Running Head: MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 1

Why Mass Incarceration Is an Outcome of Major Political Failures

Name

Institutional

Course

Date
MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 2

Executive Summary

Justice and balance in society are necessary when society ensures that every individual is

safe and their rights are not infringed upon by the government, public and private entities, or

other people. The problem of mass incarceration has been there for a long time in the United

States of America. Currently, the US prison system holds more than 25% of the total global

prison population, which is a worrying trend. The problem is caused by challenges and poor

governance in different areas of leadership. Policies and legislation in place continue to facilitate

a biased approach to dealing with crime. Minorities, especially black people, have been subjected

to injustices from the police to the judicial system. These injustices are also part of the problem

as they drive up numbers in mass incarcerations. However, there need to be significant changes

aimed at disrupting mass incarceration. This initiative starts with the policymaking, justice

system, and law enforcement agencies. However, a -policy change would likely change the

whole system and improve it.

Introduction

Mass incarceration alludes to the fact that the US prison population is the highest globally

based on incarceration rates. Statistically, more than 20% of the people behind bars are within

US prisons, translating to almost 2.5 million people. The setup of the American criminal justice

system has an estimated 2,000 prisons at federal and state levels. Systemic failures have led to

unfair and unjust incarcerations that see about 700 for every 100,000 people imprisoned (Equal

Justice Initiative, 2021). Additionally, the flaws in political policies, policing systems, and

judicial processes have made it difficult for minorities who face harsher sentences without

accounting for public rationale. The punishment should suit the crime, and mass incarceration

indicates that the system is broken. As much as crimes should be punishable, the problem of

mass incarceration is greatly affecting the United States. Mass incarceration is a problem arising

from the political class's poor policies and legislative ideologies.

Prison populations are a major concern for human rights activists and the general public

as people advocate for better punitive measures. The goal is to have a restructure that targets

policy and legislative measures used to apprehend and reform offenders. However, the implied

impact of the system is that it targets those who were not envisioned as the main benefactors of

the revamped justice system. The US has set unprecedented expectations with incarcerations, and

its targeted justice has raised concerns with the brutal nature of prison and its environs (Cobb,

2021). Public safety should be the paramount concern, but the US uses prisons as an institution

for all crimes. This approach has led to the US having multiple times higher prison populations

than other nations. Ironically, the US has more prisoners despite China having the highest

population. Therefore, political systems need to be changed for the problem of mass

incarceration to end.
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Context and Importance of the Problem

Disparities in incarceration rates have been on the rise since the inception of the judicial

system meant to counter the British legal system. The Founders established a system meant to

evaluate and keep in check government actions. However, this system has developed into a

flawed approach to dispensing justice. The recognition of people's rights has been eroded by

political expediency and legislation that favors those in power positions. Mass incarceration is a

significant issue that makes it difficult for people to trust the justice system currently set up.

Social problems have been on the rise, considering the impact of an older prison

population. The 1970s saw an increase in the attitude towards crime which led to a surge in the

prison population with Black people being victimized (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2021).

Political rhetoric induced these outcomes through policing and judicial systems that oppressed

the minorities (Grace & Nelson, 2019). These systems have only evolved with minimal changes

to assist those who suffer from their current state. As such, there is an urgent need to address this

situation in a bid to reduce the high rates of mass incarceration. Political reprieve can influence

the prison system and even alleviate the negative outcomes witnessed in society.

The founding fathers envisioned a society that respects the rights of individuals in any

situation. Mass incarceration goes against the founding fathers' tenets to develop the constitution.

The government ensures justice is served for all and the dispensation is fair (Angelo, 2021).

However, the government is also failing in its duties, and the system is failing to identify the best

corrections and reforms approaches to dealing with crime. Therefore, political decisions can
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introduce policies that will deal with mass incarceration. Crime prevention is achievable if the

government is willing to partner with all the stakeholders involved.

The overcrowded prisons and increasing recidivism rates highlight the existing issues

plaguing the justice system. Ideally, the goal of prisons is to rehabilitate and reduce repeat

offenses that have not had positive outcomes. Policy options have not been forthcoming in

reducing mass incarceration, and the government is not treating this issue as a significant

problem. Therefore, it becomes an essential topic for discussion considering recent violence

cases against minorities when handling crime. Subsequently, the prison sentences for minor

offenses have been extremely harsh for repeat offenders and juvenile offenses. It is crucial to

evaluate policies and research on this topic, conclude the same, and offer policy

recommendations in addressing this problem.

