Literature Review
The paper reviews the existing literature on the efficacy of incarcerating criminals in prisons and the associated expenses that the government incurs to jail them and maintain the prisons. According to Gilgan (2015), the expenses, which are substantial, are funded by the taxes collected from the citizens. His opinion is that a prison sentence for every criminal is neither rational nor an economically viable solution for the U.S. Government. The crucial question that the paper will explore is whether using tax dollars to imprison criminals is the ideal way to utilize the money gathered, and how might they be put to more effective use.
Santos (2013) and Chang (2012) argue the demerits of the California Prisoner Realignment Bill and his research states that despite the formation of Community Corrections Partnership in the state, the rates of recidivism are still high. As a result, precious tax dollars are being spent on keeping thousands of criminals jailed, most of whom are those who are too poor to post bail, or afford a good lawyer (Warner, 2010).
Both Santos and Stasch (2015) are of the opinion that often ethnic minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics, or those with mental disabilities find themselves behind bars for extended periods. On the other hand Fan (2015) presents another important aspect of the situation. Due to a lack of resources, non-serial, non-violent and non-felony offenders often find themselves incarcerated for undefined tenures until their trials start. Fan and Green (2011) state that spending more than a few weeks in jail, away from their jobs and the stability of family, increases the likelihood that these people will commit more serious crimes in the future. Schartmueller (2015) goes on to add that this in turn will increase the incidence of corruption, further contributing to the expenses of maintaining over-crowded jail systems.
Smith (2014), Disabato (2011) and Jackson-Green have recommended possible alternatives to prison sentences for low-level offenders. The suggestions included imposing mandatory community service or compensating the victims with monetary payments as restitution. A similar criminal justice system has been successfully implemented in Norway (Lopes, 2012, p. 55) where members of the community decide the form of sentencing for non-violent crimes, keeping their prisons from taking up precious financial resources.
References
Chang, C. (2012, May 13). Louisiana is the world's prison capital. The New Orleans Times-Picayune, pp. 1-73.
Disabato, D. P. (2011, September 13). The Penal Sytem: Stalemate. Public Law, pp. 1-8.
Fan, M. D. (2012). Beyond Budget-Cut Criminal Justice: The Future of Penal Law. North Carolina Law Review, 1-70.
Gilgan, L. N. (2015). Privately Failing: Recidivism in Public and Private Prisons. Selected Works, 1-29.
Green, G. L. (2011). The Quixotic Dilemma, California's Immutable Culture of Incarceration. Pace law Review, 1453-1502.
Helms, R. (2011). Modeling the Politics of Punishment: A Contextual Analysis of Racial Disparity in Drug Sentencing. Criminal Justice Review, 472-491.
Jackson-Green, B. (2013). Making Illinois smart on crime: First steps to reduce spending, ease offender re-entry and enhance public safety. Chicago: Illinois Policy Institute.
Jr., L. S. (2014). Incarceration : a rising population dilemma. UR Scholarship Repository, 1-87.
Lopes, J. (2012). There's Got to be a Better Way: Retribution versus Restoration. The Osprey Journal of Ideas and Inquiry, 50-66.
Meyers, L. (2015, December 4). Prison population is soaring in U.S. Chicago Tribune, pp. 1-3.
Muir, R. (2012). The Long View: Public Services and Public Spending in 2030. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.
Picchi, A. (2015, February 11). Are America's jails used to punish poor people? CBS News, pp. 1-3.
Pratt, J. (2014). When Penal Populism Stops: Legitimacy, Scandal and the Power to Punish in New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 364-383.
Rentschler, W. (2015, August 22). Prison building a useless weapon vs. crime. Chicago Suntimes, pp. 2-9.
Ross, J. I. (2012). Debunking the Myths of American Corrections: An Exploratory Analysis. Springer Science, 409-427.
Santos, M. (2013, May 18). How Are Realignment Billions Being Spent? Huff Post Crime, pp. 1-4.
Schartmueller, D. (2015). Settling Down Behind Bars: The Extensive Use of Life Sentences in Alabama. The Prison Journal, 449-471.
Stasch, J. (2015, March 6). US jails are warehouses of sick, poor and low-risk people . The Guardian, pp. 1-2.
Steen, S. (2012). When the policy becomes the problem: Criminal justice in the new millennium. Journal of Punishment and Society, 5-26.
Valdez, T. D. (2014). Prison Life Inside The California Department of Corrections. Inmate Classified, 1-7.
Waldman, M. (2015). Solutions: American Leaders Speak Out On Criminal Justice. New York: Brennan Center of Justice.
Warner, K. (2010). The High Budgetary Cost of Incarceration. Washington D.C.: Center For Economic & Policy Research.
White, R. (2011). Working with Offenders: A Guide to Concepts and Practices. Willan Publishing: New York.
Wiley, K. (2011). The New Frontier of Public Safety. Stanford Law and Policy Review, 343-378.
Wright, P. (2010). Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor. New York: Routledge.
