Respond to the stated question,including any relevance to and implications on the field of criminal justice. Be sure to discuss the issue(s) to which thequestion pertain(s). Remarks can include your opinion(s), but must bebased on experience, research, and/or prior learning. Use this exercise tofoster a rich dialogue with your colleagues about issues that are important tothe field of criminal justice.

During the span of the discussion, you must post to this board on fourunique days.

Your initial posting must be no less than 350 words and is due.

You will also be required to post responses to at least three of your colleagues' initialpostings. Responses must be no less than 100 words, be posted on at least threeunique days, and are due.

initial post 350 words

response to 1-3 100 words

Stated Question(initial post): As youread the prison time line, you will see that records start around 1940’s withapproximately 200,000 inmates per year. Today, or at least with thelatest statistics available we have adults under correctional supervision thereis 1 in 35 reportedly under the Department of Corrections. Inlooking at the reported censes data, you find the following:

·1940- 132.2 Million People withapproximately 200,000 under correctional supervision= less than 1% of the totalpopulation

·2010- 208.7 million people with millionpeople under correctional supervision= 3% of the population

The increase of 2% overthe last 70 years identifies a drastic increase. Some of the questions thathave been posed are: Have we gotten stiffer laws? Is theremore people taking on the life of Crime? Is society becoming moreviolent? With all of the questions, what is the truth?

For this assignment, whatis your opinion on why crime has gone up 2%?

#1.Accordingto The Sentencing Project, they found that changes in sentencing laws andpolicies are responsible for most of the increases. They also do not compare itto changes in crime rates. With the major increase in prisoners, it has led toprison overcrowding. When looking at the difference between federal andstate institutions, it shows there are major differences on what types ofpeople go to what type of location.

You would assume that most violentoffenders would be sent to a federal institution. However, in 2015, therewere 54.5% violent inmates in state prisons compared to the 7.7% in a federalprison in 2016 (The Sentencing Project, 2018). Another alarming numbershowed there were 47.5% of inmates in federal prisons for drug related crimescompared to the 15.2% in a state prison. Many will question are theremore repeat drug offenders that are sent to a federal prison over a stateprison? Or have the laws strengthen and got more severe? I will discussmy findings later in this discussion post.

Looking throughout the years at thedifference in what stage most of the population is in under the correctionssystem may be alarming to many. Most individuals are on probation.The numbers for individuals in prison, jail and on parole are large in 2016,however, the individuals on probation is almost triple all other areas. Anotherinteresting fact is the increase on drug related crimes. When the War on Drugsera started, it resulted in a dramatic growth of individuals in incarnation(The Sentencing Project, 2018).

Earlier in this discussion, I stated how itwas alarming the number of individuals in a federal prison compared to a stateprison for drug related crimes. The reason is the fact of harshersentencing laws. Furthermore, harsh sentencing laws such as mandatory minimumskeep many people convicted of drug offenses in prison for longer periods oftime: in 1986, people released after serving time for a federal drug offensehad spent an average of 22 months in prison. By 2004, people convicted onfederal drug offenses were expected to serve almost three times that length: 62months in prison (The Sentencing Project, 2018). Many individuals who areplaced in state prisons are there because they aren’t considered high in thedrug trade business and have never had prior convictions.

References

The Sentencing Project. (2018). Trends in U.S.Corrections [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from https://sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2…

#2. Violent crime rates have been climbingsteadily since 1940 probably even earlier. I think there are many reasons forthis change in the prison time line. First and foremost, I think that back inthe 1940’s there were not as many laws established as there are now so even ifpeople committed the acts back then they did not get arrested for them.Sentencing policies have changed and expanded over the decades. Which meansthat the prison admission after an arrest as well as the time served in prionshave changed. For example in 1980 drug imprisonment for drug related offenseswere minimal ranging at a rate of 15 for every 100,000 versus in 2010 wheredrug arrest jumped to 143 out of 100,000 ( National Research Council, 2014).

It isalso likely that crimes have not been reported the way they are now. Socialmedia and news are much more involved in today’s crime reports than they wereback in 1940, when media was not very predominant at all.

Back in 1940the police departments did not have the same tools to determine the number ofcrimes as they do now, they were not as technologically advanced as they arenow. I believe that the same crimes that happen today did happen back in 1940as well, however a lot of the crimes went unreported. In 1973 the JusticeDepartment insisted on helping the police department improving their upkeep ofrecords (Jencks, 1991).

Another theoryis that crime has increased predominately in poor black communities. In 1986,when the crack epidemic rose so did violence in poor black neighborhoods. Sincethen racial disparities have also grown and the numbers of arrests andincarcerations of minorities have increased drastically.

Additionally,the number of people in prison has increased due to the expansion ofcorrectional facilities. Back in 1940 there weren’t as many prions available asthere are now, so they did not have the capacity to arrest as many people asthey do now.

References:

National Research Council 2014. The Growth of Incarceration in theUnited States: Exploring Causes and Consequences. Washington, DC. The NationalAcademies Press.https://doi.org/10.17226/18613

Jenks, C (1991) Is violent crime increasing? Retrieved from:http://prospect.org/article/violent-crime-increasing

#3. More criminals are gettingcaught. That is one reason, I believe, that can be attributed to the increasein the number of people under correctional supervision.

DNA, previously used primarilyfor determining paternity, made its way into the legal system in the in thelate 1980’s. The first conviction based on DNA evidence did not occur until1987. As time passes and techniques evolve and improve, DNA and forensicscience play a substantial role in criminals being arrested and convicted,methods that were not always available in the criminal justice system. People’sbiological evidence is gathered and put into a system. Systems turn intodatabases and databases eventually become widely used across states andagencies. Criminals, who could previously commit crime in one area and hidebehind anonymity and relocate to another county or state, no longer have that ability.With the advent of databases that exist now, such as CODIS, law enforcementagencies are attempting to streamline their ability to communicate with eachother. With no statute of limitations on murder, cold-case murders caneventually be solved if biological evidence was obtained and never tested priorto the 1980’s.

Another significant result ofDNA being used in the legal system and the increase of people undercorrectional supervision is the conviction of sexual predators. Many agencieshave an enormous backlog of rape kits. In 2017 for example, there were anestimated 17,000 rape kits that had not yet been tested. In Houston, 6,800 wereuntested and more than 11,000 each in Los Angeles and Memphis. Depending on aparticular state’s statute of limitation with regard to sexual assault, thiscan account for a number of convictions.

Then there is technology.Cameras are everywhere: outside of businesses and residences, at ATMs, oninterstate toll roads, and traffic lights at intersections, to name a few. Cashregisters keep electronic records of receipts, so police can discover what asuspect has purchased. Phone records can show the numbers that a person hascalled and when, and from where the call originated. Cell phone records,although not an exact science, can reveal the location of a person and wherethey have traveled based on cell towers.

Laws have changed, people getdesperate during economic downfalls and turn to crime, and people are ignorantabout forensic science. I believe, over the years, more people are not gettingaway with their crimes due to the evolution of forensic science and technology.