Non Violent Drug Offenders Essay

Non-Violent Drug Offenders

Releasing nonviolent drug offender’s would not only free them from their harsh sentences in the US correctional system, but also reduce overcrowding in prisons. Nonviolent drug offenders committed crimes generally involving burglary, drug trafficking, drug possession, and larceny however, they do not implicate as a threat of harm or attack upon a victim. Prisons overcrowding is a burgeoning conflict in the U.S nevertheless, coming up with a plan to release “low-level” could not threat offenders could a be a solution.

The amount of inmates who have committed drug offenses the highest in federal bureau of prisons shown in Federal Bureau of Prisons chart in fig. 1. Almost 100,000 the percentage of inmates who committed a drug offense is almost half of the prisons.

Chart Label Offense # Of Inmates % Of Inmates

A Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement 668 0.3%

B Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses 8,077 4.2%

C

Fewer than one in four drug offenders in federal prison have a serious history qtd (Lopez). Urban Institute

Figure 2 above shows a pie graph with more than half of violence among people imprisoned for drug offense has no history at 56% while minorities and serious both have 22%.

Not only does prison overcrowding affect the inmates in prison, but the officers too. A psychological consequence with “overcrowding has been known to cause far more stressful situations and has prompted prison officials to react inappropriately on occasion due to being forced to accommodate ill-advised numbers of prisoners.” (Portland State University). Also, overcrowding is a “potentially cruel and unusual punishment” known as double-ceiling which is “Inmates in prisons are required to have a certain amount of space” first addressed in a legal case in