ipl-logo

Should Non-Violent Drug Offender Go To Prison

488 Words2 Pages

Should non-violent drug offender go to prison?

Can you imagine how tragic our society would be if the laws were not enforced and maintained? All laws are put into place to protect people from harm, and shouldn’t be overlooked. If we make concessions for non-violent drug offenders then we are saying “it’s acceptable to break the law”.
You must know the "nonviolent" offenders populating our prisons are not college students caught with dime bags. They are dangerous people who fall into two classes: those who actually committed nonviolent offenses, and were convicted of those offenses or those who plea-bargained down from other offenses-likely violent offenses-and were convicted of a nonviolent offense. Like other addictive behaviors, drug addiction may have serious negative consequences, including academic failure, job loss, and a breakdown in personal relationships. Here's all you really need to know about so-called nonviolent offenders.
In 2004 the Bureau of Justice Statistics studied nonviolent offenders exiting state prisons. The …show more content…

Keep in mind, these are just the crimes that got them convicted. It’s hard to believe that if we want zero tolerance, all non-violent offenders should serve time in prison, as well as complete community services. All drug offenders should be held accountable for the crimes committed.
Secondly, it sets a harmfully negative example for kids when the drug offender get off easy and are not punished. We open the door to potentially violent drug crimes due to people who are high on drugs who use poor judgement, and could easily hurt someone or possibly injure or harm themselves. "Nonviolent" offenders sent to prison are not nice people. They could have committed any of the following crimes and still be classified "nonviolent": burglary, breaking and entering, grand theft auto, identity theft, drug trafficking, and the list go on and

Show More
Related

  • Argumentative Essay On Incarceration In America

    874 Words  | 4 Pages

    isn’t the only thing people believe needs to change; the reasons for arrests have been criticized by many. America incarcerates more citizens for drug related crimes than any other place in the world. Of the roughly 200,000 in federal prison, 52% are being held for drug crimes and only 8% are for violent crimes, such as: murder, assault, and robbery (Waldman, 2013). Many believe that the “War on Drugs” must become less aggressive because of its large contribution to the prison population. The distribution of prisoners by race has also raised concern among Americans.

    Read More

  • Drug Abuse In The Early 1900s

    130 Words  | 1 Pages

    We have been fighting drug abuse for almost a century. The war on drugs is a growing problem in America everyday. This war is becoming an unfortunate loss. Our courts, hospitals, and prisons are continuously being filled with drug abusers. Violent crime the ravages our neighborhood is a result of the drug trade.

    Read More

  • John Pfaff Lock In Sparknotes

    1080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pfaff mentions that most people are in prison for non- violent drug offendes. According to Lock In by John Pfaff, "there are 200,000 people make up only about 16 percent of state prisoners, but that number almost

    Read More

  • Mass Incarceration In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander

    841 Words  | 4 Pages

    In The New Jim Crow, civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander makes the case that the system of Jim Crow never died. It just took a new form in the shape of mass incarceration. Today, African American men are labelled “criminals” and stripped of their freedom, their voting rights, and their access to government programs. Alexander’s thesis is that we are currently living in a new Jim Crow era; the systemic oppression of slavery and segregation never actually went away, Alexander argues, but merely changed form.

    Read More

  • How To Dismantle The 'New Jim Crow'?

    599 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 60’s the population did not sentence people unless the crime was really intolerable for example rape, murder and grand theft, however in the 21st century people are incarcerated for the possession of drug such as marijuana although some states already legalized and it does not matter how much of it was found on the person if it is of large quantity or even in small quantity. I find this ridiculous for the reason being for those who are incarcerated it goes on their record such that if they apply for a job they will have to state that they have been in jail and this usually risks their chances of getting the job which means they will be unemployed and they will do whatever it takes to make ends meet. This usually means they will upgrade up their crime such as armed robbery or even selling cocaine and this brings us full circle of what is wrong with the justice system In the end, we have to think about how the country looks if we have the highest number of prisoners than other nations. This could be seen as a government that spends too much time cracking down on minor offenses instead of focusing on the bigger crimes such as terrorism or even internet crimes.

    Read More

  • Drug Courts Case Study

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    The creation of drug courts has had many positive effects on millions of lives and has helped with keeping certain familiar faces out of court. Though due to are countries fiscal crisis many programs have been cut or expansion has ceased. The criminal justice systems cost roughly 70 billion annual on the corrections system which is because of over reliance on incarceration. Instead of spending so much to increate people the courts could be sending them to reform programs that end

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Prisons In Tennessee

    555 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2014 there were 215,000 people incarcerated in federal prisons, almost half were there for drug-related offenses with the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses in the 1980s, increasing the population by more than 800 percent (Malcolm, 2014.) “Moreover, drug offenders make up the single largest category of incarcerated offenders in Tennessee, serving an average sentence of 9.7 years” (Malcolm, 2014, paragraph 21.) By limit sentencing, we can address the issues of high cost, by using probation and parole for more misdemeanor

    Read More

  • Sentencing Reform Research Paper

    509 Words  | 3 Pages

    The role of the government is to keep everyone and everything in line. The government should have a sentencing reform because with the system we have now it 's just making things worse. Some people are being placed in jail because of their color when there are real criminals that are set free when they really did do something wrong like murdering someone. The government should have a sentencing reform because the system now is just making things worse. To begin with, The government should have a sentencing reform because the system now is just making things worse.

