The rate of incarceration in the United States has seen a sharp increase from the early 1970’s.It is estimated that there was an approximate increase of 1.3 million incarcerations from 1974 to 2009 (Beckett, 20170 .In 2012 an estimated 25% of the world prisoners were held in American prisoners. The rate of adults in prison or jail in the United States is 5 to 10% higher compared to the rate in Western Europe and other democracies. The growth that the United States has experienced in incarceration over the last 40 years can be termed as internationally unique and historically unprecedented. According to (Wagner & Sawyer, 2018) in 2018, the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 was 698.In the recent decades, the United States has experienced an increase in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980.Part of this was due to the mandatory sentencing that’s was a result of the war on drugs. With reference to (EJI, 2019). All prison operations including probation and parole generate an estimates $81 billion annual cost to the taxpayers. Since prison operations are tied costly with police, court and bail fees, an additional $100 billion in costs are paid by the people. The incarcerated consist mainly of people from minority or disadvantaged segments of the population. The prison population consists of mainly middle aged men with a poor education background and oftently involved in drug and substance abuse, mental illness and a lack of work experience. With the numbers of incarcerated rapidly increasing the question of what has led to those high numbers arises. A number of factors that have increased the incarceration rates in the United States include: truth of sentencing, determinate sentencing, states abolishing parole as well as sentencing guidelines.
Truth in sentencing laws refer to the principle that a sentence issued to a convicted individual should be served in full. The federal systems and most systems allow for people to earn time off their sentence for ‘good behavior’ (Cullen, 2018) . This means that a person incarcerated for ten years may not serve all the ten years in prison if they show improved behavior and turn away from crime while in prison. Sometimes individuals become eligible for parole, which refers to an early release, even though they are still continuously supervised by the government while on the outside. All this benefits provide a chance for people who have been incarcerated to spend their time productively on various work programs and education. Truth in sentencing laws however, eliminate this opportunities as they require that people serve their full term behind bars. The law may seem reasonable but mainly lead to less reliance on prison rules by the inmates and also puts a halt on efforts to reduce sentence that may be too long. If an offender is not rehabilitated in prison through education, job skills and counseling the chances that they will get back to prison even after being released are high (Cullen, 2018) . With the number of incarcerated being at an already high, the main focus of the United States should be on how to reduce it, keeping prisoners for longer is not the way forward. Truth in sentencing laws therefore plays a big role in the increase of prisoners as it not only bars early release but also contributes to re-imprisonment of individuals.
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Determinate sentencing is a statue within the states that dictates the set minimum sentence that must be issued to all people convicted of a particular crime. It means that an offender convicted of a specific crime may not be eligible to getting a lesser sentence than the prescribed sentence by law (Cullen, 2018) . The offender therefore cannot also be released early for good behavior. In face value determinate sentencing appears to be fair and consistent to everyone, since it does not look at the status of the person, their color, who they know etc. The judges in this case has no discretion to consider any mitigating circumstances or those which may reduce the blameworthiness of a defendant. Determinate sentences has been directly involved with more people being sent to prison than before in the United States. The people incarcerated also serve longer prison sentences since they are not eligible for early release. The meaning of this is that the United states prison have more people coming into prison while less are leaving thus directly affecting the number of people held in prisons
On the promise of good behavior, a prisoner may be temporary or permanently released. The prisoner however has to live up to a series of laws and responsibilities. If a parolee fails to follow the rules provided to them then they risk going back to custody (Baltimore sun, 2017) . Parole is therefore seen as a privilege offered to the prisoners who seem to have a chance in reintegrating into the society. The possibility of parole gives prisoners an incentive to avoid trouble (Baltimore sun, 2017) . With the high cost associated with maintain large prison populations as well as keeping the prison population safe, parole greatly helps the government .Abolishing parole therefore contributes highly to overcrowding in prisons. Since inmates do not have any motivation to better themselves whenever parole is abolished, once they are done with their sentence, there are high chance that they may get back to crime.
Federal sentencing guidelines set out standard sentencing policies for defendants convicted in the United States. This guidelines became effective in 1987, all judges are required by the federal state to review and calculate the guidelines as they impose rational sentences (Frase & Mitchelle, 2018) . Sentencing guidelines are recommended sentences based upon offence and offender characteristics. They are deemed important for rational sentencing standards, proportionality, uniformity and ensuring public safety. However these guidelines seem to tie judges’ hands and shift the power to prosecutors who may threaten defendants with crime that may trigger a mandatory minimum. A defendant therefore, ay feel coerced into falsely confessing to avoid a harsh sentence. They have also led to judge’s harshly punishing people who pose the least physical dangers to communities. Sentencing guidelines were created to boost uniformity and fairness but have however led to an imbalance in court rooms hence driving mass incarceration.
With an estimated 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States (CCANO, 2019), there definitely is a mass incarceration crisis in the state. A lot of trust is put in the justice system to not only rehabilitate the prisoners but also ensure that communities are safer. Mass incarceration however has had a severe negative effect on the people serving time as well as a society as whole. Most inmates fall into cycles of crime while in prison as they are pulled into gang activity, or other illegal activity for financial aid. The inmates also face a risk of existing prison unhealthier as their physical and mental health is highly affected. According to (CCANO, 2019) an estimated 10-20% of inmates suffer from mental health conditions that are made worse during incarceration. Since most prisoners are released back to the society with minimum rehabilitation and lack of resources, they mostly fall back into the cycle of crime .Economically high unemployment among ex-prisoners has led to higher spending by the government through assistance payouts, loss if income tax revenues and reduces the spending for other essential programs. This means that the government is not only spending money on maintain people inside prisons, but also maintain the ex-convicts as they are unable to make ends meet.
References
Baltimoresun. (2017, August 30). The truth and the consequences of truth-in-sentencing . baltimoresun.com. Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0903-truth-in-sentencing-20170830-story.html
Beckett, K. (2017). Mass incarceration and its discontents. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews , 47 (1), 11-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306117744801
CCANO. (2019, December 10). How does mass incarceration affect communities? Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://www.ccano.org/blog/how-mass-incarceration-affects-communities/
Cullen, J. (2018, October 5). Sentencing laws and how they contribute to mass incarceration . Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/sentencing-laws-and-how-they-contribute-mass-incarceration
EJI. (2019, November 12). Mass incarceration costs $182 billion every year . Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://eji.org/news/mass-incarceration-costs-182-billion-annually/
Frase, R. S., & Mitchelle, K. L. (2018, March 21). What are sentencing guidelines? Robina Institute Sentencing Guidelines Resource Center. Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://sentencing.umn.edu/content/what-are-sentencing-guidelines
Wagner, P., & Sawyer, W. (2018, June). States of incarceration: The global context 2018 . Retrieved October 4, 2020, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2018.html
