California is suffering from a crisis in the prison system. Its facilities are operating at double capacity and " grossly deficient medical care" is the cause of at least one inmate death per week (Wood, 2008, para. 2). Because of this need for reform, the federal government is stepping in to direct the state prison’s operating procedure. Although the financial choices of each state should be free from federal control, the federal government is still known to put pressure on states to make decisions, especially when lawsuits arise. An example of federal legislation commanding state behavior is busing. The states felt that they should have the autonomy to decide whether racial integration was right for them. The federal government, however, decided in Brown v Board of Education that segregation was unconstitutional, and thus the state governments were forced to comply. In a federal system of government, each level holds its own powers, but one must prevail in cases of disagreement. In America, the federal sector is the "supreme Law of the Land" (U.S. Constitution). For this reason, although California suffers from a $16 billion budget deficit, the federal pressures have forced yet another $7 billion in spending to ensure "upgraded healthcare facilities for prison inmates" (Wood, 2008, para. 1). The National Association of State Budget Officers expenditure report from the fiscal year 2009 states that 5% of state spending, about $48 billion annually, supports corrections (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2011). The federal government is spending 1.8% of our tax dollars on prisons (Frugal Dad, 2011), which amounts to about $45 billion (Williams, 2009). So, it seems that the states and federal government are sharing the burde... ... middle of paper ... ...://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/22/20100822arizona-private-prisons.html Oppel, R.A. Jr. (2011, May 18). Private Prisons Found to Offer Little in Savings. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/us/19prisons.html Williams, R. (2009, April 22). The Numbers: What are the federal government's sources of revenue? Tax Policy Center. Retrieved from http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numbers/revenue.cfm Wood, D.B. (2008, April 22). California pays rising price for prison growth. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2008/0422/p03s03-usju.html U.S. Constitution, Art. 6, cl. 2. Zito, M. (2003, December 8). Prison Privatization: Past and Present. International Foundation for Protection Officers. Retrieved from http://www.ifpo.org/articlebank/prison_privatization.html
We imprison seven-hundred-fifty prisoners per one hundred-thousand citizens, almost five times the earth average. Around one in every thirty-one grown-ups in the United States is in the penitentiary, in prison or on supervised release. District, state, and national disbursements on corrections expenses total to around seventy billion dollars per year and has raised to forty percent more over the past twenty years. http://www.newsweek.com/ The current corrections specialists have started to support that notion. Even though we comprehend that criminals must take accountability for their actions, we also realize that we can no longer just turn out heads at their disappointments. The individuals that derive out of our penitentiaries, prisons, municipal programs and out from beneath our direction are our creation, and we have to take some responsibility. Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition) Hankoff, Leon D. "Current trends in correctional education: theory and practice." International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology Apr. 1985: 91-93. Criminal Justice Collection. Web. 12 June 2016.
The Justice Gap (2012) [online] “Privatising prisons a step too far”, Available at: http://thejusticegap.com/News/privatising-prisons-a-step-too-far/ [last accessed on 10th November]
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.
Private Prisons A private prison or for-profit prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically have contractual agreements with the governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in that private facility. Private prisons have been part of the system for quite some years now, specifically for involvement in corrections. Private for-profit prison management started rising in the 1980s, they represented a qualitative shift in the relation between corrections and private business.
Companies such as Corrections Corporation of America & GEO Group are selling their services as a worry-free solution to dealing with the incarcerated population, while saving money in the process. Some of the tactics private prisons use to save money are understaffing, not training staff, lax security measures and even allowing cable TV versus hiring more guards. These tactics do not work, as researchers from the U.S. General Accounting Office show “no substantial evidence” was found in proving that for-profit prisons conserve taxpayer dollars. In Arizona, prisons were privatized with one stipulation; it must save money. The state’s own data contradicted the idea, with the per-inmate cost in private prisons as high as sixteen-hundred dollars greater per diem, or three and a half m...
...Prison Overcrowding: California." ALEC: American Legislative Exchange Council. American Legislative Exchange Council. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from Organization of CDCR
The proponents of private prisons contend that private prison are a necessity because the criminal justice system is in crisis and governments do not have the willingness to spend public money building new prisons. According to Adrian Moore, Mr. Moore is the Vice President, Policy of the Reason Foundation, and this statement was published online “Private Prisons, Quality Corrections at a Lower Cost.” For the website reason.org on April 1998 Moore holds a Ph.D. in Economics
On an average nearly 688,000 prisoners are released back into society, and of which includes 433,000 prisoner's waiting for trial and convictions, and the remaining percentage of prisoner's are serving sentences for minor and non-violent crimes, although, in the attempt to ensure public safety. Prison overcrowding continues to be a grave concern to the safety and welfare of the general public in California today because consequently the percentage of juvenile offenders detained represents 12,000 for technical violations, and 3,000 juveniles are detained for status offenses costing the taxpayers on an average $31,286 annually, and currently, the number of offender’s incarcerated in State and Federal prisons today is an astounding 2.4 million
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
Western, Bruce , and Becky Pettit. "Disadvantages of America’s prison boom: Scholar’s research brief." Journalists Resource RSS. N.p., 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
It’s easier to punish, harder to rehabilitate, but their is long term detriment. In a speech addressed to the NAACP, President Obama stated “the United States is home to 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Our incarceration rate is four times higher than China’s and our prison population is higher than than the top 35 European countries...combined.” And why is this statistic so skewed? Profit. Because of the boom in the prison population caused by the War on Drugs during the 1980s, prison overcrowding and rising cost became problematic for local, state, and federal governments. In response, private business interests saw an opportunity for expansion, and consequently, private-sector involvement in prisons moved from the simple contracting of services to contracting for the complete management and operation of entire prisons, aka spoiler alert: Orange is the New Black Season 3. The privatization of Prisons creates new prisons for profit, prisons that need to be filled. In 2012, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation 's largest operator of for-profit prisons, sent letters to 48 states offering to buy their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." Meaning, the CCA offered to run the prison in exchange for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance the prison would remain at
As California continues to struggle meeting budget deadlines, politicians focus on budget cuts affecting education, health care, social programs, and pensions. Part of balancing the state budget requires politicians to review all programs which are state funded; this includes analyzing the costs of “incarcerating people who pose no threat to public safety” (ACLU of Northern California). If California lawmakers come together and re-evaluate the correction system as a whole, state funding can be re-allocated back into our education programs, health care, social programs and others. As it stands now California’s Correction budget will exceed state universities funding in the next five years (SFGATE.com Article Coll...
With prisons growing at the rate they are now, there must be more funding. 1 out of every 131 U.S citizens is incarcerated. The rest of the citizens have to pay for this person to have a place to sleep, eat, and exercise out of their taxes. These taxes can and should be used for more important issues. I...
Henrichson, C. (2012). The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers. Federal Sentencing Reporter25.1 , 68-80.
Many believed that the US state’s soaring expenditures and special interest politics are pushing states towards record budget deficits, causing a lack of funding towards education, health care, the poor, and even state correction system (Petersilia 2008). It is paramount that out government find ways to utilized government spending wisely towards all the principles mentioned, even towards state correction systems. Our government needs to put individuals in place to analyze prison systems and find ways to resolve the issues with recidivism. From the data collected, the government could learn the best methods of utilizing funding towards innovative programs to help with reform and