Bryce

Moser
English 138T
4/11/16

REFORMING THE AMERICAN PRISON SYSTEM

Each year, hundreds of thousands to millions of people are placed into the American prison
system. At the same time, only an estimated 650,000 ex-criminals are released each year.2 This
cycle only feeds the constant problem of a growing rate of prisoners. Currently, the United
States leads the world in incarceration rates. While most other countries have rates of 100 for
every 100,000 people, the United States has a rate of about 500 for every 100,000 people,
which is extremely high.1 Along so, in 1979, around 314,000 people were incarcerated in the
United States. Meanwhile, in 2013, the amount of incarcerated people jumped to around 2
million people.3

When it comes to being released from prison, too many people are ending back behind bars.
The rates of recidivism, defined as a relapse into criminal behavior and prison, which are being
faced, are above normal, and higher than the rates of ex-criminals who reenter society
successfully. It is important to note that being imprisoned does not only affect the criminals,
but it affects every tax-paying citizen as well. After surveying forty states in the United States,
the Vera Institute of Justice found that the costs of prisons racks up to be about $39 million,
each prisoner costing taxpayers about $31,000.6 It is evident that there are flaws in the
American prison system that need to be fixed.

These problems include a lack of reentry programs to assist and prepare prisoners to be
contributing citizens again, and an absence of therapy. To further fix our prison system and see
success, many laws need to be changed or reformed, such as the decriminalization of some
drugs, the reduction of mandatory minimum sentences, prison alternatives, and policing
reforms. Fixing the American prison system is not a task that can be accomplished overnight,
but it is something that will be arduous, yet significant. Reducing the rates of imprisonment and
recidivism will economically and morally strengthen our country.

HOW WE GOT TO OUR CURRENT STATUS

As of current, there are over two million people on file in the prison system here in the United
States. Comparing
the United States
to many other
countries,
including

China,

Russia, and all of

Europe,

our

numbers are significantly higher. It is obvious that our country is failing, and
that is for a few reasons, starting almost fifty years ago.

Figure1

In the 1960s and 1970s, the nation began to see a large surge in overall crime, especially an
increase of drug use.8 This surge was mostly attributed to the baby boomers, growing
technology, and many other factors. A large amount of the committed crime was due to drugs
and narcotics. To combat this problem, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, which
set the strict bar for policies against drug related crimes. All the way up to the 2000s, drug
offenses were a large portion of those imprisoned.

Currently, an estimated 25% of the prison system is made up of non-violent drug offenders. In
response to the war on drugs, lawmakers and the legal system worked to establish a mandatory
minimum sentence policy when criminals were being sentenced to prison.7 As time progressed,
the mandatory minimums increasingly grew harsher as well. This minimum sentence policy is a
huge cause of such a large incarceration rate today. Further, according to this policy, judges are
given a lot less discretion and are not allowed to levy a shorter sentence if the criminals fall
under the certain offenses, only increasing the number of prisoners.8 Unintentionally increasing
the rate, a Supreme Court decision in 1972 implemented the ban on the death penalty, which
introduced the semi-new idea of serving life without parole. Without the ability to decrease the
prison rate through death, numbers continued to rise. A final reason that the incarceration rate
surged is because a large juvenile crime rate swelled, and juveniles were beginning to get tried
as adults for many of their crimes, placing them in the adult prison system.

Today, the American prison system is embarrassingly breaking by the seams, as compared to
most other countries, and there are many variables that are causing this to be so. The war on

drugs, mandatory minimum sentences, and juvenile placement are all major factors that
continue to increase the rate of incarceration in the United States.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

As prisoners end their sentences and leave prison, they are placed right back into society,
where they are often lost and do not have somewhere to start in regaining their lives back. For
many, getting a job is out of the question since many establishments refuse to hire ex-criminals
and convicts. In turn, too many prisoners put themselves in negative situations, which often
land them right back into a cell. Today, the rates of recidivism are extremely high and are
seemingly not being reduced. According to a 2005 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
around 68% of released prisoners return to prison within three years. By five years, around 55%
returns, and by the first year, nearly half were arrested and placed back into prison.4 With
recidivism rates this high, it is evident that the amount of rehabilitation that prisoners are
seeing is little to none, or the current rehabilitation is ineffective. On top of this, due to the high
amount of criminal activities that even take place in prisons, prisoners are even more likely to
finish their sentence at a greater disadvantage; compared to when they began their term.4 The
in prison crime truly demonstrates the need and introduction of reentry programs for
prisoners.
Reentry programs are programs structured to teach incarcerated people how to obtain a job,
establish relationships, and guide them back into society successfully.9 Currently, the prison
system does implement reentry programs such as teaching trades, vocational education, or

even offering in-prison college programs. According to a 2013 study, San Quentin Prison in
California has seen much lower recidivism rates since implementing a college education
program.10
Figure2

Yet, while reentry programs

are being used, some are not
as effective as they were
designed to be. A 2008 study
by

criminologist

Pennsylvania
University,

at

State
Doris

Layton

MacKenzie, showed that not all reentry programs are equally effective in their usefulness.10

As well as reentry programs, better therapy needs to be implemented into prisons across the
United States. Prison is not just a place of punishment, but it is a place of rehabilitation where
people are able to learn and better themselves. A possible idea is the use of anti-prison. In
other words, this would be a program where
punishment is less of the focus; instead therapy and
rehabilitation are at the forefront.

Types of Therapy That Should Be

Used:

Substance abuse treatment

Psychotherapy

A study provided by crimeinamerica.net showed that

Mental and physical care

without cognitive behavioral therapy, eighty-two

Situational therapy

percent of released prisoners returned to prison, but for those who underwent cognitive
behavioral therapy, only sixty-one percent of released prisoners returned to prison. While it is
only a 21% difference, that is still a good amount of prisoners who did not return to
incarceration.11 Overall, the American prison system is focusing too much on punishment and
not enough on fixing the problem at hand. Implementing more reentry programs, and focusing
on the rehabilitation and therapy of prisoners is a major factor in order to see success in
reducing the rates of inmates in prison, and recidivism.

WHO NEEDS TO TAKE INITIATIVE

With such high rates of people in prison, and recidivism, many rehabilitation systems need to
be implemented. But on top of this, reforms, laws, and regulations need to be changed and put
into place. For this to happen,
eyes need to be turned to
those who have a prominent
role in this subject. The
stakeholders at hand are
many, ranging from lawmakers
to law enforcement, both at
state and federal levels.

This brings back

Figure3

the discussion of mandatory minimum sentences and abolishing them. Mandatory minimum

sentences can often be harsh, and unaccounted for various situations. For example, mandatory
minimums do not differentiate a person who is a large dealer from a person who is an addict, or
holding substances for someone who forcefully put them into that situation.5 This leads into the
change of simply letting the judges judge and do their job. There should be no mandatory
serving time, but rather time served based upon all the factors of a criminals case.

Further, policing reforms are another type of change that is needed to help fix the American
prison system. Specifically, police officers should all be wearing body cameras, to provide
further evidence about what happens in situations. This does not only protect the people, by
providing the straightforward evidence, but it also serves to protect police officers.5

Next, drug policy needs to be reevaluated and reformed. Drug abuse is not necessarily all
criminal, but rather a health issue that needs to be stopped. According to the Federal Bureau of
Prisons, almost fifty percent of incarcerated people are in for drug related charges. This number
can be reduced their better education, looser drug offense laws, and better addiction
treatment care throughout.12

