Answer 2 questions out of the 3 questions below
-APA Format
-Cite sources used (2 or more)
Questions:
1. What if you were a judge passing sentences down to corporation or organizational defendants convicted of white collar crime? What factors would you take into consideration when determining the fine assessed?
2. What if you were a victim of a crime and you were not reimbursed for expenses incurred by the offender? What actions would you take? What expectations would you have of the criminal justice system to enforce the court-order?
3. Is house arrest truly a punishment? What types of crimes do you believe qualify for house arrest only? With electronic monitoring? Describe the conditions under which offenders are court-mandated to house arrest? Based on your knowledge, explain your views of the Criminal Justice System as it relate to house arrest? Pros/Cons
Rights, Reintegration and Death Penalty
For your Project 2 assignment, you will assume the role of an expert in corrections and author a response to the following administrative decision, using 750–1000 words.
In your town, you have a state prison that currently houses 800 men. The State Department of Corrections wants to change the prison to be a co-correctional institution with 100 women and 700 men.
You will summarize the primary issues in starting a co-correctional institution, including facility problems, social problems and staff/management problems. Don’t try to solve the problems – simply point out and describe the issues that must be considered if this change is to go forward.
—
Rights, reintegration and death penalty
The state prison currently houses 800 men, and at times overcrowded when there are new admissions. With responsibilities and a rise in the state prison population, our prison faces further pressure and challenges. The facility was built several decades ago and was not designed for long term detention. Some inmates are serving long jail terms than the alignment county maximum of one year. These changes contribute to a significant challenge for the state prison. Therefore, as an expert in correction, I will discuss the several issues that will hinder starting the co correctional facility such as facility problems, social problems, and staff shortage.
The age of the state prison presents the most significant challenge since it was built 50 years ago. Several years later, the prison was changed to modular designs to allow supervision of the prisoners (Braswell, Fuller, & Lozoff, 2010). Though the prison has been improvised, it is still considered a traditional one and does not have modern facilities. Moreover, conventional jail steel is more costly and poses a considerable problem when it comes to updating the control and surveillance room. As of yet, we do not have enough information to determine whether remodeling could produce adequate jail facilities at a lower cost. Another challenge is that it was built in a densely populated area; hence it becomes impossible to add modular structures.
There is also the problem of inmate addiction due to a lack of treatment resources in the community. For instance, offenders are continuously using drugs when they are not supervised. It also takes a lot of days before the offender can engage in any treatment since they are already addicted to taking drugs. Offenders using heavy drugs such as the PCP, methamphetamine always pose a serious threat to the rest of the offenders since they exhibit signs of irritability (Travis, 2015). Consequently, they end up harming the ones who do not use the drugs. Since there are fewer health care facilities for drug addicts within the area, mental health crisis is another issue affecting us. The inmates developnmental conditions, such as mood swings, anxiety, and depression. Consequently, it becomes hard to provide proper care for the mentally ill. The nearby healthcare facilities, most of the time, turn away the patients who are mentally ill. While waiting for their sentencing, they often experience behavior difficulties; hence it becomes hard to control them.
Funding is another challenge that the state prison significantly experiences. No matter how good the economy is, rarely do we see an increase in funding. Often, we save money, usually by cutting down the budget required to purchase some ill. It is also arduous to argue with the society that enough funding is what is necessary to run the prison (Visher, & Travis, 2013). Most people think that prisons are to punish the criminals, and to fund them is a waste of time and resources. Conversely, prisons are hard to build and very expensive to maintain; consequently, we use the patchwork fixes method to maintain old facilities. Without adequate funding, it becomes hard to keep the prison; hence the prisoners need up escaping. Once cutting back resources starts, the way of administration is prison changes drastically. There are fewer beds as compared to the population of 800 men. This is because the beds were constructed with a carrying capacity of one person; hence exceeding its limit leads to a breakdown. Moreover, the changes which have taken place for the last 30 years show that policy changes lead to demand for prison.
Most people are scared to work in a prison environment; hence we face staff shortage. It is also known that the correctional staff work for the lowest salaries and yet they are at risk of getting killed by the inmates (Travis & Waul, 2013). The prisons are filled with people who are finding ways to harm others. Moreover, society has the stereotype that working as a prison warden is for the less educated and the unprivileged. As a result, outstanding workers choose to leave the field in search of well-paying jobs. Staff shortage often leads to prison contraband. Our staff does not have enough workforce to conduct cell searches and shakedowns (Visher, & Travis, 2013). Sadly, the workers are attacked by homemade weapons and injected with dangerous drugs. The criminals are also using cellphones to intimidates witnesses and get away with their crimes.
Conclusively, the ongoing problems that we are facing should not be viewed with a mentality that all hope is lost. The challenges that we are encountering should be the road map to identify more opportunities to improve the correctional facilities. Therefore, it is vital to understand that the penitentiary facility serves as a link between the good and the deviant persons in society (Visher, & Travis, 2013). It is also the role of the correctional facility to maintain public safety and protect the community at large. Transforming the state prison to a co correctional facility could provide more exceptional solutions to the challenges faced.
References
Braswell, M., Fuller, J., & Lozoff, B. (2010). Corrections, peacemaking, and restorative justice: Transforming individuals and institutions. Routledge.
Travis, J. (2015). But they all come back: Facing the challenges of prisoner reentry—the Urban Insitute.
Travis, J., & Waul, M. (Eds.). (2013). Prisoners once removed: The impact of incarceration and reentry on children, families, and communities—the Urban Insitute.
Visher, C. A., & Travis, J. (2013). Transitions from prison to community: Understanding individual pathways. Annual review of sociology, 29(1), 89-113.
