[2] On the other hand, the Justice Department provides billions of dollars a year for state and local law enforcement to ensure they follow the policies set forth by the federal government concerning U.S.
[3] English philosopher Jeremey Bentham introduced a utilitarianism theory to help create more of a moral standard for the treatment and rehabilitation of inmates.
He wanted to introduce ethical thinking and proper decision-making into the inmate's life's in hopes they could rejoin society.
Although there were still rising numbers of incarcerations from 1929–to 1970, the prison population increased dramatically when Nixon's War on Drugs[5] called for mandatory sentencing.
Within the Three Strike Law, there was a 28 increase percent between 1977 and 1997, peaking at 758 offenses per 100,000 residents in 1991 and 1992[6] It was estimated in 2018 that there were a total of 2.3 million inmates incarcerated.
There has been an increase in waitlisted or lack of specialized programs (drug, alcohol, intoxicated driving courses) that allow inmates to have the proper rehabilitation.
Due to the lack of resources, inmates may be forced to spend large amounts of time doing nothing rather than becoming engaged in an activity.
The amount of money spent on mass incarceration annually could be allocated to other areas of need, such as public safety or the reduction of crime.
For example, in the state of Alabama, it's possible to witness a correctional officer supervising up to 250–300 high-risk offenders for an extended period of time.
[14] In addition to Alabama, Delaware, and California are also great examples of shown consequences due to prison overcrowding.
Vaughn is Delaware's largest prison, and has been under much scrutiny for years; however, nothing has been done about the overcrowding problems within the state's corrections department.
After the death of Floyd, more than 100 officers retired early or quit because of the increased dangers of working at Vaughn, thus leading to low staffing levels.
[2] During the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Plata, the California prison system held about 156,000 inmates, which was twice as many as the requirement of approximately 85,000 maximum capacity.
[15] In a ruling of Brown v. Plata, the Supreme Court concluded that California's correctional facilities violated prisoners' Eighth Amendment rights.
[15] Overcrowding in those prisons caused inmates to receive poor medical and mental health care, not including the inhumane conditions due to lack of resources and space.
[14] In addition, Alabama expanded alternative sentencing options that consisted of community and rehabilitative programs primarily for nonviolent offenders who have drug/substance abuse addictions.
[14] On the other hand, California initiated the transfer of approximately 33,000 nonviolent offenders from state to county jails in 2011, leading to an increase in early releases.
[2] The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has also made the efforts of reallocating parolees and inmates safely to other areas to maintain the mandatory population levels within the facilities.