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First of all, the number of people being arrested "is far lower than the number of crimes being committed," an indication that placing repeat and habitual offenders in prison for longer periods of time has decreased the arrest rate. Second, some crime analysts have estimated that keeping repeat and habitual offender in prison has lowered crimes by individuals by as much as fifteen crimes per year which when multiplied with the 1.4 million increase in the prison population since 1984 rounds out to about 21 million less crimes per year in the U.S. ("Lock 'Em Up," 2005, Internet).
Obviously, this "prison experiment" of locking up repeat and habitual offenders for longer periods of time seems to have been a success. Kathleen Auerhahn, writing in Selective Incapacitation and Public Policy, points out that both forms of incapacitation have greatly reduced the number of criminals on the streets of America and have significantly lowered the number of crimes being committed, not only by serious offenders but also by young men under the age of twenty five. "From a logical perspective,"...
167).
References
Auerhahn, Kathleen. (2003). Selective Incapacitation and Public Policy. New York:
Philosophy of Criminal History." (2008). U.S. Sentencing Commission. Internet.
Retrieved October 24, 2008 at http://www.ussc.gov/SIMPLE/crimhist.htm.
Seligman, Dan. (2005). "Lock 'Em Up." Forbes.com. Internet. Retrieved October 24, 2008 from www.forbes.com/2005/0523/216.html.
Retrieved October 24, 2008 at http://www.victimsofviolence.on.ca/research383.html.
Second, retrospective analysis of the statistical effect of increasing prison populations through across-the-board increases in prosecution and the length of sentencing suggests that the relationship between merely increasing prison populations and decreased crime rates is insufficient to justify focusing on this approach. Since a relatively small percentage of criminals (even serious criminals) account for a disproportionately high percentage of crime (Visher, 1987), merely increasing across-the- board imprisonment of criminal offenders
Mandatory Sentencing Public policy, crime, and criminal justice Mandatory Sentencing: Case Study Critique The prime grounds of mandatory sentencing laws are utilitarian. The laws come with long prison sentences for recidivists, drug dealers and isolation of violent criminals from the community aiming at preventing them from committing additional crimes outside the prison walls. In addition, the design of mandatory sentencing aim at deterring and portraying a harsh reflection to potential offenders of the