The “tough on crime” platform of major political frontrunners since the 1960s has had a major effect on the American population.
We don’t want criminals on the streets; we want them in prison, regardless of their offense. Such a mindset has disabled the American criminal justice system from distinguishing between violent criminals who need to be put away, and repeat petty offenders that would be better suited in a criminal rehabilitation program.
Because of this mentality, the United States’ prison population is overflowing. After almost three decades of growth, the prison population reached 2.3 million in 2007, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.
This means that about 1 in 100 people in America are locked away. This number surpasses any other country for which reliable figures exist.
This large prison population comes with a hefty price tag. In 2007, the United States spent $44 billion on the prison system, which is 33 billion more than we spent in 1987. This number isn’t surprising when you consider that the average annual cost of incarceration is $24,000 per inmate.
The most amazing thing about all of this is that according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, crime rates in the United States are dropping steadily while prison populations continue to rise.
All of these statistics point to one thing: America’s prison system is completely ineffective.
As a nation, we are so focused on being “tough on crime,” that we do not realize that we are running out of prison cells, and we are allowing violent criminals to go free early so that we can house more petty drug users and hot check writers.
We have done away with work placement, drug rehabilitation, and counseling programs because we have no money left to spend.
California’s Folsom prison embodies the problem that America’s corrections system faces. Folsom, where Johnny Cash serenaded prisoners from an improvised stage in the cafeteria, was built to hold 1,800 inmates. According to National Public Radio, it now holds 4,427, and 75 percent of those prisoners will be back in prison within three years.
Work programs that used to be available to all prisoners now have waiting lists that are years long, and the medical facility has been completely shut down. Funds that used to pay for inmates to receive their high school GED or wood-working certification now has to be stretched just to feed all of the inmates.
Folsom was once America’s most effective prison, it is now struggling to keep up with daily expenses.
But what can we do about it? Any politician who argues that petty criminals shouldn’t be given life sentences is seen “soft on crime.” Unfortunately, this mindset is driving the corrections program into the ground. If we would wake up and focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment, maybe we could solve the problem.
The majority of prisoners in our prison system today are petty criminals. 21 percent of those in prison are drug offenders, a statistic that has not changed since 1994, and more than half of these criminals return to jail within three years. Many people who go to jail for drug offenses have no prior criminal record. They pose no danger to society other than that they are addicted to drugs. If these people were allowed to forgo a prison sentence entirely in exchange for time spent in a rehabilitation program our prison population could be reduced, which would save the state prison-cells and money and allow ample room for those who truly need to be incarcerated. Not only that, but these people would be helped with their addiction, which would aid in taking drugs off the streets.
Studies by the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicates that effective treatment for prisoners cuts drug use in half, reduces criminal behavior by up to 80 percent, and prevents re-arrest up to 64 percent.
The benefits to America’s prisons system are infinite. Such a reduction in re-arrest would reduce the prison population and make the system less of a burden on taxpayers. In fact, it is estimated that if rehabilitation programs were implemented, for every $1 spent on rehabilitation, $4 to $7 would be saved on drug related crime.
What America needs to do is clear: clean up our inmates rather than stowing them away. We’d reduce cost, decrease recidivism, and increase the number of active and involved citizens. But, what America will do is a different story. And until we figure things out, many of our prisons may end up exactly like Folsom.
Jessica Huseman is a sophomore CCPA and Political Science double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