    Read More

  • Mandatory Sentencing Laws Essay

    1509 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the early 1980s, the United States declared an all-out war on drugs and over the past several decades the United States of America has traveled down a dark road when it comes to sentencing for drug offenses. One of the major tools that they used in this war on drugs is the mandatory sentencing laws. These laws were enacted in 1984 to help combat and get violent drug dealers off our streets. What these laws did was set a mandatory minimum sentence that stated if you are arrested for fifteen or more grams of crack cocaine, you would be charged as if you had five hundred grams of powder cocaine thus getting you a minimum of a ten year sentence in prison. If you are arrested for growing 100 marijuana plants under these draconian laws, you would be charged as if you were possession of 100 pounds of marijuana which carries a minimum of a five-year

    Read More

  • Low Level Drug Offenders

    1272 Words  | 6 Pages

    America's prisons are overpopulated and the population is growing each year with increased drug activities. Low level drug offenders, comprised of 39 percent of the overall prison population. In the article " Department of Justice low-level drug offenders: a defense perspective" defines low-level drug offender as one who has been convicted drug trafficking offense but has no prior commitment, history of violence, known involvement of sophisticated criminal activity, significant "public risk factor," and pending detainer (Katz 28) . This group isn't hardened criminals and don't live a life of crime; rather they are motivated by profit. They are less likely to return to prison when compared to hardened criminals.

    Read More

  • Prison Overcrowding: Arizona's Mandatory Sentencing System

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within that statistic, most of the imprisoned are non-violent offenders. The problem starts with Arizona’s mandatory imprisonment laws. Research highlights that, “under Arizona's mandatory sentencing system, non-violent offenders make up the majority of state prisoners” (Greene). However, the mandatory sentencing does not just affect Arizona’s population. All across America, mandatory sentencing laws are forcing people to be put into prisons without a second thought.

    Read More

  • Mass Incarceration Literature Review

    1728 Words  | 7 Pages

    The current system that incarcerates people over and over is unsustainable and does not lower the crime rate nor encourage prisoner reformation. When non-violent, first time offenders are incarcerated alongside violent repeat offenders, their chance of recidivating can be drastically altered by their experience in prison. Alternative sentencing for non-violent drug offenders could alleviate this problem, but many current laws hinder many possible solutions. Recently lawmakers have made attempts to lower the recidivism rates in America, for example the Second Chance Act helps aid prisoners returning into society after incarceration. The act allows states to appropriate money to communities to help provide services such as education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, job corps services, and others to aid in offenders returning to society after incarceration (Conyers, 2013).

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Incarcerate Drug Abusers

    766 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why we should incarcerate drug users Currently one of the less heated but still talked about debates is the issue of what we should do with those who have been caught using illegal substances. Some people say that we should be giving them rehab, and some say that they deserve to be in their. Both sides have their points, but the evidence points towards incarceration being a better option. The reason our judicial system incarcerates drug abusers are because enforcement will discourage drug use, it will keep them away from innocent people, and it will punish the addicts so they know not to do it again.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Prison Reform

    707 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1972, former President Richard Nixon made his infamous statements regarding crime and drug abuse. In this speech, he declared a war on crime and drugs and intended to decrease the number of people using drugs and the amount of crimes that were committed. Since this declaration, incarceration rates in the U.S. have gone up by 500%, even though the amount of crime happening has gone down. One of the reasons why I feel our rates have risen, is because sometimes, we put people in jail when they don’t need to be there in the first place.

    Read More

  • Drug Use And Crime: Deviant Behavior

    1455 Words  | 6 Pages

    Two other theories are discussed in chapter 12 regarding drugs and crime: drug enslavement theory and general deviance syndrome theory. The book states that according to drug enslavement theory, “Drug users are forced into a life of crime because they cannot afford to pay for their drug habits unless they use crime to get money for their next fix” (Thio, 2013, pg. 311). The book states that according to general deviance syndrome theory, “The high correlation between drug use and crime does not mean that drug use causes crime because most drug users with a criminal record have committed crime before using drugs” (Thio, 2013, pg. 311). Both theories suggest that using drugs and committing crimes are related. Therefore, if marijuana use is legalized, the assumption can be made that there would essentially be some kind of decline in crime in regard to marijuana charges.

    Read More

More about Should Non-Violent Drug Offender Go To Prison

Open Document