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Running Head: PRISON OVERCROWDING ISSUE BRIEF 1

PRISON OVERCROWDING ISSUE BRIEF 2

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PRISON OVERCROWDING

Introduction

Prison overcrowding has been a challenge in nearly all countries; moreover, it is an elusive aspect although local and global actors have worked on dealing with it for years. Since its invention in the nineteenth century, overcrowding appears even to indicate a trait was troubling the new prison (Rogan, 2012). There has been an ongoing discussion in America on how to deal with prison overcrowding, and this is evident indication that the government is expected to do much as well as the politicians in reducing prison overcrowding under court orders second pressure and widespread financial problem. However, it is certain that generally, it is easier to have over populated prisons rather than creating and implementing efficient ways to lower prison overcrowding. The arguments show that, however, also, that the prison overpopulation challenge is placed in the middle of various significant policies and crime study where connected subjects meet. The topic are concerned with criminal sentencing, prison sentences and imprisonment role in the criminal sanctions systems, the principles adopted when it comes to prisoners accommodation and offering sufficient health care and rehabilitative services, crime development, in particular crime that attracts jail sentences, the budget provided for prisons and construction of prison as well as economic limitations and finally common criminal policy determine the criminal law course and punishment in the community.

It is clear that overpopulation somehow is connected with the issues, although there lies no clear picture on how these issues correlate and under what conditions they get efficient in turning the growth pattern or decrease in prison population. Because of the complexity coming with the problem, the cross-sectional nature of the penitentiary overpopulation is challenging. Be it as an impact of operations of human rights watchdogs or court decisions which gets serious constitutionals rights violations, and prison overcrowding sometimes appears to stand out as a challenge that has remained hidden for years. On the other end, rapid fall of the jail overcrowding seems to come often as a surprise for the criminal justice regulators. The turning points patterns in the direction of prison populations indicate to some degree the level of criminal justice degree policies and criminal sentencing and the standard of their insulation from external pressures. Policies with the aim of lowering prison overpopulation are faced with challenges of how to bring about change and elaborate changes in sentencing operations or parole in making decisions to the citizens which require high security and most of the times equate security with significant prison sentences, inability, and restrictive probation.

Many nations are facing an economic and financial crisis which come with antagonism laden options on where the limited direct resources. Furthermore, policy designers have to respect power principles separation, and this is topic to structural constraints which contribute to challenges of efficient planning, effective coordination and immediate changes of preceding sentences application and prisoners flow. One aspect that has to be comprehended is that the criminal justice systems are different and independent from one another, the subsystems operations such as criminal courts concerning sentencing decisions fail to put into consideration the possible effect such as making decisions (Guetzkow & Schoon, 2015). Despite such challenges, full correctional facilities have stimulated trials in developing instruments that offer projections or anticipations of the prison population will assume course to manage to make sound decisions on whether to provide for increased prison volume or to shut down prisons. But, prison populations projections are faced with comprehensive challenges of future predictions, the argument to uncertainty and exclusively also to individual fulfilling prophecies. As a basis for policy making in the United States, prison projections have been developed, and in other parts of the world, prison screening approaches have not gotten sufficient attention.

Prison overpopulation has come about as a result of reduced, steady and lengthy rise in some offenders, developing a chronic overpopulation culture; it may arise in a quick move upwards for instance in collective violence wake and as an impact of perpetrators scores detainment for multiple crimes. It is important to note that approaches against overpopulation need to be subject to comprehensive evaluation. It is precise that the approaches acid test again prison overpopulation is not what need to be attained temporarily or domestically but what needs to be sustained. The assessment query poses a broad range of challenges that are apparent in a cost-benefit study addressing sentencing choices, jail and treatment aspects or researchers on net widening. Moreover, the sustained impacts quest points to straight research and the availability of reliable information on different criminal justice issues and corrections, therefore also to significant commitments on reform side and study communities.

There has been substantial investment in the prisons, but it is not matched by an effective plan to lower the reckless prison use, to begin with. Reducing the demand would imply closing prisons are not opening them, and for that case, the prison estate certainly needs an overhaul. It has been clear that the government does not have any idea on how to ease the overpopulation in prisons, but things cannot go on like this, and there is need to develop and implement policies. There is a need for the urgent need to view a comprehensive strategy for the entire prison estate indicating how demand will be lowered and closing prisons that are no longer required, to ensure adequate parliamentary scrutiny of the administration’s plans for prison reform. In that case, a regulatory commitment to a program that rehabilitates is critical to creating safer communities. Apparently, it is essential to note that the relevant legislation task is making sure that jails are areas whereby there can be the realization of ambition. To overcome the challenges, there is need to have an undisputed commitment to reduced standards, a clear responsibility statement to those responsible, an independent correctional facility inspectorate close by and answerable to parliament, and a calculated effort to lower dangerous levels of overpopulation and curb lengthy inflation.

Recommendations

Financial incentive

When it comes to reorganizing overpopulation problems, there are certainly no states of denial on the states side and criminal justice officials. There is a lot that needs to be done to ensure the problem is handled efficiently with no compromise. Handling overcrowding in prisons will depend on a broad range of aspects connected to body, data, and knowledge as well as financial incentives and budgeting (Banks, 2017). An important dimension of pretrial detention reform and development and high use of options to imprisonment is the allocation of a political role for the prisons to the Justice Ministry rather than interior ministry. It implies that the justice department has the responsibility of ensuring that reforms take place and restore sanity in American prisons. There have to be enough funds to make prison reform decisions because it is a matter that cannot be benched and attended later. That is the case because crimes go on being committed and hence the need for prisons. However, we cannot assume the impacts of prison overpopulation and hence the move for conditions improvement. The government being the largest stakeholder need to ensure that the justice ministry gets awarded sufficient funds for such issues. Having enough monies give room for improvements.

Prison construction incentives

Prison overpopulation manifest indicates a circumstance where increased prison space evidently can run as a significant measure to make sure there is compliance with basic accommodation standards. It is clear that offenders cannot be set free to create more space in our prisons, but the construction of more prisons will inevitably create enough space and reduce overcrowding (Pitts, Griffin & Johnson, 2014). Construction of prisons programs or additional space acquisition through privatization can offer credible relief in case of overpopulation. However, the incentives of jail creation have been brought to hold because there is increased funding that is needed as stated earlier and the interconnectedness of these factors make it hard to bring change. In the long run, additional prison volume may, as a matter of fact, worsen the overpopulation problem and furthermore push a reliance policy on imprisonment and liberty deprivation which fails to comply with the standard of last resort and proportionality as well as current procedural incentives, particularly innocence presumption and right to fast trial.

In conclusion, it is clear that it takes more than government intervention to handle with prison overcrowding. There are different stakeholders involved, and each has a role to play, whereby human rights are also part of the solution. In that case, it is important for the government to ensure there is sufficient funding for correctional facilities improvements and creation of new services where need be.

References

Banks, C. (2017). Prisons in the United States: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.

Guetzkow, J., & Schoon, E. (2015). If You Build It, They Will Fill It: The Consequences of Prison Overcrowding Litigation. Law & Society Review, 49(2), 401. doi:10.1111/lasr.12140

Pitts, J. M., Griffin, O. H., & Johnson, W. W. (2014). Contemporary prison overcrowding: short-term fixes to a perpetual problem. Contemporary Justice Review, 17(1), 124-139. doi:10.1080/10282580.2014.883844

Rogan, Mary. 2012. “Dealing with Overcrowding in Prisons: Contrasting Judicial Approaches from the USA and Ireland null [article].” Irish Jurist 195. HeinOnline, EBSCOhost (accessed April 8, 2017).