Court records also stick on, whether the charges are dropped or followed by a conviction. People of color or ethnic minorities, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, have come to accept that they cannot avoid acquiring a criminal record. The 1990 Washington DC-based sentencing project found that one in every four African-Americans aged 20 to 29 was in prison, in jail or on probation or parole. A research conducted by the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives had a comparable finding. In a decade, the figure decreased to one out of three or 76% of 18-year-old African-Americans in the urban areas who can expect arrest and imprisonment before age 36. The racial gap became evident at the approach of the millennium. In 1926, 79% of inmates in state and federal prisons were whites and only 21% were Blacks. But in 1999, African-Americans made up 55-60% of new admissions. Including Latino inmates, records show that three out of four Americans sentenced to federal and state prisons belonged to minority groups. The new attitude on going tough with criminals actually referred to black criminals without the need to mention the race. Prisons and jails brimming with a million Black young men rather than embarrass, seem to have become an indispensable ingredient in the smooth operation of American democracy and economy (Miller).
Many people view the overcrowding of prisons and jails and the expensive confinements, which replace them as indicative of a failing criminal justice system in American society and as something that must be re-examined (Mitchell 2005). Studies have shown that incarceration is the most ineffective, expensive and inhumane feature of this criminal-justice system and yet continues to expand and is over-funded. With an exploding prison population, the U.S. has exceeded the rate of incarceration of both China and Russia. A further irony is that 70% of inmates return to jail as the national average. Studies conducted by the American Bar Association also revealed that prison and jail unduly and disproportionately affect communities of color. This seems to be the reason why incarceration is the only public project, which receives massive support and resources despite glaring and horrifying realities about it (Mitchell).
Approaches or Solutions - The original idea, which was abandoned for years, was for a prison to serve as rehabilitation, not as a place of retribution and this is now being revived (Bates 2006). Conservative sectors believe that new efforts should be installed to keep people out of jail but if they go in, they should be helped to leave and not return. These sectors see this as the only real solution to overcrowding and a healthy society. This is why there has been growing interest in rehabilitation programs and reentry initiatives. The issue of recidivism was tackled by President Bush in his 2004 State of the Union Address, wherein he stressed that the 600,000 inmates then scheduled for release should be given a second chance to a better life. U.S. House Representative Robert Portman of Ohio's second district seeks to increase support for prisoners during and after incarceration. Reintegration must start before they leave prison. The National Institute of Justice said that around 60% of former inmates could not get employed after one year and that 15-27% of them expect to go home to homeless shelters. One more issue that must be address in reintegrating was substance abuse. The finding of a study conducted by the Re-Entry Policy Council said that three out of four inmates released had substance abuse problem, yet only 10% of them received assistance while in jail to overcome it (Bates).
The Peumansend Creek regional jail near Bowling Green in Virginia set an example in preparing non-violent offenders to re-enter society (Bates 2006). It is a minimum and medium security jail, which works to provide greater support to inmates when they are released. An example was Laura Wood, who was incarcerated for possession of illegal drugs, for forgery and grand larceny, and was later sent to Peumansend Creek to retrace her balance. Jail superintendent Sandra Thacker has 27 years of correctional administration and said that it is familiar with the way most correctional facilities deal with prisoners. She said Peumansend Creek addresses the problem of recidivism through its industry program. The program was the first in the U.S. To be accredited by the American Correctional Association. Its services include shoe-resoling, embroidery, silk screening, printing banners, hygiene kits, woodworking, work crew operations and an agriculture program (Bates).
Representative Robert Scott from Virginia's second district and ranking member of the house judiciary committee said that only a slight shift in funding could be needed to create these badly-needed reentry programs but they...
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