Prison Term Policy Proposal

Prison Term Policy Proposal

LaMonica Easterling

314

August 29, 2016

Gregory McClelland

Prison Term Policy Proposal

        Prison Term Policy Proposals can have some good and bad advantages. They are put in place to deter more crime, put they may actually increase the crime rate of a certain offense. Proposals are sometimes but in to place to make the legislative look good when in fact they have not thought things through entirely.

        As I look at the proposal for the bill that would double the maximum prison term for anyone convicted if armed robbery. I see a few flaws, and then there are some positives to the bill being passed. Me, myself would not try to pass a bill as such. If things go sideways, there could be a lot of backlash from both ends of the deal. Families of the convicted party will find the bill cruel and unjust and there will more than likely be more appeals coming to court and that would mean more caseloads for attorney on top of the work that they already have to finish and bring back to court.

        The objective of the bill would be to serve as a deterrent for armed robbery in hopes of cutting back on the crime as a whole. The message is to try to cease the crime by letting the offender know that this will not be tolerated and you will get the harshest possible sentence that you can get. The problem with this is although it sounds good will it in fact do what it is put in place to do or is it just to make the politicians whom are making this bill look good. A down fall of this proposed bill would be the fact that it would violate one’s 8th Amendment right which is being free form cruel and unjust punishment. So once again once that right is violated, that leaves the state open for a lawsuit. Also, if the person is incarcerated for a long time, when they get out get out they are more than likely to commit the same offenses as before. Most people try to prove to themselves once caught, the next time I do this I can do it better in hopes of not being caught.

        The possible goals of this bill, would be that it would scare most criminal into thinking twice before committing the crime of armed robbery, due the amount of time that they would receive. The amount of crime would surely decrease within the state. The victim might begin to feel more safe than they did before. Armed robbery is a scary traumatic event for the victim. The feeling of safety and security is a positive look. This bill would also help with some of the overcrowding that is going on in the prison settings. Criminals also dislike the fact of the overcrowded prisons because they have to sleep on the floor, with risks of spider and bug bites, if they are near a wooded area there are bound to be snakes that can enter the buildings as well.