression. The overcrowded environment, therefore, creates a poor environment for people dealing with drug addiction issues.
In the severely overcrowded facilities, the authorities have difficulty in protecting the inmates from various forms of offenses such as physical abuse and sexual assault. Paulus, (2012) asserted that few people are also exposed to medical care, and a combination of all these factors result in a group of marginalized and vulnerable people especially when released into the society. When given parole, the likelihood that these individuals will commit crimes is much higher than that of the general population. Important to note is that the individuals emanate from a society previously filled with leniency, criminal undertakings, and a lack of care. As such, when given the opportunity to resume back to their roles, they tend to suffer from the similar effects hence increasing their probability of committing crimes.
Racial Bias and Disparities
Another major challenge that the justice system continues to face in the wake of the mass incarceration is racial bias and various forms of disparities. The American criminal justice system has come under fire in the wake of the disparities witnessed in their convictions. Alexander (2012) noted that the 2.3 million people in the American prisons represent a 500% increase seen in the last four decades. However, this increase has not been uniformly distributed with race and ethnicity playing a significant role in incarceration. Some of the factors implicated in the racial disparity include the socioeconomic inequality, implicit racial bias, and other unfavorable sentencing policies. Critical to note is that even though people of color only account for 37% of the US population, a whopping 67% of them are in prison (Alexander, 2012). Overall, blacks are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and sentenced more than the whites. Black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated compared to their white counterparts. Also, Alexander, (2012) asserted that Hispanic males are twice more probable to be sent to the prisons compared to the whites. Therefore, it remains apparent that a problem lies somewhere in the justice system and more insights need to be given why the populations of the mass imprisonment and overcrowding in the prison facilities are more pronounced on a given group of people than the other.
Constitutional Rights
The justice system is the custodian of all the constitutional rights which it swore to uphold and defend. However, the overcrowding experienced in these facilities goes against the constitutional rights especially in light of the Eighth Amendment. The clause states that punishment must not only be fair but should also not be cruel. It further emphasizes that the courts cannot impose extraordinary files on people. O’Connor, (2014) noted that civil rights groups in the US have been at the forefront to challenge several prison systems that adopt practices equivalent to cruel punishment. For instance, the civil rights groups successfully petitioned Supreme Court to deem California's prison system as unconstitutional because it was overcrowded. The prisons were accused of overcrowding which was as a result of the excessive imprisonment. As such, the Supreme Court ruled out that the huge number of prisoners confined in the jails qualified as an unusual form of punishment. As such, the state was required to reduce the population of people by up to 30,000 inmates. As such, the continued overcrowding of the prison facilities is an indictment of the criminal justice system for failing to protect the constitution especially the Eighth Amendment (O’Connor, 2014).
In conclusion, overcrowding in the American prisons continues to offer many challenges to the justice system. Although the crime rates have been reported to reduce in the last few years, the prison population continues to remain excessively high resulting in challenges facing both the inmates and correction authorities. First, assessing the case of the increased population is vital to understanding the entire issue. The legislators and policymakers have shown a spirited fight against drugs and felony by focusing on imprisonment and increasing the jail terms through policies such as the mandatory minimum sentencing and tough-on-crime laws. The prison statistics reveal a shocking data that illustrates that the 2.3 million inmates are only confined in a paltry 7000 facilities across the country. Problems of human rights, poor and atrocious conditions among others continue to grapple the system. The staff members face a challenge of controlling the huge masses leading to incidences of jail escaping. The private prisons have come into place thanks to the overpopulation in the public institutions. However, more violence and unsafe conditions continue to challenge such institutions. It is therefore upon the lawmakers to review the various laws and statutes governing sentencing and also allocate more funds to the prison departments across the country in a bid to alleviate the worsening conditions of inmates.
References
Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of colorblindness . The New Press.
Bierie, D. M. (2012). The impact of prison conditions on staff well-being. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology , 56 (1), 81-95.
Gottschalk, M. (2016). Caught: The prison state and the lockdown of American politics . Princeton University Press.
Harding, R. (2018). Private prisons and public accountability . Routledge.
Kaeble, D., Glaze, L., Tsoutis, A., & Minton, T. (2016). Correctional populations in the United States, 2014. Bureau of Justice Statistics , 1-19.
O’Connor, R. (2014). The United States Prison System: A Comparative Analysis. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5086/
Paulus, P. (2012). Prisons crowding: A psychological perspective . Springer Science & Business Media.
Spohn, C. (2014). Twentieth‐Century Sentencing Reform Movement: Looking Backward, Moving Forward. Criminology & Public Policy , 13 (4), 535-545.
Tonry, M. (2013). Sentencing in America, 1975–2025. Crime and Justice , 42 (1), 141-198.
Tonry, M. (2014). Remodeling American Sentencing: A Ten‐Step Blueprint for Moving Past Mass Incarceration. Criminology & Public Policy , 13 (4), 503-533.
