They preside over hardened criminals on a daily basis, just like police officers, only the criminals they oversee are often present in greater numbers. To act against a correctional official is surely just as flagrant example of striking back at law enforcement as it is to kill a police officer.
The idea of deterrence is perhaps even more important in the case of a corrections officer. After all, a person acting against a police officer has more to lose than a person acting against a corrections officer. If a person shoots at a police officer, he or she stands a chance of loosing his or her liberty or his or her life. But an individual incarcerated in prison, perhaps for life, or for a duration in jail that 'feels' like life to a hardened, desperate criminal, has nothing to lose. Striking back in a violent fashion against a corrections official seems like second nature, especially in the violent atmosphere of a prison. Deterrence in the killing of correctional officers in prison is, if anything, an even more pressing matter than it is under the circumstances of the street.
Ironically, although rates of violent crime have declined many of the nation's cities, prisons are more violent and dangerous than ever. Overcrowding is also rampant. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics, in 2005, fourteen states oversaw prison population increases of at least 5%, led by South Dakota (up 11.9%), Montana (up 10.9%), and Kentucky (up 10.4%). These inmate increases were not matched by substantially expanded facility capacity or human support, making the protection of the law for our correctional officers all the more vital. Furthermore, state prisons were operating between 1% below and 14% above capacity; Federal prisons were operating at 34% above capacity ("Prisoners in 2005," Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 2006).
Conclusion
Even as the streets may be growing safer in some corners of the nation, prisons are growing more violent. Corrections officials must have the support of the laws of the land so they know that the job they do is valued, and also that they can feel secure in their persons. If correctional...
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The United States is one of the few industrialized, democratic nations in the world which still permits capital punishment on a state-by-state basis. Not all states have the death penalty but executions are still carried out in the United States and the punishment remains controversial. Despite the singularity of its status internationally, the death penalty has historically been a popular policy in the United States, even though it has been hotly
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