Camille Rosales

ENG 123
Prof. Fisher
Fall 2015
18 October 2015
Transitioning Out of Mass Incarceration
In the United States, there are 2.2 million people behind bars, making the United States
the worlds leader in the incarceration rate. Of the 2.2 million people in prison, about one-quarter
million of the people incarcerated were convicted of drug crimes (Harrison). There were many
contributing factors to this event, but the war on drugs seemed to play the main role. After
researching many possible solutions to end mass incarceration, one reform seemed to be morally
just. Mass incarceration is a serious problem in the United States because of those who have
contributed to the war on drugs, and the incarceration rate can be reduced through halfway
houses to reduce the recidivism rate.
The Issue of Mass Incarceration
Over the past forty years, the incarceration rate has increased tremendously. Mass
incarceration does not only affect prisoners and their families, but it affects taxpayers, voters and
politicians. President Obama spoke at the NAACP conference in Philadelphia on July 14, 2015
and stated, The United States is home to five percent of the worlds population, but twenty-five
percent of the worlds prisoners (Obama). This statistic makes to United States the worlds
highest incarcerator, but the incarceration rate has not always been this high. According to the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, between the years 1925 to the middle of the 1970s, the incarceration
rate did not exceed 140 prisoners for every 100,000 of the population. From the years 1974 to
1985, there was a dramatic increase in the prison population by 7.4 percent (Cox). The increase
was caused by law enforcement officials to become tougher on crime, which meant people who

convicted non-violent crimes were still sentenced with a heavy sentence. This is only the
beginning.
The History of Mass Incarceration
In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, because he believed that
drugs were the number one enemy to the United States. Nixon believed the war on drugs was
necessary because it took an individuals inability to cope with personal issues and because of
the soldiers who were addicted to drugs during the Vietnam War (Dufton). The war on drugs
contributed to mass incarceration of non-violent offenders and racial profiling of criminals who
participated in using recreational drugs. In Nixons eyes, by incarcerating drug addicts it would
be for the nations benefit, because it was a moral solution.
President Nixon was not the only one involved with causing mass incarceration, but so
was former President Ronald Reagan. In 1986, President Reagan enhanced Nixons war on drugs
by signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The act established mandatory minimum sentences, which
was served when a person committed a certain crime. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug
offenses varied depending on how much of the substance is possessed. For example, a drug
offender could have possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine and be sent to prison for five
years without parole and a drug offender could have possession of five grams of crack cocaine
and would get the same sentence (ALCU). According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the
price of crack cocaine was lower in cost and was more accessible to poor people, of who were
African Americans, whereas powder cocaine is much more expensive and was used more by
white Americans. In a 2013 study called Why are so many Americans in Prison? Berkley and
UCLA professors of policy, Steven Raphael and Michael Stoll, discovered the incarceration rate
increased by twenty percent due to the war on drugs (Wilkinson).

On July 15, 2015 former President Bill Clinton spoke at the NAACP meeting in
Philadelphia admitted he made the nations criminal justice system worse. In 1994, President
Clinton signed the Three-Strikes Law, which put criminals away for twenty-five years to life to
convicts who were convicted of two prior felonies. Clinton stated The good news is we had the
biggest drop in crime history. The bad news is we had a lot of people who were locked up, who
were minor actors, for way too long (Clinton). Not only did this bill increase the number of
people who were in prison, but increased the number of law enforcement on the streets. After
funding all the people in the prisons and law enforcement, there was not enough money to
educate the prisoners or offer them job training, so when they were released from prison they
would live a more productive life.
As of the year 2013, the war on drugs had still not stopped. The Obama administration
requested $25.6 billion in federal spending towards the war on drugs, and $15 billion went the
law enforcement, interdiction and international efforts (Sledge). According to the Drug Policy
alliance, over the past forty years, American tax payers have spent $1 trillion on the war on drugs
(Sledge). In April 2015, President Obama spoke about the negative effects of the war on drugs at
a town hall meeting at the University of the West Indies. Obama specifically stated You have
young people who did not engage in violence who get very long penalties, who get placed in
prison and then are rendered economically unemployable, are almost pushed into the
underground economy, learn crime more effectively in prison families are devastated. So its
been very unproductive (Obama). In his eyes, mandatory minimums for the drug offenders who
are in prison should not have to serve that sentence, but there should be another way to help
these offenders, yet keep them from being behind bars. Keeping drug offenders behind bars is

not stopping the drug issue; it is only postponing it, because the offenders are not getting the
proper help they need.
In the year 1896, Maud Ballington Booth opened the first United States Halfway House.
The Volunteers of America were co-founders of the first Halfway Houses in the United States,
and they tried to use halfway houses as a prison reform. Hope Hall No. 1 opened as a privately
owned half house in New York, and then followed by Hope Hall No. 2 in Chicago (Ford-Martin).
The Halfway Houses were used more for criminals who had been convicted of minor crimes.
These halls were used to reestablish convicts who had been released back out into the
community. They also helped them get jobs and to rehabilitate them if the convict served a
longer sentence. Once states started to adopt the parole polices, the use for the Hope Hall
facilities decreased, but after World War II, they experience a brief increase in popularity (FordMartin). Hope Hall facilities are still operating alongside of the states correctional facilities
today.
Advocacy
A group called Families Against Mandatory Minimums, or FAMM, argue that not all
criminals need to be put in prisons for the crimes they commit. FAMM believes in alternatives to
incarceration especially when it comes to nonviolent crimes. Their main goals are to lessen the
overcrowded prisons and to prevent excessive incarceration, by providing programs to reduce
crime and recidivism. Recidivism is the act of a person repeating or relapsing into criminal
behavior after they have experienced negative consequences, or punishment, of that particular
behavior (Stine). By offering transitional programs, it will give prisoners another chance to
start their lives over and it will keep the extra bodies out of prison and re-entering prison.
Halfway houses would be a great contributor to reducing the recidivism rate because of the job,
rehabilitation, family and educational programs they offer.

Transitioning from prison back into society offers many struggles, but with the help of
halfway houses can assist in the transition. According to Jody Klein-Saffran, who works with the
Federal Bureau of Prisons, argues that having prisoners move into halfway houses during their
transitional period from incarceration to freedom will help reduce the population rate. The
purpose of halfway houses is to give an inmate less structure and they are encouraged to
reestablish the loose ends they have with their families. Halfway houses have strict rules such as
not drinking alcohol or taking drugs, following curfew, and before leaving the halfway house the
proper program requirements must be fulfilled. This will not only decrease the incarceration rate
because it will reduce the chances of offenders getting put back into prison, but it will make the
transition back into society much easier.
Not only do halfway houses assist in prisoner transition to the real from the prison world,
but they offer different types of services to help them get on their feet. According to the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, their most recent study states that 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners were
released in thirty states in 2005 (Harrison). Within three years of being released, 66.7 percent of
drug offenders recommitted the same crime (BJS Reentry Trends In the U.S). This happens
mostly to ex-convicts who do not have the proper help they need, such as not having a job. Not
being able to get a job is one of the main reasons ex-convicts turn back into convicts.
One of the many services halfway houses offer are job-training programs. Inmates who
participate in job-training programs are 10.1 percent less likely to be put back in prison than
inmates who did not participate (Jones). The Salvation Army has served as a halfway house for
former prisoners who have committed minor felonies, such as drug abuse violations, property
crimes, burglary and other non-violent crimes. The Salvation Army offer work-release programs
that give offenders the opportunity to participate in community service as an alternative to

incarceration or in their last months of incarceration. According to the Administrative Office of

U.S Courts, fifty percent of inmates who have not received transitional help could not keep a job
(Ex-Offender Re-Entry Initiative). If an offender cannot get a job, they could potentially be in
violation to the parole, which could then land the offender back into prison.
Another service that halfway houses offer to convicts is rehabilitation services. Inmates
who have completed rehabilitation programs are 13.2 percent less likely to recidivate than those
who do not complete a program (Jones). Delancey Street is a self-funded rehabilitation center
which offers programs designed to overcome re-entry into the prison system. The main goal of
this facility is to attack an inmates problem before it gets too far and gives offenders the chance
to confront their wrongs and bring them closure to their old lifestyle. Another step that is taken in
this rehabilitation process is ex-offenders are forced to see how their crimes have affected not
only them, but their families. The reason why it is important for an offender to reconnect with
their families is because they need the emotional support. Once ex-offender paroles, it is required
for them to have a steady address, if they are not put into a halfway house or cannot depend on
their family to take them back into their home, ex-offenders could be put back into prison.
Alongside of job programs and rehabilitation services provided by halfway houses,
another important service that is offered is educational services. Inmates who participate in
getting their GED or other education programs are 8.7 percent less likely to recidivate than those
who do not complete a program (Jones).
Halfway Houses vs. Electronic Monitoring
Opposing halfway houses as a way to reduce mass incarceration is called electronic
monitoring, or EM has been argued to be more effective. Electronic monitoring has been used by
the criminal justice system to supervise offenders who need to follow a strict curfew and can be
used for an offender to spend the rest of their sentence under house arrest (Kilgore). The most

common electronic device that is used for EM is usually and ankle bracelet with a GPS tracker
inserted and it is linked to an electronic box set up in an offenders home. If they exceed their
allotted radius, then their information is sent to the authorities through a land line telephone. The
supporters of the ankle bracelet argue that it is cheaper for a prisoner to use EM than it would be
to send someone to prison. The main goal of EM is to make sure offenders stay within the terms
of supervision, track offenders, to protect the public and to decrease the chances of offenders of
re-entering prison.
Electronic monitoring seems like such simple solution to not only keep crime off the
street for public safety, but it could keep fewer bodies out of prison. James Kilgore, a research
scholar, argues that electronic monitoring is not going to work to end mass incarceration. A
contributing factor to his argument is that the system has too many glitches. In October 2010, BI
Incorporated, the United States largest EM provider, was cut off for twelve hours due to
information overload, leaving 16,000 people unmonitored (Kilgore). Another flaw Kilgore
discovered is that even though EM may save money or corrections department but it is more
expensive for the offender or their family
Using electronic monitoring as an alternative to prison, but halfway houses are more
beneficial. The services they offer will better the offender with the proper help and care. Those
who use electronic monitoring do not get the proper help, but they are left to fend for themselves
with no transitional assistance. Through job training, rehabilitation educational and family
services, an ex-offender will be more successful to live a more productive life. It was proven that
those who completed EM were not able to keep a continuous job, whereas those who completed
their stay in a halfway house were employed for longer periods of time (Klein-Saffran). Those

who were employed longer where able to earn money and this makes an ex-offender less likely
to recidivate (Klein-Saffran).
Faith Integration
After researching transitional programs, they seem to be an effective way to keep
prisoners out of prison. People who have committed drug crimes have the reputation of being
dangerous people, but it is more likely they are not violent. Prisoners who have been put away
need help to get their lives on track and that is where that is why Christians should pay attention
to these kinds of offenders. Mark Olser, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas,
believes Christians should care about mass incarceration because violates the rule of compassion
and mercy. The Mandatory Minimums are unjust and this does not agree with the teachings of
Jesus. Matthew 22:39 says And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. The
inmates in prison may have made poor decisions in their past, but all they need is someone to
love them and know they are forgiven.
All in all, mass incarceration has been an evolving problem and the United States due to
the war on drugs and halfway houses can decrease the incarceration rate. Former Presidents
Nixon, Reagan and Clinton were the main contributors to the war on drugs. They all had the
mutual idea of getting tough on crime by trying to eliminate crime off the streets without
realizing they were increasing the incarceration rate. Halfway houses can play an important role
in reducing the recidivism rate and the incarceration rate. Job-training, rehabilitation and
educational programs offered by halfway houses can not only reduce the recidivism rate, but it
gives ex-offenders a second chance to make their lives productive.

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