Prison Overcrowding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prison Overcrowding - Essay Example The penalties for certain types of offenses are now harsher. The lawmakers have also added new offenses to the penal code. This has also led to the rise of prison overcrowding. There are several ways to reduce overcrowding in prisons. A prison expansion model should be put in place by the United States criminal justice department. They should plan to increase the number of beds whenever the population of inmates surpasses the existing capacity. A community corrections model can also help to reduce overcrowding in prisons. The community’s main objective is to reduce crime and recidivism. The community can carry out court-ordered sanctions. It can assist the court in assessing offenders for placement in the community. The community can take part in the rehabilitation of the offenders and ensure the safety of the public. The people in the community could also pull their resources to fund the jails and prisons in order to facilitate rehabilitation of inmates. Also, a system of graduated penalties imposed by courts can provide supervision of the offenders, rehabilitation, restitution of victims and public safety. There are several factors that impact the crime rate and prison population. These include poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of employment opportunities, lack of education among many others. It is the responsibility of other state services to address these issues. However, due to lack of sufficient funds, these other state devices transfer this responsibility to the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system has rolled out a 20-year â€Å"war on drugs† to help reduce the crime rate and the eventuality of prison overcrowding. The aggressive â€Å"tough on crime† approach is a significant driving force in reducing prison overcrowding.