Pre-existing Policies, Policy Options, and Research

The policy to be blamed for most people serving long prison terms is the "tough on

crime" agenda instituted in the 1970s. Baumgartner et al. (2021) engage in a discussion that

reviews the draconian laws introduced under the pretext of combating crime. The study draws its

data from reviewing statistical records on incarcerations that followed the implementation of

stringent policies that oppressed criminal offenders. The system was designed to harshly punish

minor offenses and also went ahead to deny parole to some of the people serving life sentences.

Records used by the researchers point to failures that afflicted the entire system stemming from

these policies.

These policies led to the incarceration of over 2 million individuals in cases that would

otherwise carry lighter or alternative sentences. As highlighted by Baumgartner et al. (2021),

individuals like Jim Crow were granted authority as a reactionary measure. The demand for civil

liberties by the Black community made it difficult for government officials to continue with

slavery (Baumgartner, et al., 2021). In response to the rebellion from the Blacks, draconian laws

were set in place to curtail those opposing the government. These policies were applied to the

justice system, which created significant problems for the minorities who were viewed as a

public policy crisis. The upsetting of the balance and status quo created significant detriment in

how the law was applied. In the end, the effects have transcended time and accelerated mass

incarceration.

Nagin (2022) discusses the matter of imprisonment by highlighting how criminologists

can reduce levels of imprisonment. Policymaking is one of the highlights discussed by the author

while addressing how systemic failures have led to almost two million people being imprisoned

over the last few decades. The justification of imprisonment is to mete out justice and prevent

crimes in society. Sadly, the policies seem to be achieving a negative result with the increase in

crimes. Life sentence imprisonment has been used to prevent major criminal offenses, but this

policy has turned the prison system into a home for old convicts. Ideally, 53% of the people

serving life sentences are convicted of murder. Nagin (2022) speaks to the 47% who represent a

population convicted of other crimes and serving life sentences.

The policy utilized by prosecutors to push offenders to be convicted and sentenced to life

in prison does not achieve the intended purpose. Policies like the three-strike rule also deny

convicted felons the opportunity to engage in reforms when harsher sentences are preferred

(Nagin, 2022). Policy reform is necessary to ensure that mass incarceration is avoided in the

future. However, political expediency is not achievable, considering the gains are not favorable.

The divisive political ideologies come to light when Nagin (2022) addresses Pennsylvania and its
MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 7

mandatory life sentence for felony murder. Changes would require a bipartisan approach that is

only achievable if Republicans and Democrats work together.

Hobor and Plough (2020), in their paper, discussed the element of health and how it fits

into guaranteeing the viability of prisons. Advocacy for justice reforms has targeted healthcare as

an integral component in ensuring prisons serve their purpose. The authors review the influence

of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in identifying how health and incarceration relate.

Policies aimed at reinforcing prisoners' health have seemingly been ignored, raising significant

concerns for some of the stakeholders involved (Hobor & Plough, 2020). Policies surrounding

prison and justice systems have ignored health and continue to avoid the conversation of how

mass incarceration influences prisoners' health. Integrating community health into the justice

system is crucial, making it difficult for those in prison to access these much-needed services.

Policymaking has always considered prisoners to be outliers, and this view extends to

their safety and health. Mass incarceration increases the likelihood of prisoners suffering

psychological and physical health issues related to their time in prison (Francis & Beckett, 2020).

The increase in prison population makes it difficult to offer suitable health services, which are

likely to improve outcomes for prisoners. Policy marginalizes prisoners because considerations

account for their desire to give up their fundamental rights to freedom. Prisoners are considered

unworthy to some extent, and as Hobor and Plough (2020) explain, it is necessary to have health

equity. The authors agree that mass incarceration is a major civil rights issue that requires

national efforts. The policy issues in this article connect health matters and mass incarceration,

drawing out the problems plaguing the nation and its political system.

The Equal Justice Initiative (2021) explores policy issues that include wrongful

convictions, adult children in prisons, and the use of excessive punishment. Punitive measures
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are relevant in ensuring balance in society while preventing crimes. These legislative procedures

aim to ensure a penal code system keeps in check those who commit crimes (Equal Justice

Initiative, 2021). However, there are instances where stipulated mandatory sentences and statutes

used for habitual offenders go against the grain of the reform process. Essentially, people are

sentenced to long periods in prison, which fails to assist the individual in reforming their

behavior and instead creates collateral consequences. The EJI points out the misrepresentation of

the justice systems as it endeavors to illuminate the failures of policies in place.

Policy failures are evident when children are placed in prisons for adults, and wrongful

convictions are common practice. Discriminatory tactics are quite common and have led to

children of minority communities being subjected to rulings that place them in prison instead of

juvenile detention centers. The justice system's goal is to correct behavior and thus the need for

correction mechanisms that serve the intended purpose. However, political policies that govern

child offenders make it easy to prosecute a child in the same court as an adult. Wrongful

convictions have been prominent, especially with racial profiling that extends from the "tough on

crime" policies. Arrests and subsequent sentencing have not upheld the tenets of innocent until

proven guilty. Still, they operate on practicality and the ability of the legal system to convince

people of an offender's guilt even when they are innocent.

Travis (2014) offers a history of the policies leading up to mass incarceration and

mentions indeterminate sentencing as one of the approaches used. In the late 70s to mid-80s,

consistency in sentencing procedures was preferred, and parole guidelines were established. The

second phase leading up to the mid-90s focused on making sentences more stringent and certain

for violent and drug crimes. The standard time for sentences was stipulated and led to minimum

prison terms established for specific crimes (Travis, 2014). This era also led to the three-strikes
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law, life without parole, and truth-in-sentencing initiatives being implemented. However, in

recent years sentencing has been geared towards making sentences less severe and punishments

less harsh than previous years. These policies have collectively led the US to decisions that

created the problem of mass incarceration.

Ideally, Travis (2014) points out the argument's validity that postulates political influence

is crucial to determining mass incarceration. The ideations alluded to by the author reflect the

influence of poor policies and how they negatively afflict the justice system. The US has been

focusing on prison as the best option to dealing with criminal offenses and foregoing

rehabilitation efforts. Strict laws are essential because they help guarantee the nation's safety

while promoting lawful behaviors. However, policies in place have not been beneficial to the

justice system and any endeavors to reduce the prison population.

People in prison have suffered the consequences of a disparate judicial system that opts to

confine offenders without relying on due process. People are held in jail and subjected to prison

on misdemeanors or under the premise of the war on drugs which is still ongoing (Appleman,

2020). Cases of possession have led many to be incarcerated despite the amount they are arrested

with, not warranting the harsh penalties meted out upon conviction. The continuing pleas for

justice reform are being informed by the failures of the current system and its ill effects on

society. In most cases, people who are subjected to the prison and correctional system in the US

have been left worse than when they went in for their sentences.

Pretrial detention is a policy that ensures people are held if they cannot manage to pay

their bail. Therefore, some assertions made on dealing with mass incarceration are not merited

because they do not solve the actual systemic problem. A good example is that releasing

nonviolent offenders in drug cases will solve this issue. However, 80% of people in jail or prison
MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 10

have committed other offenses that are not drug-related (Cobb, 2021). Therefore, policies that

focus only on drug-related offenses will not meet the threshold needed to improve the state of

prisons. Secondly, private prisons are viewed as the entities driving up the numbers in the prison

population for profit gains. However, the private prison complex has less than 10% of the total

prison population in its facilities. The only issue is that public and state prisons serve the needs

of the private sector, and as a result, they keep promoting mass incarceration to sustain their

business model.

Furthermore, people tend to associate violent offenders with recidivism, advocating

longer-term sentences for these individuals. However, these ideologies are flawed, considering

offenders in violent or sexual cases have about 20% rearrests rates which dispel these beliefs

(UN, 2021). Legal jurisprudence has been facilitating the rot that feeds the prison pipeline.

People are viewed as potential criminals based on their history, which leads to expanding

community supervision. Parole and probation have been used to identify technical violations that

can lead to new sentences or revocation of the release clauses that grant the offender their

freedom. Mass incarceration becomes a cyclic event despite having policies to facilitate the

reentry of criminals into society.

Over 110 million people have been to prison or jail in the US, close to 77 million have a

criminal record, and almost 20 million have been convicted of a felony. The policies surrounding

the classification of crimes under the legal penal code system have emphasized misdemeanors

(Equal Justice Initiative, 2021). Therefore, the mandatory sentences handed to offenders in the

range of one year have been extensive. Racial disparities in the prison population have also been

a significant issue. Minority populations, especially African Americans, make up almost 50% of
MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 11

the total prison population in the US (Equal Justice Initiative, 2021). Failures in policymaking

for policing activities have led to such statistics proving that issues like systemic racism do exist.

Conclusion

Politicians and policymakers are failing in their duty to ensure that social issues are dealt

with satisfactorily. Mass incarceration is increasingly leading to the US serving as a hub for

prisoners with minimal efforts to rectify the corrections and reform. In many instances, the

application of justice has been unfavorable to those without means and has left them serving

sentences and spending time in jail that is unwarranted. Legislative and judicial bodies are not

living up to their constitutional mandate to preserve and protect the freedoms of their citizens. At

the core of the problem is that being tough on crime will guarantee lower crime rates. However,

this is not the case, but rather focusing on better policing and judicial fairness will bring about a

decline in mass incarceration.

This social issue highlights flaws in how the US deals with its citizens when they commit

crimes and the initiative to correct such behavior. Presenting and sanitizing the use of prison as

the best approach to deal with offenders forgetting that society will have to live with these people

when they are released. The cost of running and maintaining these prisons is rising considering

the high rates of aging prisoners who need constant medical attention. Better policies can

alleviate the 25% global population of prisoners, and these changes are only achievable if
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politicians take the initiative to propose and execute said changes. People should also be willing

to elect competent leaders willing to push prison reform policies to reduce mass incarceration.

Additionally, the political class should work through bipartisan cohorts to legislate

punitive measures that account for the need to source alternative methods to curb crime other

than prisons. Investing in people can go a long way in achieving the desired changes. The

people, politicians, police, correctional facilities, and the judicial system all have to play their

part to deter and end mass incarceration.

Recommendations

Change is needed to ensure that the problem of mass incarceration is dealt with and the

prison complex is restructured. Enacting policies geared towards crime deterrence is a step in the

right direction, but this still requires objective attributes. The goal is to reduce the prison

population by offering alternative solutions that limit the transition from arrests to incarceration.

One policy is to redefine policing tactics and prefer minimal arrests in cases where

policing is not needed to resolve issues. States like California are investing in having alternative

first responders to 911 calls. Police should handle violent crimes and felony-related offenses,

leaving domestic issues to social workers and minor offenses to community reform systems

(Sawyer & Wagner, 2020). Ideally, the escalation of offenses to police jurisdiction should only

occur when it endangers the public or poses a significant risk for the individuals involved.

Policies curtailing crime should advocate for less aggressive measures from police when dealing

with offenders involved in minor drug-related offenses, which contribute significantly to the

growing prison population.

The next recommendation is to have mandatory sentences reduced for minor offenses. In

most cases, police officers make traffic stops and arrest the offender for pretextual crimes based

on an initial minor infraction. Prosecutors are also responsible for the majority of outcomes

within the judicial system. Therefore, it is the role of prosecutors to recognize which cases

should be a priority and which sentences will be meaningful towards rectifying behavior (Sawyer

& Wagner, 2020). Ideally, opting not to prosecute some misdemeanor cases has been shown to

impact offenders avoiding those crimes positively. Mass incarceration can be deterred by

ensuring that people are aware of their obligation to society and how crime influences the

negative statistics.

Another useful approach is for the government to improve parenting through social

responsibility programs. Developing responsible citizens promotes a law-abiding society and

eliminates the need to have stringent prison and judicial systems. It is also recommended that

alternative correctional methods be used while eliminating restrictive measures like bail

requirements (Zatz, 2021). Ideally, bail leads to higher prison and jail populations because

people who cannot afford the excessive fees are forced to reside in these facilities pending the

hearing and determination of their cases. Alternative correctional methods, including

noncustodial sanctions that limit freedoms while respecting individual freedoms, can benefit

prisoners. These strategies can include house arrest, committing people to serve those they

offended, fines, and restitution where damage has occurred.

Policies should be engineered to eliminate the need to push for strict sentences while

curbing violent crimes. Human rights considerations should focus on prisons because only

liberty is denied, but access to other fundamental rights remains. Therefore, considerations have

to be made to ensure that people still have access to health services. However, a policy should be
MASS INCARCERATION AND POLITICS 14

adopted to release people who have served 50 years to ensure cases of congestion are reduced in

correctional facilities (Beckett, 2018). Additionally, while reducing prison populations, this

policy will alleviate the need to offer private contracts for prison facilities. The government is

liable for its citizens, and the privatization of correction services leads to a shared process for

reforming offenders that do not work for all crimes.

Therefore, the prison system must develop a wholesome approach to conducting reforms

for incarcerated people. Failure to educate and reform prisoners accounts for high recidivism

rates, which impacts the efforts to curb mass incarceration. Systems must have political backing

from bipartisan players to ensure they are successfully implemented while promoting the

improvement of society (Zatz, 2021). Mass incarceration continues to be a significant issue that

should be addressed. Political influence has played a crucial role in creating this problem and

will be the best approach to resolving it. Therefore, all stakeholders have to work together

towards alleviating mass incarceration and associated issues.

 
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Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 6(1), 271-274.

Appleman, L. I. (2020). The treatment-industrial complex: Alternative corrections, private prison

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