Crime & Punishment in America
After reading and discussing the required books for this class, a multitude of issues concerning the deficiencies of our criminal justice system have been presented. Prison overcrowding, the overrepresentation of minorities, and the efficiency of our prisons have created ongoing debates. Currie, like previous authors, exemplifies these problems among the pages yet offers more coherent explanations and draws more realistic conclusions regarding these matters. In Crime & Punishment in America, the author dispels the widespread myths that linger around the U.S. justice system. He does so by placing equal blame on the opposing political parties and renounces his objectivism to facts. Thus, the alternatives Currie offers are legitimate in serving to address the social epidemic that has become incarceration. I believe that Currie does a superior task at assessing the "prison experiment" than past authors. He notes that although there has been an overall reduction in crime, examiners must be aware that this leveling-off has succeeded extremely high crime rates. Moreover, his caution to not relate decreasing crime rates with the incarceration rates is a common oversight in our society. What is a
Lastly, the myth that "prison pays" has been proven to be false. The answer to this produces conflict as seen in class, and in legislature. In this case, we turn to using the rates of other industrialized countries to provide us with a frame of reference. I also agree with a students comment that this book was more proactive than previous books, and that his ideas were well-explained and practical. The class, like Currie, believes that such policies are not reflecting a lenient system because sentence lengths are already relatively long, and releasing an offender under supervision is better than no supervision at all. In class we discussed some of these hidden costs as being: medical care, vocational and educational training, drug treatments, lost taxes and economic productivity, welfare dependence, and continued delinquency. In all, the prison pays belief is true for minority property offenders and drug offenders, and succeeds only by excluding prison alternatives. As Currie writes, "Prisons have become a substitute for the more constructive social policies that are avoided" (32). The author did not allow his own subjectivity seep onto the pages, which I found to be his strong point. To start, the most expensive crime is homicide so preventing it would save money. The experience of prison may, or may not, increase recidivism. But all of them pass the test of cost-effectiveness- especially when compared to the unusual alternative of waiting for damaged children become criminal adults, and then putting them in jail or prison" (108). There is also a threat that these offenders are being let out on "good time", probation, and parole. We must use alternatives, and if they do not work we need to improve them. First, the idea that we are "too soft" on crime instantly negates the fact that our prisons are practically bursting.
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Acceptance Essays
