The American Prison System

First, of all American prisons have gotten away from being places of punishment but instead have become places of leisure. People incarcerated should be treated like criminals and not as if they are guests at a resort. This is evident by looking at the increased prison recivity rate. Unfortunately prisons are very profitable. In my opinion to reduce government spending states should explore the possibility of privatizing prisons. The prison population has increased tremendously due to sentence disparities. Now some criminals deserve to be locked up with key thrown away while there are others in prison because of minor technicalities. For example, in one county a drug possession charge might carry a 2-year sentence while in another county it may carry a sentence of 10 years. The American judicial system needs more uniformity. It is imperative that more funding be given to measures of prevention rather than retention. Law enforcement must take a proactive approach instead of one that is reactive.

Gang activity highly contributes to violence in this country. In order to properly address this problem there are two things that must take place. First, a gang intervention program needs to be implemented. Some of the members of these gangs have lived that type of lifestyle since ages as young as 5. Secondly, along with protecting our citizens from gang violence they need to also be educated on history, members, symbols, etc. Gang awareness is an important step in reducing gang violence. For years in this country, gang activity has been viewed as clandestine having only esoteric significance.

This apathetic attitude has caused gang activity to grow from the inner city streets to rural areas. In order to get one-step closer to resolving the problem there must first be an acknowledgment that there is a problem.
Alcohol and illegal drugs have also contributed to the recent surge in the prison population. Many peoples' addiction to both drugs and alcohol have caused them to commit criminal acts that landed in the prison system. Unfortunately, many of these people were not able to find help for their addictions until they were behind prison walls. Once again, there needs to be intervention to help with this problem. We constantly are overwhelmed with campaigns that tell us to, "Say no to drugs." It is time to give people something to say yes to. It is time for us to realize that incarceration may not always be the best rehabilitation.