A society can’t live without law because it imposes rules that make people in order. If somebody breaks a law, then there is a place that is intended for him or her – jail. America is renowned as the land of the free because of its laws that govern people in order. However, justice and mercy are sometimes not working in harmony. Some captive prisoners are actually innocent and some people of lesser assaults are still on the streets because of the use of money. However, the numbers of prisoners in the United States still reach in million. Government is allocating funds in correctional facilities.
Jailing is mainly called incarceration. In history, jails are used as penitentiary as a lesson too those that break the law. Sometimes, prisoners are experiencing tortures from the guards and wardens. In nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties, the scene of torture has been reversed. Many of the inmates are related to guard killings because of mass incarceration. Many professionals, politicians, and experts have been persuaded in these years that it is better to lock up the law-breakers because they believed that bad people can’t be changed to good. Thus, life-imprisonment is the highest penalty other than death row penalty. The worse came when the numbers rose in these facilities and almost chaos was brought to the guards and wardens. Criminals of moderate to high charges will become madder than the day that they’ve entered the jail because of the psychological effect and lose of hope because of them knowing that they can’t have any mercy from the government (Gopnik).
The most numbers of prisoners are black people. Sorrow came to the African Americans when Jim Crow had been imposed in America. This law was like more than discrimination intended to the African Americans that were freed after the Civil War. The law recommends that the white people is far better than the blacks in hierarchy. This gave Caucasians honorary in vain in all things from the blacks. With the least mistake, then the African Americans will pay the price by staying in prison or even death. Jim Crow last for almost a century that killed thousands of African American and imprisoned millions of them. This part of history affects the way incarceration in America. Even today, most of the prisoners are from African American because of lack of education. Otherwise, Caucasians are enjoying their life unharmed of imprisonment even if they break the law, it is because they can pay the price of justice (Gopnik).
In 2005, it was recorded that 7 million of people were behind bars. From year to year, the numbers of prisoners are dramatically increasing. To address the numbers of prisoners, United States of America (USA) have immense types of jails that imprisoning millions of Americans each year. The jail types are depending on inmates and the gravity of their charge. The types of jails in America are (A) minimum and medium security, (B) close security, (C) maximum security, (D) supermax, and (E) federal. Government is really giving out its support in reducing the crime rate by imprisonment. Also, the less offenders might be subject to community corrections, probation, or restitutions. As you can see, USA has the most organized types of jails that can be used to imprison criminals from minimum-security prisons of less offenders to overly secured facilities that imprisoned well known criminals and terrorists. This means that USA is also imprisoning non-Americans (De Maille).
Most of the people who violate the law prefers (A) minimum and medium security. In these facilities, inmates do enjoy dormitories on bunk beds. Also, they have lockers for their possessions. Showers, sinks, and toilets are being enjoyed here, sometimes, they can have this in communal. The prisoners in this type of jail is considered as white collar, or in other words, can pose little physical risk. Because of this, most of the prisoners can make physical contact to their love ones. In addition, they have the privilege to use telephones and internet for their convenience. The difference between minimum and medium is the fence. Medium security has double fenced and regularly patrolled while minimum security has only a wall or none at all. No fences are most in rural areas. This will help the prisoners to be still engaged to people in community. Also, prisoners in minimum security enjoys working with the community while they are doing their community services as part of correctional program (De Maille).
(B) Close security and (C) Maximum security are common in two ways. These facilities are being monitored by a secure remote control station, and the cellblock is a single cell which has toilet and sink. The first difference of these two kinds of facilities is the accommodation. Close security can accommodate one to two persons while the maximum security can only allow one. Second is the confinement. Close security may enjoy correctional activities and might enjoy some cell areas like the gym in exercise yard while maximum security prisoner will be confined in his cell for about twenty-three hours. When the maximum security prisoner gets out of his cell, he will be escorted by a correctional officer while in bound of restraints but he is only allow in cellblock or an exterior cage. Most of these facilities have three-fenced wall that might be equipped with lethal-current electrical fence. The problem of this cell type is the hygiene because of sharing the bedroom with the restroom. This also may cause health issues (De Maille).
(D) Supermax facility has the most impenetrable kind of security in the United States. Supermax accommodates the most dangerous inmates like serial killers, inmates who commit murder, assault or any serious violation inside his previous jail, high profile criminals, and inmates who are member of prison gangs. USA caters only one of this kind of security but some states are building some facilities having the same features of supermax. One of these facilities is the ADX Florence built in 1994. This kind of security proposes solitary way of imprisonment. The cell is designed like a tight box seeing nothing save the eyes of the correctional officer by a tiny window intended for conversation. This a way of ensuring the facility that the inmate is unaware of his surroundings. This is a great way of preventing him of planning his escape. The prisoner will take twenty-three hours or more in his cell. He is not also allowed in any forms of communication in the outside world. If the prisoner gets any forms of mail, the officers will first read it verbally, and will shred all the information at once. Also, this facility minimizes social contacts and maximizes isolation between cellmates. In this way, this way, inside organization might be prevented to prevent further chaos inside the facility because of mutiny (De Maille).
Even the worst people might improve. Living in solitude and having none save yourself as a friend will likely make you insane. Most of the prisoners in ADX Florence have shown good behavior. As a reward, these prisoners enjoyed transferring to maximum security as a part of step-down program (De Maille).
Questions may asked like how government can help the infrastructure of these kinds of facilities. Growing numbers of prisoners need new facilities and it is being contracted by ford-profit businesses and for-profit companies. They are helping the government in building and maintaining all the contracted facilities. However, some of the contracts are not being followed because the companies and businesses are paying low to maintain the contracted facilities. Otherwise, state is providing funds to these private sectors as payments. Also, private sectors are making private prisons. They are aiming to have more prisoners but providing less help coming from them (Gopnik).
Providing mercy while injecting justice is more humane than a man spending the rest of his life inside a four-walled cell. Many non-profit groups raise projects that are approved by the court. One of these project is community service. Justice is being applied by work. It is better that a prisoner will work out his way out. It is also more profitable to use their time in a better cause. New York’s Community Service Sentencing Project (CSSP) handles the inmates of New York City and New York State. They are giving community works mainly in beautification of the community like preparing community gardens, clearing construction debris, etc. This is successful for almost seventy percent of the offenders in CSSP completes the program. One of the great output of this program was Clayton Williams, an ex-convict. He had a fulltime job in developing the worksites as soon as he was released. One of their projects is building a facility for mentally ill patients. As we can see, the punishments of inmates became a way of helping the community (Anderson).
We must do a just judgment to further execute justice for the recipients. Many of the facilities are really well built to secure the prisoners for them not to escape. However, we must be humane in thinking their psychological situation. We must utilize the real use of prisons. We can see that USA is an advanced nation bringing solutions and enforcing laws to regulate peace on the land. Otherwise, it is better that the prisons that have been made will be lesser of inmates or better if those prisons will lose all their inmates to allocate the funds in other departments than caging the unworthy criminals providing them shelter, food, and security.
Work Cited
Anderson, David C. Community Service A Productive Way to Punish. The New Press. Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company. 1998. Web. 19 November, 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/anderson-justice.html>
De Maille, Vince J. Incarceration 101 Program: Types of Prisons. ©2007 Vince De Maille – Incarceration101. 2007. Web. 19 November, 2014. <http://www.incarceration101.com/types-of-prisons.php>
Gopnik, Adam. The Caging of America. The New Yorker. 30 January, 2014. Web. 19 November, 2014. < http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/30/the-caging-of-america>
