Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Prisons are Populated by the Wrong Offenders
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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper examines the issues of overpopulation and mandatory minimums. The thesis is that the prisons contain a lot of nonviolent offenders but violent offenders walk the streets.
Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA650pri.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
is a generalization, but the gist of the complaint is true. There are many offenders in prison who do not belong there while the truly violent offenders are out and
about. This results largely from mandatory drug laws which see otherwise law abiding citizens receiving punishment. At least, that is how it appears on the surface, but what is the
reality of the prison system? Is it fair, or are there an inordinate number of people in prison who do not deserve to be there simply due to unjust laws
while violent criminals get away with murder? First, is it really true that the prisons are clogged with non-violent criminals, or is that just a myth to try to initiate
change? Kopel (1995) writes: "THE AMOUNT of money that taxpayers spend on prisons never has been greater, and the percentage of the population incarcerated has tripled during the last 15
years, as has national prison capacity. Yet, the expected punishment of violent criminals has declined, and crime flourishes at intolerably high levels" . The author does blame the drug laws
but also notes that other crimes that carry mandatory minimums are similarly unfair and lead to overpopulation in the prisons with non-violent offenders (Kopel, 1995). Another article supports the
notion that the majority of offenders in prison are not violent ("Crime," 1998). There does seem to be a case to be made for the notion that prisons contain many
people who have done nothing violent. They could conceivably pay for their crimes in other ways as opposed to crowding prisons. There is much discussion about the mandatory minimums,
but they were designed for a reason and that should be taken into consideration. Scuro (2004) explains: "Structured sentencing, mandatory sentencing, and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have all been utilized
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