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Are supermax prisons necessary in the United States or are they a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment? “Supermax” is the short term for “super-maximum security.” Supermax facilities are the highest security level in most correctional systems, and are typically designed to control the most violent and disruptive inmates. Supermax prisoners are locked into small concrete cells, without any personal contact and under constant video surveillance (Daly, William). Do we really need these supermax facilities to rehabilitate our most dangerous citizens? The important factor to analyze is if the psychological effects of solitary confinement –23hours per day— are counterproductive, especially when inmates …show more content…
Two prison systems were developed in the United States during the 1800’s. The Auburn system was developed in New York and was characterized by silent labor, and the Pennsylvania system, which was characterized by extreme isolation of prisoners from each other and from society. The main object of the system was based on the philosophy that extreme isolation would give prisoners the opportunity to reflect and repent of their crimes. However, in 1890 the Pennsylvania system was discontinued because the Supreme Court ruled on the adverse effects of solitary confinement in prisons. Despite the previous experience of the 1800’s, the development of the Supermax model emerged out of the prison violence of the 1970’s and the 1980’s, when prisoners murdered dozens of guards nationwide, including two at the maximum-security federal prison at Marion, Illinois. …show more content…
To maintain order, these systems have chosen to isolate the most disruptive inmates from the general population. Some officials state that their supermax prisons also act as a deterrent for some offenders who might be prone to some disruptive behavior (Kluger). Supermax prisons are politically and publicly attractive to many of us. They are symbols that a state is getting “tough on crime” and we like to see that. The types of behavior constituting potential assignment into a lockdown environment such as a special management housing unit or supermax facility are strikingly similar across all states. Despite a wide variance between jurisdiction on the definition of supermax, most use similar, specific behavior and types of associations when recommended inmate placements into supermax confinement. Supermax prisons have been advanced as means of controlling the "worst of the worst" and making prisons safer places to live and
Solitary Confinement is a type of isolation in prison which a prisoner is segregated from the general population of the prison and any human contact besides the prison employees. These prisons are separated from the general population to protect others and themselves from hurting anyone in the prison. These prisoners are deprived of social interaction, treatments, psychologist, family visits, education, job training, work, religious programming and many other services prisoners might need during the sentence of their imprisonment. There are roughly 80,000 prisoners in solitary confinement but 25,000 are in long term and supermax prisons. According to the Constitution, “The Eighth Amendment [...] prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment”(US Const. amend. VIII). Solitary confinement is suppose to be the last straw for inmates to be in. If they don 't follow it, they can be on death row. Taxpayers pay roughly $75,000 to $85,000 to keep prisoners in solitary confinement. That is 3 times higher than the normal prisons that taxpayers pay for them to be in prison. Solitary confinement was established in 1829 in Philadelphia for experimentation because officials believed it was a way for
The goals of incarceration according to penological principles are incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, and deterrence. When exploring the outcomes of a time served in a supermax facility, rehabilitation can be immediately ruled out. Supermax facilities have been said to be potentially damaging to an inmate’s mental health and inflict irrational emotions of rage and lead an individual to lose touch with reality (Haney, 2003). Incapacitation is achieved through the incarceration of inmates in supermax facilities. Inmates are removed from society, preventing future crime. Incapacitation is achieved through all forms of incarceration, not just incarceration in supermax facilities. Deterrence is a heavily debated aspect. From a study done in 2005 by Roy King, the interviews of 42 supermax inmates had interesting findings in terms of deterrence. King’s findings suggested that some inmates spend their sentence in supermax reflecting on the wrongfulness of their actions. Inmates have stated that placement in these facilities have allowed them to release themselves from harmful influences of other problematic stressors and exercise self-control (King, 2005). Lastly, retribution.
Solitary confinement has the ability to shatter even the healthiest mind when subjected to indefinite lockdown, yet the mentally ill, who are disproportionately represented in the overall prison population, make up the majority of inmates who are held in that indefinite lockdown. Within your average supermax prison in which all inmates are subjected to an elevated form of solitary confinement, inmates face a 23-hour lockdown, little to no form of mental or physical stimulation that is topped off with no human interaction beyond the occasional guard to inmate contact. It is no wonder ‘torture’ is often used synonymously to describe solitary confinement. For years, cases arguing against solitary confinement have contested against its inhumane
In an ordinary prison, many are at risk of being assaulted especially within weaker inmates. These prisoners who assault and frequently act out in violence, as well as prisoners who try to escape, “must be removed from the general population of the prison environment while they threaten any of those behaviors” (Riveland, 1999). While these prisoners are in the super-maximum security prison, they are not placed out of it until it is believed their threat level is low. Other inmates of supermax prions include: death row inmates, mentally-ill inmates, and inmates with HIV or other blood disease. These inmates are placed in supermax prisons to secure inmates from those who are likely to act out in rage, and to be sure the health of inmates is not at risk by getting HIV. Many see these reasons to be a necessary condition to place these inmates in a different and confined prison. However others see the supermax prisons as being a cruel punishment. When given this argument, many may agree that having prisoners, especially smaller and weaker inmates, around these violent offenders is dangerous. Would it be cruel and unusual to leave these inmates in a cell where they are at risk of being tortured by a mentally unstable or unfit cell mate? Many other might see that it is a fit punishment and it would prevent the abused inmates from becoming repeating offenders. Which would bring up the idea that these inmates
Stickrath, Thomas J., and Gregory A. Bucholtz. "Supermaximum Security Prisons Are Necessary." Supermax Prisons: Beyond the Rock. Lanham, MD: American Correctional Facility, 2003. Rpt. in America's Prisons. Ed. Clare Hanrahan. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.
