Zachary Gene Mooney
Notre Dame College
The American correctional system has its flaws like many other programs in America today. A hot topic in today?s society is whether or not the American criminal justice system is effective; often times, this leads citizens to believe that the United States can no longer be considered the land of the free because of its various flaws. America has the highest imprisonment rate in the entire world along with a shockingly high rate of recidivism and lack of programs that will truly help law breakers. The main issues discussed in any criminal justice course regarding the failure of the justice system can be summed up by lack of funding, overcrowding, and repeat offenders. The lack of funding from the state and federal government can lead to many other issues, and likely has the most negative affect on the system overall. Most prisons today are underfunded both in the facilities in which they warehouse the prisoners and also the type of treatment programs they can provide for prisoners in custody. With the number of prisoners growing daily and no slowdown in sight it seems as if hoping for a change in prison system management seems bleak at best. Recidivism is the rate at which former prisoners are rearrested or …show more content…
Most prisons in the country today are highly over crowded which ties into many of the other problems such as facilities and rehab programs. Even if some prisons are capable of providing necessary services, often times the prisons are not staffed up to par to handle the number of inmates which in that case it becomes luck of the draw if you gain access to the necessary programs. The issue of overcrowding can also lead to disease spreading throughout the prison. This issue can become fatal for prisoners due to the lack of medical staff employed at