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Overcrowding Of Prisons And Its Effects On Video

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Illinois still sends too many people to prison - and gives too many people felony records that follow Efcects for life - for crimes that are often just the symptoms of poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Like a young woman in Chi cago, who had her dreams of a career in medicine dashed after pleading guilty to simple drug possession. Or a teenager facing the prospect of prison after being caught stealing a winter coat from a Target store. Even after a person finishes their sentence, having a felony record means that they will continue to face severe stigma, including numerous restrictions on access to employment, housing, education, and other crucial resources.

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These consequences are concentrated in segregated low-income neighborhoods, further deepening the existing patterns of inequality and disinvestment. Over the past three decades, at least 1. Many of these Illinoisans became entangled in the criminal legal system as a result of possessing small amounts of drugs or for property offenses like shoplifting—crimes often related to addiction and other mental health issues.

From to alone, more than 5, people went to prison in Illinois for low-level thefts that would be categorized as misdemeanors in most other states.

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During this time, about 20, people were convicted of felonies for small-scale drug possession in Illinois, with more 7, going to prison. But Illinois jails and prisons are not treatment centers. Police, prosecutors, and judges are fundamentally ill-equipped to manage complex health conditions. Even the most well-intentioned people working in criminal courts and correctional facilities usually lack the training, support, and resources to Effefts respond to the specific needs of people with substance use disorders and other mental health issues.

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Among people in Illinois jails and prisons, it is estimated that only 17 percent of those in need of clinical treatment services actually receive those services during their incarceration. While these numbers are abysmal, they are consistent with national averages.

Incarceration ultimately Overcroowding the health outcomes of individuals who are at increased risk of death from overdose and suicide after their release. When people are already struggling with an addiction or health issues, the experience of going to jail only further destabilizes their lives, exacerbates the economic pressures they face, and stigmatizes them as criminals for life. Incarceration also places stress on entire families and traumatizes children by taking their parents out of the home.

Incarcerated women are more likely to have been convicted of a low-level offense than their male counterparts and are also more likely than men to have been convicted of drug crimes: 30 percent vs. Of the approximately 2, women imprisoned in Illinois, about 80 percent Ovvercrowding mothers and approximately 65 percent of their children are minors. To reduce the number of people who become entangled in the legal system because of poverty and untreated health conditions, we must first start by ending the failed War on Drugs.]