S. pp). Criminologists attribute the prison population growth to "get tough on crime" policies that have subjected hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug and property offenders to long mandatory sentences (U.S. pp). Malcolm Young of the Sentencing Project, says, "We have to be concerned about an overloaded system which sentences many offenders quickly and is not dong a good job of sorting out people who should be incarcerated from people for whom other responses would produce better, less expensive results" (U.S. pp).
The rise in the prison population varies by state, yet since 1998, twelve states experienced stable or declining incarceration rates but crime rates in those states declined at the same rates as in the other thirty-eight (U.S. pp).
Young says, "We're working under the burden of laws and practices that have developed over 30 years that have focused on punishment and prison as our primary response to crime" (McDonough pp). According to Young, the prison population could be lowered by introducing drug treatment programs that offer effective ways of changing behavior and by providing appropriate assistance for the mentally ill (McDonough pp). Sixty-one percent of prison and jail inmates in 2004 were of racial or ethnic minorities (McDonough pp).
An in-depth analysis of the impact of Arizona's sentencing laws found that the state's rigid mandatory sentencing laws fill prison cells and cost millions while doing little to enhance public safety (Mandatory pp). "Arizona Prison Crisis: A Call for Smart on Crime Solutions" found that the mandatory sentencing laws are largely to blame for the growth in incarceration of non-violent offenders, who account for over half of al prisoners (Mandatory pp). According to the report, one in four prisoners are incarcerated for a property offense, one in five for a drug offense, and one in twelve for driving under the influence (Mandatory pp).
Arizona Prison Crisis" provides policymakers with the first detailed look at the state's prison population and the specific laws that fuel the current overcrowding crisis (Mandatory pp). The report, authored by noted criminal justice researchers, Judith Greene and Kevin Pranis of Justice Strategies, "paints a portrait of a prison system packed with non-violent and low-level offenders, including substances abusers, disproportionate numbers of people of color and a rapidly growing population of women" (Mandatory pp).
For example, "an addict with one prior conviction for drug possession caught selling a gram of cocaine faces a sentence that is almost double that of a dealer caught with a kilo of cocaine the first time" (Mandatory pp). Judge Rudy Gerber, says that it is clear that after twenty-five years, Arizona's mandatory sentencing laws do not enhance public safety, and certainly do not deliver justice (Mandatory pp). "Smart-on-crime solutions focus scarce correctional resources on more serious offenders, while giving judges the authority to hold non-violent and low-level offenders accountable in community-based sanctions" (Mandatory pp)
Works Cited
Incarcerated America. April 2003. Accessed from the Human Rights Watch web site on May 04, 2005. http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/incarceration/
Mandatory Sentencing Laws Fuel Prison Overcrowding Crisis, Fill Prisons With Non-Violent Substance Abusers. Accessed from the Families Against Mandatory Minimums web site on May 05, 2005. http://famm.org/si_sbs_arizona_press_release_5_11_04.htm
McDonough, Siobhan. Crime rate down, but prison population on the rise.
Houston Chronicle. April 25, 2005. Accessed from the Houston Chronicle web site on May 05, 2005. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3151865
U.S. prison population continues rising. April 24, 2005. Accessed from CNN.com web site on May 05, 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/U.S./04/24/prison.population.reut/
Anderson, Curt. Growing prison population is growing problem for cash-strapped states. Associated Press. July 27, 2003. Accessed from SignOnSanDiego.com on May 05, 2005. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20prisonpopulation.html
Prison Statistics: Summary Findings June 30, 2004. Accessed from the United
States Department of Justice: Bureau of Justice Statistics web site on May 05, 2005. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
