Hypocrisy Of The American Justice System Essay

Colin Flynn

Professor Anderson

Social Justice

12/4

The Hypocrisy of The American Justice System

America is home to the land of opportunity. Millions of immigrants come to the United States each year in pursuit of the American dream. Little do some know they are entering a more strict society compared to the one they left. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the word, with 716 per 100,000 people getting put behind bars (Wikipedia). How is a country that lives by the words of freedom, and integrity, have higher incarceration rates than the rest of the world? There are 36 states that have higher prison populations than the second leading country, Cuba (vice). There are so many reasons and flaws that can be pointed out

This increase in crime led many Americans believing in the need to be tougher on crime. The government decided to use the method of mass incarceration, believing on the fundamentals of incapacitation and deterrence. Incapacitation refers to the restriction of an individual 's freedoms and liberties that they would normally have in society (study.com). This response is typically used when a person has committed a crime, and will head to prison. Deterrence is the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of punishment (Webster). Thus saying causing fear of punishment will reduce the likelihood of criminals committing a crime. The American government proceeded to act as promised to become harsher on crime. The number of arrests increased dramatically. When looking at just plain ink and paper you would see that arrests rates were getting higher, so you would think that the country would be becoming safer. Instead of targeting violent criminals, there were significantly more people being thrown in prison for non-violent crimes such as drug

Men like Nixon and Reagan had a tough mentality, while Clinton and Carter were a little more lenient (Parenti). Some targeted the suppliers, some targeted the consumers, and others targeted both. One of the key faults in the War on Drugs has been targeting consumers. People are going to take drugs no matter what. In order to reduce mass incarceration, the government must stop targeting and focusing on punishing the consumers of drugs. In 2005, four out of five drug arrests were for mere possession, and the vast majority of those offenders had no history of violence (Alexander). Targeting consumers of drugs is completely detrimental to the War on Drugs. You aren’t removing the problem by getting rid of the consumers. Instead you are putting a lot of people who have never committed a violent crime into a system surrounded by hardened criminals who truly deserve to be away from society and in prison. Prison is not a safe place. After a few months or years in prison, you become accustomed to prison norms, full of aggression and violence. People who simply got caught in possession of a drug are interacting and living with rapists and murderers. 77 percent of drug offenders would be arrested again (Crimeinamerica). Putting drug addicts and users in prison doesn’t solve the problem, but only enhances it. The point attempted to be made here is not to abolish drug laws for consumers,