Running head: THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING OUR PRISON SYSTEM
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The Major Issues Facing Our Prison System
Maggie McCartney
College of Southern Idaho
Author Note:
This paper was prepared for English 102, Section C16, taught by Kory Lloyd
THE MAJOR ISSUES FACING OUR PRISON SYSTEM
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Prison
America has problems. U.S. News reported that the American people are worried about
terrorist attacks. We have more issues than just terrorism. Our nation sees people with a turban
and we automatically think they must be a Muslim terrorist. If it’s not a terrorist, it’s going to be
Kim Jong Un attacking the United States. People are so worried about terrorist attacks that they
spend money to build bomb shelters and prepare for the end of the world. This is the least of our
worries.
We have a major money crisis, with the national deficit being 440 billion dollars. We
have cut funding to schools, because the government has to allocate so much money for defense.
Teachers are underpaid and their classrooms overcrowded. So, our children are not getting the
education they need to lead successful lives. Without adequate education how are the children of
the future supposed to make a living and become productive members of society?
Violent crimes are happening more frequently everywhere. According to Fox News
“2016 had the largest single-year increase in 25 years, according to new FBI data released
Monday” (“Violent”, 2016). “Across the U.S., the homicide rates also increased by 7.9 percent in
2016, marking an overall jump of more than 20 percent since 2014, the report said” (“Violent”,
2016). From little towns to the largest cities violent crimes such as robberies, aggravated
assaults, and rapes are also on the rise.
We have the largest homeless population of any developed country. People from large
cities and small towns are struggling to make ends meet. Although, it’s hard to know the exact
figure for the homeless population, most would agree that its over five hundred thousand. The
homeless consist of families that were forced out of their home for not being able to afford it,
veterans, and the mentally ill. In some bigger cities, the homeless have created tent cities, only to
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be told that they must remove their tents or suffer the consequences. These people are already
overwhelmed, and pushing them out of their tent cities, has definitely lead some to desperate
measures.
Drugs are running rampant through our streets. The government was so worried about marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines, that they didn’t bother to look at the pharmaceutical
companies developing drugs that are being prescribed at alarming rates. We now have an opioid
epidemic! “In 2016, more than two million Americans had an addiction to prescription or illicit
opioids. Since 2000, over 300,000 Americans have died from overdoses involving opioids
Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury death in the United States, outnumbering
both traffic crashes and gun-related deaths”, (“President”, 2017). President Donald Trump was
quoted saying “The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from
abusing drugs in the first place. If they don’t start, they won’t have a problem”. (“President”,
2017). All these things lead to a huge problem, prison. The President has declared opioids a
health emergency, it’s almost too late. The prison population has grown out of control. It can’t
handle the burden of housing the mentally ill and drug addicts, but we send people to prison
because we don’t know what else to do with the untouchables.
Imagine waking up in a concrete room that measures eight by twelve, with bunk beds on
each wall, a toilet, a sink, and three other people. To most people this sounds absolutely
terrifying. To other people it has become a way of life. The United States corrections system has
become the largest home for criminals in the world. With crime on the rise and correctional
institutions full beyond capacity, there is a definite need to figure out the major issues facing the
prison system and why it’s not working.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, this country has over 323 million people
living here. Of those 323 million people, over 6.7 million are under some kind of correctional
supervision. That means that one in thirty-seven adults is currently being supervised by our
criminal justice system. The United States is growing at astonishing rates while our prison
population is also growing. Crime is always an issue and right now our justice system is
overloaded and overcrowded.
Before President Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” the criminal justice system wasn’t
nearly as overloaded as it is now. At least seventy percent of all the people incarcerated are
addicted to drugs, alcohol, or both. It is a Federal crime to be in possession of any amount of
marijuana. By jailing people for minor drug offenses, we have severely overcrowded our jails
