Defendants asked for leniency and the prosecutor offers a deal and they take it because they are tired of sitting in jail, but few realize that by taking
As the influx of mentally ill prisoners increase in federal penitentiaries, and prison’s staffing level remaining the same, inhumane treatment and dehumanizing practices of prisons are becoming more common and inescapable. In his article, “One of the Darkest Periods in the History of American Prisons,” Andrew Cohen elucidates how federal prisons are negatively developing over the years. By primary referencing to investigations in California and Florida, and allegations in Mississippi and Louisiana, Cohen is able demonstrate how ill-equipped, and reckless prisons have become in response to the needs of prisoners with mental illness. He even goes so far to compare today’s jails to “medieval places of unspeakable cruelty” ( ). In “One of the Darkest Periods in the History of American Prisons,” Cohen appeals heavily on pathos to the convince the audience of the fundamental corruption and carelessness that beholds today’s prisons towards inmates, especially mentally ill inmates.
People often are guilty of letting things that are out of sight be out of their mind, but human rights should not be something overlooked. The imprisoned mentally ill has been often overlooked and there voices are not heard as they struggle everyday in inhumane conditions. The eight amendment states that no cruel and unusual punishments is to be inflicted upon the prisoners. Is the United Sates prison systems treating mentally ill prisoners according to the eight amendment? The largest prison rates belong to the United states and of those imprisoned, around the world, they are ten times more likely to be suffering from a mental illness (Mills, 2007).
The courts have made few promises in which the prosecutor are required to keep the assurance of the agreement once it has been reached. the agreement should make sure that the defendants are aware of the consequences and that the pleas are made of ones own free will. Because it is less expensive and time consuming than a full scale trial, especially a jury trial, prosecutors can prosecute more people, be more productive in processing cases, and more effective in obtaining convictions through a guilty plea. Based on this efficient, “assembly line” type of justice system, the government can add more crimes to the criminal code so that the citizens’ life is even more controlled and regulated. Since pleading guilty eliminates the jury that would be impaneled for a full scale trial, judges, but especially prosecutors, gain much greater power over the conduct of the case, more control over the outcome of criminal cases, and are therefore more able to make defendants “offers that they cannot
People fear pain, especially through incarceration, and may do whatever necessary to avoid said pain. The latter concept supports the argument by some that these pleas of guilt are coerced through threats of higher sentencing and pressuring lawyers. However, it still does not deny the fact that each individual must choose to plead guilty. Lying in court for a plea bargain is a risk that an individual takes for a reduced sentence. The system worked for Regina’s truthfulness and not for Erma’s
The justice system in the United States of America is not fair. Michelle Alexander writes a great article “Locked Up In America” describing how people gets into the justice system and how their life is when coming out of jail. People that are convicted of any crime they are labeled as criminals and felons. Criminals does not get properly punished for their crimes if they did they wouldn’t be so many people going in and out of jail. The justice system should have different ways of punishing a person according to the crime they commit, just by putting them in jail and assuming that is going to change them is not a good way of going about that.
Kandyce Mullings Prof. Stollman Enc1102 T R 3:30 Research Paper April 19, 2016 Prison Born: Research Paper Imagine finding out you are pregnant and instead of shopping for cute maternity outfits you’re wearing a black and white jumpsuit. According to American Journal of Public Health, “between 6 and 10 percent of incarcerated women are pregnant; in one year alone, 1,400 women gave birth while incarcerated in the United States.” Some might not even know that they’re pregnant. Kebby Warner is a 25-year-old married prisoner in Michigan who was imprisoned for littering and passing a $350 stolen check.
The way African Americans are treated inside of jail and outside is actually disturbing. The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners. To think about how big this number is disturbing and numbers keep increasing. The United States prison population in 1970 was just above 327,000, and now the current prison population is just over 2 million. On the one hand I feel American Americans deserve some of the punishment that they get, but on the other I wonder why they are treated the way they are.
How would I feel if I were in solitary confinement for 15 years? It is almost guaranteed to affect my physical, mental as well as my social health throughout the years. I will have no contact with other people, I will be fed poorly and unable to function as a normal human being. Solitary confinement for fifteen years would have negative affects on my physical, mental and social health.
Why the prison system is flawed The american prison system is flawed and should be changed because it is very expensive to keep it running the way it is, the prison system is helping gangs grow and it can be fixed it is possible. I believe that it needs to change so that cities will have more tax money to fix other things and the people who don't deserve to get released won't be. The prison system is very expensive for taxpayers because they have to pay to employ the officers, they have to pay for the building, the tools, the food for them to eat, there clothing and bedding.
In contrast, stricter policy reforms were implemented into the courts due to the reflective increase in use of illegal substance among offenders. Moreover, the increase in violence and drugs among offenders enhanced stricter policy reforms, for more than 78.7% percent of offenders have used illegal drugs, which is three-fourth’s of the incarcerated population. Also, 62.2% percent of convicted drug offenders meet the diagnostic criteria of drug abuse or dependence that accumulates to be two-thirds of the populations, while 64.3% percent of offenders used an illegal substance regularly. In addition, convicted offenders have a high rate of 56.7% percent in committing recidivism, for Mark Harmon author of "Fixed ' Sentencing: The Effect On Imprisonment
Further in the reading the inmate approaches two more doors and passes through the door labeled Democratic. Approaching two more doors labeled black and white he passes through the appropriate door once again. Subsequently, the man passes through the black door and he falls nine stories to the street. Symbolically, it shows how the color of your skin can determine the outcome of life behind bars and how the Democratic and Republican parties have played a great role in mass incarceration. African Americans, who are among the most populated race in American prisons, who suffer from drug addictions and do not receive adequate treatment for their substance abuse problems are among the many who return.
Authority gives a person the chance to feel superior, and as seen throughout this film, those within the position of authority will only then abuse this opportunity. Given the chance for people to gain authority or rather the sense of authority is enough to awaken the evil within. Within the movie, The Stanford Prison Experiment the guards were enabled to set a line of difference between the prisoners and themselves. They were able to make the prisoners feel weak or emasculated, forcing the students to strip and wear the assigned prison clothes that barely covered their genitals (Alvarez). Forcing the prisoners to wear these feminine articles of clothing and assigning them a number, gives the opportunity to strip away their personality and
A recent trend in the United States Justice System, at local and state levels, is to implement the use of formulas and algorithms to determine sentencing length. In her article “Sentencing, by the Numbers”, University of Michigan law professor Sonja Starr focuses on this trend, and shows flaws that she finds in the system. In the article, she agrees with the actions of Attorney General Eric Holder in criticizing the system for the way in which it determines the risk of future crimes. Throughout, Starr presents the system as something that will, instead of solving mass incarceration, make the problem worse for impoverished persons and minorities. Starr argues that the system discriminates against those with a socioeconomic disadvantage, has
Game Theory: The prisoner’s dilemma and the Nash Equilibrium Two woman Ana and Kara are both arrested at different times for the same type of crime: stealing a car. Both crimes were done individually and the district attorney goes to see them in different interrogation rooms and tells them that they were both caught red handed and that they are both getting two years. While observing their profiles he notices that they fit the profile of two characters that committed a more serious offence: carrying out an armed robbery a few weeks before, but he realizes that he has no hard evidence and needs a confession to sentence them. Options for both prisoners
