Do Tough Sentences Reduce Crime?

The question at hand is do tough sentences reduce crime? I will give a few examples of how long term sentences do not cut the crime rates, as people may believe that they do. It is en economical strain on the economy to warehouse these criminals when there are in fact other options available. (Visions for Change) There are in fact other reasons for the decline in crime, which are not primarily based upon the tougher laws that are implemented. (Mapinc.org) Not only are we handing out excessive sentences our society is not remorseful for their actions. While some people may deserve to be in prison for life, there are other options such as probation, and rehabilitation to help the inmates integrate back into society.

Crime itself has always been an issue. The problem is not the crime so much as it is what to do with the offenders themselves. Crime has been on the downhill slide for the past several years. An example of this in action is the state of Florida. Crime had been reduced for seven years prior to Governor Bush taking office. (Mapinc.org). When Governor Bush took office he tightened the sentencing laws. This gives us room to believe that there were in fact other reasons for the decline in crime. (Mapinc.org)

The main reason for the decline in crime is said to be demographics, not tougher sentences. "Over the past 20 years or more years, the median age of the American population has pushed steadily upward." "It's not just that we're all getting older, but the country as a whole is getting older too." (Mapinc.org) So you may be asking how does this break down into layman's terms? I'll tell you how. Today there are fewer young males within the population. Young males commit the most crimes and due to the fact that they are growing up, this number has decreased. (Mapinc.org)

While it would be unfair to say that the tougher sentencing laws have had absolutely no impact on the decline of crime, we must consider the long term cost. (Mapinc.org) On a national scale over 2 million people are incarcerated each year, which is five times the number of people in which were incarcerated 25 years ago.

While it makes sense that criminals who do wrong deserve to be punished, they are not the only ones who are punished. Excessive prison sentences not only punish the offenders, they punish the families as in the spouse, and children who in sometimes are reliant on the person incarcerated. (Mapinc.org) One of the most recent cases which shows how out of hand excessive sentences are was that of a man in chronic pain who received a 25 year mandatory minimum sentence for copying a prescription. Instead of imprisoning this man why was he not offered probation with drug treatment classes? There are far better ways to help people than by locking them up and throwing away the key. Rehabilitation can be used as a beneficial tool to help improve the quality of life instead of wasting money to lock them up and not treat the real issue at hand.

Excessive sentences strain economic and human terms. We need to ensure that we are not penalizing society as a whole along with the offender.

References:
Tough Sentences do Little to Cut Crime: Retrieved on June 28, 2004 from:
http://www.mapinc.org/print/v04/n801/a01
Muraskin, R. & Roberts, A. (2002). Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty First Century (3rd Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall