Prison System in America essays

Prison System in America essays Life in America is full of options and opportunities, for most. Many people in our society try to make a living in a legitimate fashion. However, this ideal way of life is not always an option. For some the best option is to turn to the black market to make their money. The largest and most lucrative division of the black market is the drug culture. This also is one of the places that get the most publicity when arrests are made, due to the infamous war on drugs that was started in the late 1980s the government gets results, which in turn get votes. The problem is within the system and the people going through it, and whether our structure of prison is helping. In our country, many things do not make sense. A dead man can be elected to office but an honest man will probably never be. This is also true with our fight against crime. Arrests in our country are broken down into four main categories violent crimes, property crimes, crimes against public order, and drug related crimes. The punishment for the crimes varies on the severity of the crime. At first glance, it appears that the system is set up to punish crimes against people with jail time and stricter sentences and crimes against the public would be less severe. This for the most part is true but what about drug crimes. Are they violent or nonviolent? Are the crimes in this category as terrible as a rape or homicide case? The logical response to these questions is that the punishment fits the crime. That means that a person who rapes some one will get a completely different punishment for his crime compared to if a chemist is caught cooking up LSD. Conversely, this is not true. In s ome cases, the man cooking up the LSD could have a harsher sentence than the rapist could. Is it fair to lock up a heroin addict in jail were it may be easier for him to find his drug. Are substance users and abusers a lost case for society to just give up one and throw away? Alte ...