Alternative Solution Paper

Alternative Solution Paper

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Introduction

        In the 1970s, there was a dramatic increase in violent crime rates across the nation. In response, policymakers and lawmakers began to crack down on crime. The “get tough on crime” paradigmatic shift of the criminal justice system has had far-reaching effects.  Laws were passed that reflected a zero tolerance policy for certain offenses, carrying with it mandatory prison time. With more crimes eligible for imprisonment, more and more people are incarcerated in. The United States currently has the highest incarceration rate in the world (Johnson and Johnson, 2012, p. 43). The numbers are staggering. From 1977-2010, the federal and state prison populations grew from 300,000 to in excess of 1.5 million (Klingele, 2013, p. 1016). Prison overcrowding has become a major problem in America.

        Overcrowded prisons create a host of issues for the criminal justice system to address. The preeminent goal of incarceration is to ensure public safety. This works in tandem with the goal of general deterrence. The theory is that the possibility of harsh punishment, such as imprisonment, deters persons from committing crimes. Criminals are incarcerated so they are deterred from committing further acts. Dangerous and violent criminals are imprisoned so they no longer pose a threat to society. Even nonviolent criminals are imprisoned pursuant to various policy choices, such as drug users, possessors, and distributors. When lawmakers and policymakers took the stance in the 1970s that the legal system would get treat crime aggressively, they did not envision the full ramifications or sweeping impact that widespread incarceration would have.

To meet the needs of the increasing prison population, new facilities would need to be built to house the additional inmates. Prisons are extremely expensive to maintain and run.  Retrieving the funding for new prisons is also unpopular with taxpayers, and it is difficult to allocate a large portion of the budget to prison expenses. The tension between the steadily rising inmate population and budgetary constraints came to a head when the Supreme Court declared that extreme prison overcrowding violated prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights in the case of Brown v. Plata. While prisons were constitutionally forced to release thousands of prisoners due to overcrowding, it was clear that some change had to be made. Many states simply could not afford to build new prison facilities. Thus, states began to look to implement alternatives to incarceration into their criminal justice policies.  

Alternatives to Imprisonment  

It is a huge financial strain on the state to incarcerate mass amounts of inmates in prison. As funding dwindles, states must find alternative methods of incarceration. What makes imprisonment so expensive is the institutional aspect of it. The prisoner is no longer a functioning, contributing member of society when incarcerated. The state assumes the responsibility for all the prisoner’s expenses. Because incarceration is the most costly form of corrections, many policymakers have implanted alternative programs to incarceration.