Annotated Bibliography

Prison Overcrowding. (n.d.). Retrieved January 9, 2016, from http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/pub/

C42.htm
The article Prison Overcrowding offers a ton of information regarding the effects of
prison overcrowding and ideas to reduce overcrowding. Prison overcrowding has many
negative affects upon the inmates. Research has demonstrated prison overcrowding reduces
resources for the inmates, causes aggression, and higher rates of illness and suicide. There
are many methods to reduce prison overcrowding. The most popular ideas are prison design
and reducing the prison population by developing community based alternatives to
incarceration.
In this writing it gives many statistics regarding prison overcrowding as well as the years that
they are relevant. It also gives examples of research demonstrated of the negative affects it
has on the inmates while the are incarcerated. Overall this was written well with a lot of
useful information, as well and vey descriptive.
Aviram, H. (2015). Cheap on Crime: Recession-Era Politics and the Transformation of American
Punishment. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://www.
ebrary.com
Avirams book talks about many aspects of prison overcrowding. He talks about many other
states have seen a decrease in the amount of prisoners they have because of the new policies
that have been placed in 2009. A lot of states have modified their correctional policies where
they are limiting the number of incarcerated people. It also talks a lot about the recession in
2008 and the effects of that on crime but also the author stresses that the book does not

advance a connection between the two.

It is clear reading Avirams book that he has done a lot of research on the topics of mass
incarceration. There is tons of information about all aspects of mass incarceration. He did
not just limit it to the sole fact of mass incarceration he branched out to all the different
elements that go along with it.
Weatherburn, D. (n.d.). Economic Adversity and Crime. Retrieved from http://aic.gov.au/
media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi040.pdf
Weatherburn states in the very beginning of the article that the recession should not play a
factor in the rise on crime. Just because there was an increase in unemployment doesn't make
that argument relevant. People do not just become criminals because there circumstances
change he believes the cure for crime is therefore not a rearrangement of the economic fabric
of society. It is a rearrangement of the thinking of offenders.
Weatherburn has put together a great article explaining income and crime as well as
unemployment and crime. He has even added graphs and charts to show the changing
of numbers throughout the years. The article is very organized and day to understand the
data.
Henrichson, C., & Delaney, R. (2012). The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs
Taxpayers. Retrieved from http://www.pertrusts.org/~/media/legacy/uploadfilees/pcs_assets/
2012/httpwwwveraorgdownlaodfile3495thepriceofprisonsupdatedpdf.pdf
The article by Henrichson & Delaney talks about the amount of money taxpayers pay
every year for people incarcerated. It also makes some really good points about cutting costs
but also maintaing safety. Most offenders in prison are not first time offenders but they have
broken rules of their probation and parole. Many states are making an effort to step up

policies to step up efforts to reduce future criminal activity.

This article is very organized and easy to gather information from. There are many bullet
points within the article that breaks down the information. It even breaks down the cost that
taxpayers pay for each area in the prisons.
Campers, S. (2012). A Failing Correctional System: State Prison Overcrowding in the United
States. Retrieved 2016, from http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1079&context=pell_theses
Campers starts the article of prison overcrowding by giving a lot of information about where
the modern correctional system began. The first American modern prison was established in
1790 and even in that first prison overcrowding became and issue. The problem with that
system was they had all the prisoners in solitary confinement which made it hard to keep up
with all the inmates coming in. Thats when they realized they needed a new prison system
established where the inmates had to congregate and do hard labor during the day and
confinement at night. Even with that system thought they knew they were always going to
have a hard time keeping up with the overcrowding problems.
Campers writing gives a really good back story on the prison system. With her writing it
gives the reader a different perspective on the the history of jails. She shows that prison
overcrowding is not just a new issue that we are dealing with today it is something that his
been a problem since the first modern American Jail. The way she wrote the article is very
educational and easy to follow starting with the history and ending with the current problems
we are dealing with today.
Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.-Newsroom. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2016, from
http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=4278

On this website is has a lot on information on just California prisons at the state of emergency
they are in to get these prisons under control. All 33 CDCR are at or above the maximum
capacity and some are so overcrowded that inmates are in conditions that pose safety risks.
Not only is it a safety risk for the inmates but also for the people who work inside the prisons.
With so many inmates it can lead to a higher risk of violence and it can also become a
problem when it comes time to control them.
The website has many bullet points that contain information regarding the problem with the
current prison problem in California prisons. Not only does it give information on California
prisons as a whole it breaks it down to every prison in California. It gives you the number of
allowed inmates and the number of inmates that are actually incarcerated, it also lists the
number of incidents they had against inmates and staff, the amount of riots, and weapon
confiscations. Having the article break it down into bullets makes it easy to find the
information you are looking for very easy.
Evans, K. M. (2014). Crime, prisons, and jails. Detroit, Mich: Gale.
In Evans book there are a lot of different statistics about different states and the amount of
inmates there are. California has 149,569 inmates, they have the second highest number of
inmates in the US. Besides confining offenders for short periods of time, jails also hold
suspects awaiting arraignment, trial, or sentencing and detainees such as juveniles and mental
patents who are waiting to be transferred. Overall, jails do not suffer as much overcrowding
as the state and federal prisons.
Evans book doesnt just give information on prisons and the problem of overcrowding it also
gives plenty of information on jails and compares the two. While there is a problem of jail
overcrowding it doesnt even compare to the problem in prisons. One of the main problems

this book mentions is the lack of medical care that inmates receive due to overcrowding of
prisons. The book starts out with the history of jail and prisons and ends with the current
situations the jails and prisons are in now.
Online Bachelors Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10,
2016, from http://online.ccj.pdx.edu/resources/news-articles/prison-overcrowding-is-a
growing-concern-in-the-u-s/
This online article has a lot of information for students interesting in pursuing criminal
justice. It answers a lot of questions about prison overcrowding for those interested in it and
the dangers that come along with the job. The 3 major questions that it answers are, what
causes prison overcrowding, what does prison overcrowding cause, and can prison
overcrowding be stopped? One comment that was written that really stood out was, a
legal case in 1981 addressed overcrowding as potentially cruel and unusual punishment. That
is an interesting point of view.
The website is not jammed packed with information but it still very informative. It answers
three major questions regarding prison overcrowding. When it does answer the questions you
do not have to read pages to find the information you are looking for it is really simple and
fast. It also has the main topics highlighted so you find the main topics easily.

Tonry, M. H., & Hatlestad, K. (1997). Sentencing reform in overcrowded times: A

.comparative perspective. New York: Oxford University Press
In Tonrys & Hatlestad writings he mentions that in most states, officials could give prisoners

time off for good behavior, good time and they could reward prisoners for work or
educational participation with additional sentence reductions. They even had the authority to
release them into halfway houses, home detention, or other community placements. Not
.everyone agreed with that way of dealing with things so that was stopped
Tonry has many things to say about sentence reform. There are four major themes that are
mentioned and focused on during the chapter. They are explained very well with lots of
examples that make it easier for the reader to understand what is being said. He also has
.charts with sentencing guidelines and the years to give a better idea about what goes on
Wiliams, A. (n.d.). Prison Overcrowding Threatens Public Safety and State Budgets. Retrieved
-January 11, 2016, from http://www.alec.org/article/prison-overcrowding-threatens-public
.safety-state-budgets
Williams states that the United States has the highest number of incarcerated population
in the world. From the data collected, it was found that the number of incarcerated people
,is 2.4 million in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,259 juvenile correctional facilities
local jails, and 79 Indian County jails as well as in military prisons, immigration 3,283

.detention facilities, civil commitment center, and prisons in the U.S. territories
.Williams has written a great article with exact numbers of the amount of incarcerated people
She gives a chart that has the exact amount of people in each detention center as well as the
number of people who have committed each major crime to end up in prison. Reading it puts
.things in perspective when you see it laid out out in front of you