How Mass Incarceration Impacts The Taxpayer`s and government Spending
Mass incarceration is the locking up or imprisonment of a vast population in federal and state prisons. The confinement is encouraged by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, contributing to the high rates of mass incarceration experienced in the United States (ACLU, n.d.). Mass incarceration In United States is a unique vice different from the other countries who commit criminals to imprisonment for the fact that they keep their prisoners for a long duration. The United States makes up almost 5% of the global population but makes up over 25% of the imprisoned people in the world. The imprisonment rates are higher than the population growth and crime dating back to 1970, where the growth has recorded an increment of 700% (ACLU, n.d.). The total cost of the increase in mass incarceration is a problem for the taxpayer’s money due to the tremendous government spending in running these institutions and supporting the various services (Mikesell, n.d.). The criminal justice system overwhelmingly constitutes the public system with the government payroll for corrections services compared to the private prisons being much higher, attracting many concerns and rethinking of the criminal justice systems.
Background of the Study
For decades the issue of mass incarceration has been an ongoing burden for the federal government and taxpayers. Every year the federal government spends nearly 80 billion dollars on imprisonment systems around the country(Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). Criminal justice reforms have been a national topic of discussion among many American citizens. It is, in fact, an essential aspect of the federal budget, and every year lawmakers come with different proposals to help implement solutions for the problem of mass incarceration in the United States. This issue is especially concerning because the United States currently holds the most massive incarceration rate of the world population(Travis & Western, 2014). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Most Americans are unaware of just how much their taxes are going towards penal institutions around the nation. Taxpayers generally fund these entities through general municipal funds and state tax spending on state priority projects but not correctional budgets(Weidner & Schultz, 2019). At the federal level, the National Institute of Correction through the department of justice emphasizes the cost of mass incarceration on the department of correction budget, which has increased every year on taxpayers.
Increased spending on correctional facilities plays a significant role mainly in government expenditure and taxpayers, many examples of spending on prison programs such as medical care, dental care, food, housing, etc. (Mikesell, n.d.). A firm review of these matters will help to dissect the root cause of this problem. The government takes care of the services provided for in the criminal justice to meeting the constitutional requirement of the right for a counsel where the government appoints and pays for the legal counsel for the defendant who is financially incapacitated to afford the legal representation. Also, the company pays for the services offered by the private companies in the provision of telephone services for correctional facilities amounting almost to $2.9 billion. In contrast, ironically, it also pays for the operations of private companies. The incarcerated population, which is larger than 15 different states, requires food and proper healthcare, which are expensive to run daily (Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). The private companies offering the telephone cells cost the taxpayer a lot of money from the phone call charges for the families since they charge a higher rate of $1.7 per minute for a maximum of 15 minutes that a prisoner is allowed to speak with families and close people in the outside world (ACLU, n.d.). It is an unfair practice for taxpayers to pay for funding these institutions. Yet, the government fails to provide a fair justice system and continue to allow unreasonable imprisonment, which results in prison overpopulation. The United States is considered one of the most developed and industrialized countries in the world. With that in mind, there needs to be different policies and procedures in place to reduce and potentially prevent such a significant crisis. The federal government analyzes strategies, smart plans, and budgetary programs continuously. However, there needs to be a better approach to how they regulate and spend taxpayer money as it relates to mass incarceration. This detailed project analysis will emphasize the complexities surrounding mass incarceration and how it affects taxpayers.
Analysis
Can the government do anything to provide possible resolutions to this growing dilemma? The mass incarceration problem gets aggravated mainly by the high numbers of rearrests of the released criminals in society. The programs in criminal justice seem not working and do not achieve the objective of rehabilitation. The American system mostly concentrates on punishment with practices such as segregation being practiced. Therefore the detainees and the imprisoned only get worse due to mental torture, which is worse than physical pain, which leads to releasing a worse person back to society(Weidner & Schultz, 2019). The program should necessitate reforms where the prisoners are equipped with the necessary skills to help them cope with life after their sentencing. Research also shows that the incarcerated population has higher rates of getting chronic diseases and infectious diseases than the general population(Weidner & Schultz, 2019). The detained are unable to develop any skills that can help them maneuver and penetrate the market industry due to lack of any work history, and most end up into crimes due to poverty, instability issues from their families, and also unemployment(Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). These and more factors, such as the stigmatization which the released prisoners face from society, continue to affect their health. Research shows that most of the released inmates contribute to the increase in health problems in the community, such as HIV and STI`s since the likelihood of incarcerated persons conducting various complications is very high.
Consequently, the deplorable health condition of the incarcerated and the spill of these conditions to the social stresses the resources in public health facilities. Much money is dedicated to public health to take care of the health of the sick ones. And also, the government uses a considerable amount in taking care of the unemployed population(Travis & Western, 2014), which is worsened by the release of the incarcerated without any work-related skill or experience.
However, the government has possible and is in an advantageous place to reduce the cost of managing the large population. Most of the population n in the prisons constitutes the black and people of other races due to the problem of racialized policing (Travis & Western, 2014). The government should come up with policies to indeed reverse the issue of discriminating against the race. Most of the prisoners also are arrested from petty crimes and also mistakenly viewed as criminals. These racial policing makes the communities that feel victimized to use force, and as a result of demonstrations, they are taken into custody.
Also, the bail terms should get revised since most of them deny the poor people a chance to get their rights. Many end up finding themselves behind bars due to a lack of money to pay their release bond. The systems overcharge the release bond exploiting the defendants and their families with bond companies collecting $1.4 billion nonrefundable fees (ACLU, n.d.). These companies do not care for the rights and the innocence of the defendant. Still, instead, they are concerned with the business of profit-making, thus exploiting the low-income families and victims many getting detained and imprisoned due to their poverty.
Similarly, sometimes it feels like being poor is a mistake. Many ill vices of the society are associated with poverty, and much o0f the times, the police make patron in these neighborhoods. The perception and ideologies of one that is poor can only engage in crime should change. Many in the working force and political fields commit many mischevious crimes, but due to influences, go scot-free. It is the duty and responsibility to make sure and enforce the rule of law in equal measures without regard to the societal status quo of a person. Almost $13.6 billion is spent on operations of the local jails housing non convicted people(Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). Most of the population not convicted is detained due to a lack of bond funds.
Consequently, to avoid too much government spending, the government should privatize the justice system (Mikesell, n.d.). The state government spending makes up for 57% of the total expenditure of the judicial systems in the correction costs with the local governments using an estimated 32% with the discretionary arrests and bail policies impacting on the spending of the state and local governments(Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). Through privatization, however, the government would cut costs and expenditures by getting relieved of some expenses such as financing the private prisons (Mikesell, n.d.). The much money spent to pay the private companies offering services would also be left to the individual companies. However, regulation should become enacted to avoid exploitation of overcharging of these services by private companies(Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). The over $81 billion spent by the government on running the correction system would considerably reduce.
Also, to avoid the mass influx into the prisons, the government should revert some of its immigration laws, which has seen arrests of immigrants for no reason and without any probable cause for crimes. However, these policies are meant to safeguard the national safety and integrity of the country by restricting the majority of Mexicans associated with drugs. They should not victimize the already existing immigrants in the country. Some of those arrested are due to the lack of papers, but they do not have any criminal history. The government should nevertheless compromise on some issues to reduce the victimization and harassment of every immigrant in the country(Travis & Western, 2014). However, the policies should become strengthened in the ways that only the qualified immigrants get allowed into the country and also those into the country are easily monitored and controlled to determine their legibility and credibility and instead of detaining those who are illegal in the country should become deported.
Nevertheless, the government needs to make choices on the utilization of resources in the criminal justice systems and the correction facilities (Mikesell, n.d.). Many prisons are flooded with unnecessary cops and prisoners having their doctors who are in the payroll. Instead of having doctors into the prisons, the government should incorporate them into the nearby public hospitals for the treatment of the prisoners. Similarly, if only the government took keen considerations and channeled the resources into changing the lives of the communities, which are associated with crimes due to the improbable conditions by changing lives and creating more employment while creating equitability. And ending discrimination of any kind since it promotes retaliatory measures from the victimized communities leading to more arrests and adding to the already much incarceration and many burdens in the society.
The effects of mass incarcerations do not only affect the taxpayers and the government expenditure through the use of unnecessary money and overcharges but also due to the social impacts and economic impacts it brings to a country. The country uses more of its funds funding security agencies instead of changing the lives of its citizens at the expense of the high cost of living. Unstable reintegration of the prisoners to the community is also a threat to their life’s which results in suicides and also strains their families due to support since they have no way to fend for themselves. The high chances are that they will end up going back to crime.
Therefore the many solutions discussed above will only have concrete and lasting solutions if only the systems and the way the system works to change. The systems become hard for the poor to attain justice, which makes them end up due to the lack of inability to pay their bail. Therefore the governments need to make up a decision and utilize the resources appropriately and effectively by minimizing cost (Mikesell, n.d.). The services offered should also become revised since the aim of the justice system is not attained. Instead of correcting and rehabilitating the incarcerated, the systems turn someone to animals through the effect of the mental state. Prisons feel sort of punishment, and many of the prisoners are denied access to specific rights and are treated as a threat to others. I mean, what could go wrong when people know they are in prison due to various crimes. However, I do not advocate for them to stay comfortable, but they should become treated as humans and not lesser. Rehabilitation programs should become introduced, and they should become taught how to cope after their release to make their reintegration easy and smooth by equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge on how to associate with people.
Also, the community should become introduced top, adopting them and encouraging them and helping them reform fully through various community awareness programs. Consequently, the reform system needs an overhaul restructuring and reorganization from the structures to the policies. Also, the police department should get adequate training and should become accountable for the use of force and unnecessarily arrest based on race since they contribute to the high numbers of incarceration in the country.
References
ACLU. Mass Incarceration. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/mass-incarceration.
Mikesell, J. Fiscal administration (8th ed.).
Travis, J., & Western, B. (2014). The growth of incarceration in the United States (pp. 200-400). The National Academies Press.
Wagner, P., & Rabuy, B. (2017). Following the Money of Mass Incarceration. Prisonpolicy.org. Retrieved from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money.html.
Weidner, R., & Schultz, J. (2019). Examining the relationship between U.S. incarceration rates and population health at the county level. SSM – Population Health, 9, 100466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100466