Prison system in the united states Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Prison system in the united states - Term Paper Example It is often believed in America that the prison and criminal justice systems promote economic and social inequalities and it has an unequal and unfair effect on poor, the American minorities and less privileged class of the society. It has adverse effects on not only the prisoners but also on the families and the closed ones. The groups and people who are influential, wealthy and resourceful control the whole criminal justice and control mechanism, as they are in a position to exercise greater influence through the legal process hence suppressing the poor. One of the face of injustice in the system is that it is believed that the prisons are used to lock up those individuals of the society who have been involved in the most serious offences and are a threat and disgrace to the society, which is proved wrong by the revelation of the fact that American prison system incarcerates the drug users who usually belongs to lower class and the upper lower class of the society- It sees crime as an act of lower class only. Usually, the American blacks (minorities) are involved in criminal activities due to their racial discrimination in America, hence they are the ones most incarcerated. The prisons and jails in America are usually situated in the urban locality which makes the prisoners and staffs feel isolated from the people and make it difficult for the families and the closed ones to meet the prisoner. It does not only affect the people involved in the system but also affects their families.... Usually, the American blacks (minorities) are involved in criminal activities due to their racial discrimination in America, hence they are the ones most incarcerated. The prisons and jails in America are usually situated in the urban locality which makes the prisoners and staffs feel isolated from the people and make it difficult for the families and the closed ones to meet the prisoner. It does not only affect the people involved in the system but also affect their families. (Lynch, Micheal, J. 2007; Blakely, Curtis, R. 2005) Previously the inmates were given freedom to access the judiciary to defend their cases which was in accordance to the constitution and was an ethical practice. The Civil Rights Act allowed the inmates regardless of race and gender to file a suit against any mistreatment, violence, medical ignorance or any such unethical practice. With the passage of time the system developed more flaws and attempts were made to weaken this Act. It is considered that unsuccess ful lawsuits are costly and are an additional expense which lead to reconsideration whether access to the court should be granted freely to all inmates or not resulting into reduced chances of inmates to defend their cases and approach courts which was their only way to hold prison operators legally accountable against any mistreatment. (Blakely, Curtis, R. 2005; American Assembly.1973) The legal system in America has gone through many changes over time mostly influenced and affected by scholarly work and studies on human behavior and psychology. It is widely believed that there is a positive correlation between the deterrence of crime and severance of punishment. The severe the punishment the