Why does the USA lock so many people up in jail/prisons?

Question

Is it because of high crime rate or a harsh justice system?

There is a massive difference from Europe. Does it make Americans feel safer?

Answer 1

Because we do have a high crime rate.
We DIDN'T forty years ago though. Of course, forty years ago there weren't a bunch of people saying that all criminals need is to be rehabilitated.

Answer 2

To answer your last question first: If having so many people in prison actually makes Americans feel safer, it's a false sense of security. Those people will get out of prison in ten, or twenty, or thirty years and not all of them will be elderly; many of them will be men in the prime of life, carrying a terrible burden of rage and resentment. If Americans are scared now, imagine how scared their children will be, somewhere down the road.

To answer your first and second questions: The immediate reason for the huge prison population is the so-called War On Drugs; combined with the effects of mandatory sentencing laws, this makes it a crime to possess as little as a few grams of a prohibited substance. It's breathtakingly stupid and short-sighted.

Answer 3

Because a lot of people commit crimes.

At one times, jails and prisons were a punishment for something that a person did. Now they are more like country clubs. If you commit a crime in the US, you go to a place where you get free room and board, free meals, free health and dental care, free internet, free gyms, free correspondence courses to get a free degree, free cable, the list of freebies goes on and on. Many hard working law abiding people cannot afford all the luxuries that the human garbage in prison gets. The reason for that is that the liberals decided that punishing a person for committing a crime was "wrong" and that the rights and welfare of criminals was more important than the rights and well being of decent people. So now criminals spend their days lounging around, watching TV, playing football, or working out in the gyms so they are even stronger and more able to harm an innocent person when they get out. And that makes liberals happy.

Answer 4

Because we no longer keep people in Mental Health Institutions like we used to BEFORE we enacted laws to give people with mental illness their "civil rights"! The modern prisons are the new mental health facilities that house ALL types of criminals, including the ones who just have no place to go & refuse to take their meds, OR, who overmedicate themselves & commit crimes & get arrested! We have a HUGE homeless situation in our country that most people don't talk about or won't admit to it even existing. Prison is supposed to rehabilitate the prisoner, but it actually only institutionilizes them & when they get out, they have no skills & end up back in the system & many of them have come to accept this as their way of life until they die! We refer to it as the "revolving-door syndrome"! It is also a large part of what is called the "prison industry" that employs millions of people & fuels our economy with building contracts for more & more prison facilities to be built as more criminals are arrested, tried & convicted. Many of our convicts are repeat offenders. Yet, many others are not even US citizens & this is proving to be a problem that is growing daily! It only makes us feel safe when the criminals stay behind bars. When they are released, the problems seem to come right back because the criminals are angry & just want to get even with the person who had them arrested. It's a mess that we're desperately trying to get a grip on! How does Europe deal with it? I think we are too nice to our criminals in the US!

Answer 5

It doesn't really make ME feel safer.... so many of the people in prison right now are there for selling/posessing drugs, which to me is not that much of a crime. Meanwhile, there are rapists and molesters who run free or get off easy. I don't have a good answer to your question, but I do think our system needs to be reevaluated and revamped.

Answer 6

I live in the USA (Los Angeles, California) so I might be a good guide.

First of all, No, I do not feel any safer. Less safe in fact.

There are way too many people in prison for drug related crimes (thanks most recently to Regan's war on drugs). Over half of inmates are in prison for drugs, and half of them were not distributing in any way.

I feel less safe for instance because i could go to jail for a gram of cocaine or 2 ounces of marijuana (less if convicted for "trafficking.")
I don't believe anyone should go to jail for doing drugs. Is prison the right place for a drug user. A cell shared with a murder or a rapist for a over a year is not just punishment for a drug user.
An attic can receive help without going to jail.

Also, a life sentence is not fair in most cases (serial killers maybe, but thats it). Jail should be a punishment, not a trash can for societies "rejects."

Plus police abuse their power too often. From ridiculous traffic tickets to make quota, to unjustly beating innocent citizens without cause.

So no, i do not feel any safer.

P.S., Snow Chick, that is a sick way to look at things. Prisons are over populated (crowding 2,3 even 4 inmates in a cell). The food is not gourmet by any standards. Beatings from fellow inmates and guards is no "country club" as you put it. Limited TV and internet is not fun. Do you like to travel? Do you like the beach? Do you like to spend time with loved ones? If you do, jail is not fun or peachy in any way.

Answer 7

At this point in history all countries are not crime free. If there are less crimes being committed by the population it is because it is being committed by their government.

In the United States we have the most freedom and our population is increasing rapidly due to freedom of immigration so as not all people are equipped to earn a living they commit crimes to live the lifestyle they feel they deserve and want. When we do apprehend criminals they must be punished so as we do not wish to execute everyone accused of a crime we have to send them to prison.

Answer 8

Doesn't make this American safer.

Some people think it's a conspiracy to encourage growth of the private prison industry.

The reason that it's allowed to go on is that Americans often prefer punishment to rehabilitation which is a very short-sighted view.

Answer 9

It's not our fault that Europe has lost any type of manhood within the countries. If you guys wanna play paddy cake with your criminals then go right ahead. We like to punish ours.

Unfortunately though, America has been leaning a little European left. I wouldn't doubt it in 30 years apologies were acceptable means of punishment.

Answer 10

It's because we care about protecting innocent people who may become crime victims.

For example, Colombia is #1 in the world for murder rates, but #69 in the world for number of criminals in prison (per capita).

By contrast, the USA is #1 in the world for number of criminals in prison, but #24 in the world for murder rates.