Tietz points out that the assignment of inmates to supermax prisons are “made extrajudicially, by prison officials, without appeal to any authority beyond the correctional system”. In addition, the author discusses Brian Nelson’s case, in which he was sentenced for sixteen to twenty-six years in prison for taking part in an armed robbery and murder. Nelson was transfer to a supermax prison without clear evidence or reason for his transfer. The reason for Nelson’s transfer to Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois remains unclear because Nelson had no history of any psychiatric problems and he had never posed any threats to himself or other prisoners. After a year at Tamms, Nelson stopped sleeping completely and started to demonstrate serious psychological problems (pacing 18 hours a day). The main point of Tietz is to illustrate the psychological damage of solitary confinement and the unfairness of assigning an inmate to a supermax facility because, as he points out, “judges almost never place a convict in an isolation cell” (Tietz). Some prisoners have been placed in permanent solitary confinement without any uniform
It is said that prison should be used for more serious crimes such as rape, assault, homicide and robbery (David, 2006). Because the U.S. Prison is used heavily for punishment and prevention of crime, correctional systems in the U.S. tend to be overcrowded (David, 2006). Even though prisons in the U.S. Are used for privies on of crime it doesn 't work. In a 2002 federal study, 67% of inmates that
America locks up five times more of its' population than any other nation in the world. Due to prison overcrowding, prisoners are currently sleeping on floors, in tents, in converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or even in double or triple bunks in cells, which were designed for one inmate. Why is this happening? The U.S. Judicial System has become so succumbed to the ideal that Imprisonment is the most visibly form of punishment. The current structure of this system is failing terribly. To take people, strip them of their possessions and privacy, expose them to violence on a daily basis, restrict their quality of life to a 5x7ft cell, and deprive them of any meaning to live. This scenario is a standard form of punishment for violent offenders, although not suitable for nonviolent offenders.
Super maximum prisons are made for “super criminals” that has to be cut off from the rest of the world. To name a few criminals that has been removed from the world is the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and the Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Some of these criminals in super max prisons are usually have long sentences or death sentences. On any given day, there are about 80,000 inmates that resides in Supermax institutions in the United States. In the 1980s there was a critical upping in prison violence, riots, and staff murdered by prisoners housed in supermax prisons. The government prison in Marion, Illinois, considered by numerous to be the main supermax prisons, experienced huge prisoner violence, which brought about the death of two prison guards in 1983. Originally, they were not 23 hours lock down prisons until the actions that took place during
The grim reality of supermax prison is that inmates are held in solitary confinement at least 23hrs a day. Over the past several years the number inmates in prison have increased significantly and there is a very huge problem especially with our mentally ill inmates. According to the NPR these kind of prison also has had a huge political implication and is said to be a human rights violation by one elected official. In 2012 there was a civil case filed on behalf of inmates due to the lack of care for the mentally ill inmates. There were concerns that the mentally ill inmates were not receiving adequate medication and there is a lack of rehabilitation treatment.
Solitary confinement has been a practice that has taken place in the United State Prisons for a very long time. How effective it has been as a form of punishment and a rehabilitation measure has been the primary concern. The research is based on the history of solitary confinement and the purpose it was intended to serve. It as well serves to find out if this purpose has been well covered and what have been the results and has it been effective in serving the purpose.
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate is isolated from any human contact. This form of extreme punishment is beyond incarnation and is an additional safety measure of protection for oneself or other convicts if they are considered dangerous. It’s also used as a punishment for violating prison regulations. Solitary confinement is proven to cause or worsen severe psychological problems of the inmates placed in it and cost more than regular prisons therefore it should not be used if completely unnecessary. In the two articles, “Should jails, prisons use solitary confinement?” By Jessica priest and “Should U.S. prisons continue to place inmates in solitary confinement?” by Issues & Controversies, it discusses each side
“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime control model.