Jails and prison

Jails are always overlooked, but they play a very important role in our justice system. The jails is the oldest of all of the correctional components, and have several missions and roles to play in our justice system. Jails have been around since 1166. the first jail was established in England, and was used to detained filthy, poor, and individuals with medical attention. John Howard drafted the penitentiary act of 1779 with the assistance of English house if commons. This act added four requirements for the English jails and prisons: it allowed sanitary and secure structure to be built, allowed for systematic inspections to be made on the detainees, allowed for the abolition of fees charged to the inmates and created a reformatory regime, and it also detailed that inmates were to be fed proper diet. Our jail systems are a short time confinement. Where the inmates are awaiting trial, and sentencing. It is often run by sheriffs or local government officials. As to where our prisons are operated by federal governments, and house inmates anywhere from one year to life, depending on the crime. Jails try and work with specialized services and boot camp, work release programs. Where the state prisons use halfway houses, community restitution centers, the penitentiary was secular and spiritual; and physical punishment is not needed, living conditions are cleaner, body contamination was cut down because inmates have been separated. Such as putting them in isolation and to create habits by enforcing strict rules. Labor was productive from prisoners, because they were not aloud to sit around. The secular prison is where inmates can feel regret, a meeting for religious need for expressing contrition for sin, including a place of penitence or penance; expressing remorse and regret of their crimes. Jails and prisons are a major part in the criminal justice system. They both provide a sense of security to law abiding citizens and keep criminals off the streets. There are four types of prisons and each serve for a different purpose and house criminal based on their threat to themselves and others around them. Depending on the crime committed the offender may do their time in jail, a state or federal prison, or a administrative facilities, there are also prison facilities for women. When an inmate is sentenced to prison they may be assigned toa minimum, medium or maximum security institution depending on their perceived dangerousness, escape risk and the type of offense (Seiter, 2011). Jails are operated as short-term confinement facilities that were originally built to hold suspects following arrest and those that are pending trial. In our society today jail’s serve an even greater purpose and plays an important role such as, housing inmates for federal, state or other authorities because of overcrowding in their facilities, hold inmates sentenced to short terms (generally less than one year). Jails temporarily detain juveniles, mentally ill. Jails also operate community-based programs with day reporting, home detention, electronic monitoring or other types of supervision (Seiter, 2011). Jails and prisons are alike because they house criminals so that they cannot commit further criminal activity. If there were no jails what would our society do with the overcrowding issues that are going on with the prison facilities and now that more prison inmates are sent to jails, the jails are being overcrowded. The importance of jail is a must to keep prison’s afloat. The prison as known as a total institution and is a concept with one of the punishment. Even though, the prisons did not started out in US this way. “ The Quakers ran the first prison in Philadelphia, their idea was to give offenders an opportunity to make amends with society and accept responsibility for their crimes. The Quakers philosophy on incarceration was rehabilitation and deterrence. ” (Seiter, 2011) Many new ideas have been tried or either considered failed or too costly so now the concept of prison result into no tolerance are the answer that as a society we have come up with. Eventually, when society looks back at us from where they stand, they can see our mistakes and will not repeat them. We see more than ever prisons being built in the United States. “ The Federal Bureau of Prisons was established in 1930 to provide progressive and humane care for Federal inmates, to professionalize the prison service, and to ensure consistent and centralized administration of Federal prisons” (“ Bureau Of Justice statistics”, 2012). “ The United States now has 1. 6 million people behind bars, three times the number in 1980, and 3. 5 million more on probation and parole. In the course of a year, there are 12 million admissions to secure facilities” (” Bureau Of Justice Statistics “, 2012). Prisons and jails hold some similar characteristics but are completely different models in which they serve in the criminal justice system. Some of the types of crimes that America faces today are: violent crimes, property, white collar or organized crime, and public order crimes (Worrall, 2008). The criminal justice system sets the regulations and policies of how an offender will be held accountable for their inappropriate actions. The criminal justice system is a process that takes time and money from society. The following information will briefly discuss the main purposes for the jail and prison systems, which will focus on the length of sentencing, funding sources, and private sector ownership. Let’s begin by explaining the length of sentencing of both criminal justice systems. The Federal prisons are somewhat different from the state prisons. State and federal prisoner populations vary from the jail inmate population in terms of convictions, offense distribution, and length of stay. Jails and prisons are part of the justice system as well as the society we will live. The jail and prison may not be perfect but it does help keep the criminals away from the society. References Bureau of justice statistics .(2012). Retrieved from http://www. bjs. gov/index. cfm? ty= tp&tid= 11 Richard P. Seiter. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction. Retrieved from Richard P. CJA/234 website. Worrall, J. L. (2008). Crime Control in America. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon