Assignment 16 - Ava Nielsen

“I sentence you to a term of natural life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole.”

These were the words spoken to Craig Cesal eighteen years ago, shortly after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Cesal unknowingly became linked to the conspiracy by his truck repair businesses’ participation in repairing semi trucks for a company that was trafficking drugs. Cesal, despite never having been accused of the sale or purchase of marijuana, was sentenced to life in prison for these charges-- and such is the case for over 2000 other federal prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent drug offenses. 

The Prison Policy Initiative reports that, as of 2017, one in five incarcerated people faced a drug charge. Of those people, 456,000 were held for a nonviolent drug charge, including possession. The incarceration of people with a nonviolent drug offense almost certainly does more harm than good. This is demonstrated by the U.S. prison system- While the United States represents around 4.4 percent of the world's population, it houses about 22 percent of the world's prisoners, a large portion of these being people facing drug charges. This is a rate higher than that of any other country in the world. While this issue can be attributed to several factors, a major contributor is the lack of assistance offered to drug addicts while incarcerated. The United States, unlike some European countries, does not have an active drug rehabilitation program offered to prisoners. Programs would include assistance by professionals to prisoners in order to help overcome drug addictions. Another aspect of the growing U.S. prison population is the distribution of life sentences. People like Cesal are often sentenced to life without parole-even despite the often nonviolent nature of the drug charges. Drug offenders should be offered access to rehabilitation and recovery programs while in prison as a means to overcome drug addiction and lower reoffense rates, and nonviolent drug charges should not elicit a life sentence.

These changes would yield enough influence to drastically affect the American prison system - particularly the current rates of recidivism. Recidivism is defined as “the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend.” Currently, rates of recidivism in the U.S. are incredibly high--The Bureau of Justice statistics reported that 76.9 percent of drug offenders released in 2005 were rearrested within five years, and nearly half of those within the first year of release. Nearly all of these cases had one thing in common- they were not offered rehab in prison, and were consequently left with drug addictions after being released- making them all the more susceptible to drug abuse and further drug charges. This proves that recovery programs would assist a great deal in the reduction of drug offenses as well as the reduction of rates of recidivism amongst those with criminal drug charges.

In addition, the repeal of life sentences for those convicted of drug charges would greatly benefit prisoners-- they could much sooner return to their families, get jobs, and, with the help of prison rehabilitation programs, get their lives back on track and avoid any future drug convictions, in turn lowering the likelihood that they return to prison with additional charges.

In conclusion, the availability of recovery and rehabilitation programs while in prison is vital to the reduction of recidivism. Programs like these would help both the wellbeing of prisoners before an after release, in addition to lowering criminal drug offense rates in the United States. Repealing the distribution of life sentences would also benefit former convicts and help them sooner return to society as productive citizens.

Bibliography

Gilligan, James. “Prison Could Be Productive.” The New York Times, The New York Times

Company, 19 Dec. 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/18/prison- could-be-productive/punishment-fails-rehabilitation-works.

“Rehab vs. Prison: What Research Shows Is More Effective.” Oxford Treatment Center,

American Addiction Centers, 17 Jan. 2019, www.oxfordtreatment.com/rehab-vs-prison/.

Slifer, Stephanie. “Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal?” CBS News, CBS Interactive Inc., 23

Apr. 2014, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/once-a-criminal-always-a-criminal/.

“The Growing Problems of the Prison System.” American Friends Service Committee, 28 Jan.

2016, https://www.afsc.org/story/growing-problems-prison-system.