Posted: August 13th, 2022

Challenges of Overpopulation in Prison Today

Challenges of Overpopulation in Prison Today
Choose a recent case in which the correctional system was challenged, i.e. overpopulated, correctional officer abuse, gang violence, Rikers Island Closing, inmate suicide, suspicious deaths etc.

Find a minimum of two articles and one journal article that discusses the issue.
In an Ace homework tutors – APA format with a minimum of 600 words, present the issue with recommendations for policy changes.

Challenges of Overpopulation in Prison Today
With the rapid increase in crime rates in America, the rate of mass incarcerations increases subsequently. This has led to overcrowding in the correctional facilities. In addition to this, the correctional system faces other challenges such as inmate suicides, gang violence, drug and substance abuse and officer abuse. However, in recent times, following the outbreak of COVID -19, the impact of overpopulation has been immense inmost of prisons globally. According to statistics from the Bureau of justice statistics, approximately 2.2 million Americans are incarcerated as of 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers (Eisen, 2017). This is a higher population than the available capacity in the slightly over 6000 prisons in the country. Prison overcrowding has become one of the challenges the justice system has been actively working to mitigate. This discourse seeks to evaluate the causes of prison overpopulation, impacts of overpopulation, especially during the pandemic and highly on a few measures to decongest the correctional facilities (Eisen, 2017).
Following the recent break of COVID -19, the prisons have been hard to hit the spread of the virus and to contain the spread has proved a difficult task. One of the vital measures to mitigate the spread of the virus is adhering to social distancing, which is almost impossible in the prison systems. As of July 2020, Marion correctional facility is on the lead after recording 2439 COVID cases (Kandisky, 2020). The overcrowding of the facilities contributes to the rapid spread. The incarcerated are highly susceptible to contracting the virus due to the confinement conditions in prison. Additionally, the elderly with a history of chronic conditions at a high risk of succumbing to the disease (Kinner, 2020).
The main causes of overcrowding in correction facilities today are. Firstly, the enactment of the three-strike law has seen many repeat offenders’ sentences to life imprisonment. These lengthy imprison sentences contoured to unsure of the population in prisons, creating more congestion. Secondly, the high rate of unemployment has put a lot of people on the spot, whereby they end up committing crimes; they are reprimanded subsequently locked up. Moreover, the overly extreme justice system has seen many criminals, even those eligible for probation, put behind bars. The stringent rules in the justice system have led to an increase in the population in prisons. This rate of sentencing, regardless of the severity of the crime, has led to high recidivism due to the inadequacy of rehabilitation (Eisen, 2017).
Consequentially, the overcrowding has resulted in many issues such as poor health care due to the unhygienic conditions in the facilities. The spread of diseases is rapid; for essence, the spread of the pandemic has hit the prisons and incarceration facilities the most. In addition gang activities develop within the prison system whereby the gang leaders control other inmates within their territory. Gang activities often than not end up in gang violence that could lead to deaths. Additionally, ethical disparities and prejudice where seclusion within prisoners leads to the discrimination of the minority groups (Eisen, 2017). Additionally, the high operational costs to run the facilities cause financial overburden on the government and taxpayers. Overcrowding also leads to overstain of the available resources as most facilities admit exceeding they are built-in capacity.
To contain the spread of the virus resulting from overpopulation of the incarceration facilities. Measures need to be adopted to ease the congestion. Firstly, a release mechanism whereby groups of particular risks such as prisoners suffering from chronic diseases and other health-related complications and elderly inmates. Moreover, the early release of prisoners approaching the end of their sentences, and those incarcerated for minor offenses will help decongest the correctional systems (Kinner, 2020). Secondly, compassionate release schemes such as pardon, amnesties and pretrial detainees should be considered especially for those prisoners who are not considered a threat to public safety. Notably, these releases will be complemented by the use of probation and parole to ease their re-entry into society.
Conclusion
The impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 has, in recent weeks, has spurred challenges in the prison systems. This evidenced by the number of confirmed cases of inmates infected with the virus, containing the virus is has proved more difficult due to overpopulation in the facilities. A lot of measures have been adopted to ease the congesting, including the early release of non-violent criminals, elderly inmates, and other vulnerable persons to ease the prison population. Furthermore, a review on policies such as the three strikes will ensure that the severity of the crimes is accessed to ascertain the sentencing. Adhering to these policies will improve the state of the correctional systems while mitigating the challenges.

References
Eisen, L. B. (2017). Inside private prisons: An American dilemma in the age of mass incarceration. Columbia University Press.

Kandisky, Catherine (April 22, 2020). “Coronavirus surges at Pickaway prison, now No. 2 hot spot in the nation – behind Marion prison”. Columbus Dispatch. (Retrieved July 5, 2020.)
Kinner, S. A., Young, J. T., Snow, K., Southalan, L., Lopez-Acuña, D., Ferreira-Borges, C., & O’Moore, É. (2020). Prisons and custodial settings are part of a comprehensive response to COVID-19. The Lancet Public Health, 5(4), e188-e189

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