Prison Overcrowding

Prison Overcrowding

Andre Cole

CJA/394

January 25, 2016

Hollis Severns

Prison Overcrowding

The United States has the highest per-capita prison population than any other country in the industrialized world. No matter how many prisons are built and money the politicians allow to be fed into the problem, there is still massive overcrowding. While America surely does not possess the most criminal culture on earth, its prison population continues to grow. Many argue we have too many laws and this is this the cause. However today it is a well-known fact more people are incarcerated for drug violations than all violent crimes combined. Another issue that is a major contributing factor of prison overcrowding is detainees who have committed no crime against person or property being held; to include sex workers such as prostitutes, and anyone who has not hurt and or threatened another and whose only violation was to commit a victimless crime that broke one of our many statutes in this country.

The Consequences of Overcrowding in Prisons

The consequences that overcrowding in prisons has on the criminal justice system is broad. The effects range from a stressed, stretched budget to the many consequence that the physical effects of overcrowding brings. The reality is many prison systems and their prison were not built and do not have the space, staff or resources needed to house very large numbers. Many prisoners spend almost 23 and sometimes 24 hours in crowded, very small cells and housing pods. “In some systems the level of overcrowding may be so acute that prisoners are forced to sleep in shifts, sleep on top of each other, share beds or tie themselves to window bars so that they can sleep while standing”(United Nations, 2013). Inadequate room is one of the many problems that are encountered as a repercussion of overcrowding in the prison system. Overcrowding has a tremendous effect on the quality of healthcare services, nutrition,...