American Prison Reforms

Over the years, the prison system in the United States

has been skewed. The United States is known as a utopia as a whole, but the penal system is atrocious and can be considered a dystopia. Since the likelihood of anyone breaking the law in America is very high, seeing the prison system as a dystopia makes life very dangerous, particularly for non-Americans who enter the country for adventure and investment purposes (Cullen 51).

The goal of incarcerating prisoners

has been to prosecute them so that they can serve as a model for potential offenders who have not been apprehended but are still breaking the law (Cullen 56). Punishment at times can be very de-motivating, and it is exactly not what prisons should be teaching. The primary objective of prisons should be to withhold offenders for a stipulated duration of time so as to rehabilitate them to become more hardworking citizens of America. Many non-violent inmates are brought in prison in America today. Such types of prisoners do not deserve punishment since they have no crimes to answer. The nation prisoners are about 25% of the globe’s inmate population despite the national population being 5 % of the world’s population (Cox 26).

So as to decrease the growing population of detainees in the US prisons

large-scale non-current reforms need to take places such as more humane treatment, more classes, and better workplace training.

War on Drugs

Since President Richard Nixon started to fight illegal drugs in America 1970, the prison population in the nation has increased tremendously. The war on drugs in America refers to the campaign of the ban on drugs, martial support and military intervention aimed at reduce the trade of illegal drugs (Cox 48). The initiative consists of a set of drug laws which are projected to depress the production, consumption, and distribution of psychoactive drugs which the United nation and the American administration have declared to be illegal. The laws on drugs were introduced in America to reduce the number of drug addicts in the country and also rehabilitate those who are addicted. The government spends about $51 billion to initiate measures which are aimed at eradicating illegal drug trade and consumption in the US (Cullen 84).

Drugs policies in America

are laws which are made to control and regulate drugs in the country. The legislation in the current prison system is considered dangerous since it is very demanding on the side of the offenders. The measures put in place include prohibition, fines for the drug offenders, and imprisonment for individuals convicted of drug offenses (Cox 73). However, the system should take another dimension of treating drug offenders since they are non-violent criminals. Fining or imprisoning a drug offender is not the appropriate measure which should be taken by American prisons. The prisons should advocate for fair treatment of such individuals through rehabilitation programs, the supply of medical prescription for the drug abusers and coercive care. The prison management with the aid of the federal government should set up educational programs to curb drug abuse in America. Such programs include community social services, awareness campaigns, and support for families (Cullen 75). Further, shorter jail period and fewer fines should be given to first-time drug offenders so as to make them turn away from illegal drugs consumption or trade and at the same time to avoid punishing them in the same way as violent criminals.

Privatization of Prisons

To reform the US penitentiaries so that they can be facilities of rehabilitation rather than places of punishment, privatization of the prisons needs to be encouraged. Currently, only 8% of the prisons in America are privatized hence more prisoners are still suffering in public jails (Cox 39). A private prison is more likely to offer rehabilitation programs to the offenders more than a public penitentiary. A private prison which is a profit-making entity can be viewed as rehabilitation zones rather than punishment places. They are run by a third party who is contracted by a government agency (Cullen 102). The contract may be meant for operation only, for construction or design. When third parties design and construct prisons, they consider the welfare of the prisoners hence making the places to hold human beings who have a right of living in a good environment. The prisons should then be run like any other business and not as rehabilitative facilities. Privatization of prisons in the US should also be encouraged since it cut government operation costs in this sector.

Prisoner Re-entry

Recidivism can be defined as the tendency of a criminal to go back to prison. Offenders who are held in jail are somehow safer given that they are inmates who serve shorter periods of imprisonment while those criminals who are put in prison serves a long-term period of behind bars (Cullen 56). The rate of recidivism in the US is about 50% within the first year implying that a half of the criminals who are released are likely to return in prison having committed another offense in the same year they are set free (Cox 78). The rate implies that the prison scheme offers punishment more rather than rehabilitation. A well-rehabilitated inmate is trained to change his or her actions and become a better person in the society. Such people will avoid prison at all means by avoiding criminal actions after being free. The high rate of recidivism is due to lack of opportunity and time for the prisons in America to spend on trade programs or rehabilitation programs for their inmates (Cullen 47).

Bipartisan Reform

The bipartisan legislation is a significant policy to reform the American prisons from punishment places to rehabilitation facilities. The law assists the prosecutors to deal with large criminal operations and also minimizes the penalties for non-violent and low-level offenders. The legislation further states that low-level offenders such as non-violent drug traffickers should be treated differently from the large-scale criminals (Cullen 64). According to the bipartisan legislation, the two mandatory minimums offenses are interstate internal violence and providing weapons to enemies. More significantly, the reform enables qualifying inmates to earn minimized sentences through recidivism reduction programs (Cullen 63). Hence, bipartisan reform when fully implemented can make prison a rehabilitation facility rather a punishment place.

Conclusion

Conclusively, prisoners are also human beings hence they have rights to be treated with respect. Most criminals have stayed behind bars for long periods and they have learned lessons on how to keep off from felonies. Some of the imprisoned people committed fewer crimes and found themselves in jail. It is very unfair to punish such people rather but they should be rehabilitated to become better individuals in the society. As a matter of fact, every prisoner should be treated humanely in prison given that every one of them can change no matter which offense they committed.

Works Cited

Cox, Stephen D. The big house: image and reality of the American prison. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 2012.Print.

Cullen, Francis T. The American prison: imagining a different future. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2014.Print.

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