Prison Alternative

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

to address crime is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease." (Robert Gangi, Executive Director, Correctional Association of New York) Ervin 2 Prisons take the nonviolent offender and make him live in the same conditions that a hardened killer would have. The very nature of prison, no matter how humane society attempts to make it, produces an environment that is inevitably harmful to its residents. Even by delaying release by longer sentences, residents will eventually return to damage the community. Society is paying the bill for this injustice to go on. Not including Federal Funds, states spent $28.9 billion on corrections in 1997 alone. To compare, the states only spent $14.0 billion on welfare to the poor (National Association of State Budget Officers 1997). Why should we force taxpayers to pay to keep nonviolent criminals sitting in prison cells where they become bitter and more likely to repeat their offenses when released? The government must devise new ways ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: