Research Paper on Criminal Justice

Prison Reform: Past, Present, and Understanding

Article Topic Proposal

After completing this week’s assignment of the article review, I realized just how many caveats are still misunderstood with prison reform. For example, access to mental health care, human rights violations as it relates to their ability to appeal the administration’s decision, and the overworked public defenders who are obligated to more cases then they can carry. This all impacts the ability for the mass incarceration rate to be greatly impacted. During my reading of the article titled Ending Mass Incarceration is a Moral Imperative (2014) and the Peak (2016) text, I found that the population has decreased. However, it is not substantial enough and overcrowded prisons continue to pose health, safety, and community risks. Many prisons are for-profits; these organizations are more concerned with full beds than level of care being provided. I am requesting to continue to research this topic because it greatly interested me. Prison reform is a large pill to swallow so I hope that I can focus on discussing the large-scale problems of the criminal justice administration system.

References Peak, K. J. (2016). Justice administration: Police, courts, and corrections management (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 9780133591194. Simon, J. (2014). Ending mass incarceration is a moral imperative. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 26(4), 271-275. doi:10.1525/fsr.2014.26.4.271. Retrieved from www-jstor- org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/stable/pdf/10.1525/fsr.2014.26.4.271.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A92510b493bef1108a8f947391bf7dc38