Lastly, long term success needs to be available to released prisoners, if they choose to help
better and make themselves successful. For many years, prisoners are locked away and
secluded from the normal world, so when they reenter society they should not be socially and
economically imprisoned still.5 When they are stuck socially and economically, there is a lot of
struggle in obtaining a job and earning money, and often times prison is a returning reality for

them. By creating reform to ensure assistance for long-term success, a huge decrease in the
prison rate could potentially be seen. Overall, the stakeholders in the prison system such as the
lawmakers, law enforcement, and prison officials, have the greatest control over the prison
system. Reforms beginning with these people can be the answer to the failing American prison
system.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The American prison system has seen an incredible jump in incarceration rates over the past 60
years. With a current rate of every 500 people out of every 100,000 being incarcerated, it is
evident that there are issues that need to be solved. The first and foremost step that needs to
be initiated in order to fix this problem is end the war on drugs, since drug offenses are the
leading reason for incarceration. Drugs are too much of a health problem and not as much a
criminal problem, so by taking less drastic measures against drug offenders, our prison rates
will dramatically decrease. Next, mandatory minimum sentences need to be rid of, as they do
not account for various different situations, but rather just classify every offender the same and
they keep incarceration rates high. For the people who are in prison, and are being released
from prison, therapy, reentry programs, and rehabilitation need to be implemented. Helping
prisoners reenter society could be a lot cheaper than long periods of incarceration, and it can
positively affect society entirely. If the stakeholders at hand such as lawmakers, law
enforcement, prison officials, and all others involved can successfully implement all the
necessary reforms, then it very likely that incarceration and recidivism rates will drop. The

American prison system is currently a failing structure, but with the right reforms and policies,
the United States can reach success and lower themselves in the ranks of incarceration rates.

ENDNOTES

Thai, Tyjen, and Paola Scommegna. "U.S. Has World's Highest Incarceration Rate." U.S. Has World's
Highest Incarceration Rate. Population Reference Bureau, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
"Prisoners and Prisoner Re-Entry." USDOJ: FBCI: Prisoners and Prisoner Re-Entry. U.S. Department of
Justice, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
Lehrer, Eli. "Responsible Prison Reform Publications National Affairs." Responsible Prison Reform
Publications National Affairs. National Affairs, 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.
"Recidivism." National Institute of Justice. National Institute of Justice, 17 June 2014. Web. 07 Apr.
2016.
Jones, Van. "Criminal Justice System: 4 Fixes (Opinion)." CNN. Cable
2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Nov.

Henrichson, Christian, and Ruth Delaney. "Vera Institute of Justice:

Making Justice Systems Fairer
and More Effective through Research and Innovation." The Price of
Prisons: What
Incarceration Costs
Taxpayers. Vera Institue of Justice, 29 Feb.
2012. Web. 07 Apr.
2016.
Godard, Thierry. "The Economics of the American Prison System." The Economics
American Prison System. Smart Asset, 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

of

the

"Prisons Bursting at the Seams: The Effects of Mandatory Sentences." Prisons Bursting at the Seams:
The Effects of Mandatory Sentences. Safety and Justice, 20 Dec. 2006. Web.07Apr.2016.
Caporizzo, Cynthia. "Prisoner Reentry Programs: Ensuring a Safe and Successful Return to
Community." The White House. The White House, 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

10

11

News Network, 3

12

the

Ferner, Matt. "These Programs Are Helping Prisoners Live Again On the
Outside."
Huffington Post Politics. Huffington Post, 9 Sept. 2015. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.
"20 Year Prison Study-Treatment Works: Crime Statistics." Crime in AmericaNet. N.p., 18 Mar. 2010.
Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"Federal Bureau of Prisons." BOP Statistics: Inmate Offenses. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 27 Feb.

2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Figure1 - http://www.prisonpolicy.org/atlas/globalincarc2004.html

Figure2 - https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-abuse-treatment-criminal- justicepopulations/providing-drug-abuse-treatment-to-offenders-worth-f

Figure3- http://www.westword.com/news/marijuana-barack-obama-says-no-to-legalizing-drugs-butwhats-that-mean-for-colorado-5874696