Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

The Prison System

In chapter 12 we learned that prisons are punishments; the loss of freedom for offenders. The
Great Penitentiary Rivalry: “Pennsylvania versus New York they emerged a debate over the most
effective way to run a prison.” (Criminal Justice in Action, pg.314)   In Pennsylvania System inmates were
kept separate from each other at all times, with daily activities taking place in individual cells. In New
York System, inmates were kept in separate cells during the night but worked together in the daytime
under a code of enforced silence. The New York’s penitentiaries were cheaper to build because they did
not require so much space.
Both states wanted to find a way to fix the problem with overcrowded prisons. There are
different types of prisons that are in use today. They include maximum security prisons, medium
security prisons and minimum security prisons. The designs of the prisons from the New York and
Pennsylvania rivalries have carried over into some of our prison systems that we use today.
Prisons today are hugely expensive and at the same time very profitable. The cost is public cost
and the profits are private profits. Privatizing prisons would save the government money. The prison-
industrial complex is a state of mind. Private prisons are less expensive to run, while public prisons are
more costly to operate. “The wages of public employee’s accounts for two-thirds of a prison’s operating
expenses.”(Criminal Justice in Action, pg.324) Labor costs are extremely lower on private prisons. Private
prisons are capable of buying goods at the lowest possible prices. Publicly funded prisons are supported
by tax dollars. State employee benefits are received. The state pays a prison to take care of the prisoners
in their facility.
Prisons are able to hold larger groups of individuals for many years. The larger groups produce
tension and violence among the inmates. You’re in a place filled with convicted...