CCJS432 Final Essay - 1650 Words

CCJS432 Final Essay (Essay Sample) Content: CCJS432 FinalNameInstitutional AffiliationOverviewHeading and IntroductionA correctional facility is structured to be an avenue through which inmates can use the vast amount of time on their hands to try and correct their deviant behavior, and to become better citizens of the society. In these facilities, one of the longest-serving traditions that has also kept many inmates grounded in the belief that the system does work is the ability to communicate with their loved ones through mail (Neubauer Fradella, 2012). In essence, the mail system is the lifeline of any normal-functioning correctional facility. Attempting to replace this system with a less efficient one is in itself a suicide mission, and one that has detrimental effects on correctional facilities as institutions and as systems of change in society.IssuesThere are a number of pertinent issues that are raised through the change of the mailing system at the correctional facility. The first and most pressing is the shadowing of the First Amendment by this system. The First Amendment guarantees every American citizen, inmate or not, their freedom of assembly, religion, right to petition and expression. Going against this Amendment is, in essence, going against the constitution of the USA. The second issue in this change is the infringement on an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s right to privacy. The fact that they are inmates does not mean they are no longer human beings that are entitled to their right to privacy. This also needs to be critically resolved.The matter of indigence is also a critical issue within the correctional facility. The establishment of laws that seek to serve the indigent in a different manner, while still promoting the feigning of indigence also needs to be intricately assessed. Last but not least, the increased presence of contraband within the correctional facility has reached alarming levels. There is a deep need to develop and maintain a system that works to eradicate con traband and prevent further entry into the facility, while still maintaining the First Amendment guarantees of the inmates as enshrined within the constitution (Delaney, 2004).Brief AnswerThe majority of the issues that the correctional facility faces are legal issues, and which need to be addressed. It is necessary to address and solve these issues in a manner that does not contradict the constitution, but still ensures that correctional facilities exist to serve their purpose in society-correction and rehabilitation.DetailStatement of FactsIt is a fact that even as inmates, individuals are guaranteed the freedom of speech, expression and right to petition. This is evidenced by the single fact that before being an inmate, an individual is first a citizen of the USA. As such, the constitution exists to protect them, whether they are incarcerated or not. Being of the tenets that helps inmates actually correct their deviant behavior, mailing needs to be awarded the special attention t hat it demands.Consequently, one cannot simply go ahead and change the entire mailing system (which was considered intimate and private) into a postcard system. It is essential to streamline the mailing system of the facility, not eradicate it completely. It is also extremely essential that all inmates are treated equally at the facility, regardless of their social status outside of the facilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s walls. Therefore, establishing criteria that define indigence essentially renders the indigent inmates a "special group" within the facility. This is a contradiction of the constitution.DiscussionThe mailing system is the lifeline of communication between the correctional facility and the outside world. It is the avenue through which the inmates communicate with their loved ones and the world in general. Communication, just like many things, is an intimate affair that requires plenty of privacy. It is for this reason that the initial mailing system existed. However, the recent su rges in contraband within the prison have fuelled the need to replace the ailing mailing system.Needless to say, this does not provide a permanent solution to the process. This standpoint is supported by two reasons: First, chopping off a head does not cure a headache. It is imprudent to eradicate a system that has and continues to work well in many areas over many years because some individuals have found ways to bypass the system. Rather than replacing the letter system, it would be wise to correct the issues that make this system inefficient. For instance, introducing scanners that can be used to vet mail received would go a long way towards returning the system to its previous glory. Secondly, the First and Fourth Amendments are explicitly clear when it comes to matters of expression and privacy. Being asked to communicate intimate details about oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s life such as family and personal affairs is a contradiction of the right to privacy and the freedom of expression.In te rms of privacy, an individual (an inmate in this case) is denied the privacy of communication with friends, relatives and even family. Because of this, they lose their constitutionally protected right to having private matters remain private. On the matter of expression, a postcard limits the expression of an individual to great lengths, seeing that it can be read by anyone. Because of this, an individual is denied the opportunity to freely express themselves, based on the technicality that contraband levels within the facility are getting very high. The need to eradicate contraband within the correctional facility doe not outweigh the privacy and freedom of expression that an individual is entitled to.Contraband within correctional facilities cannot be tolerated as well. However, changing to a postcard system does not do the trick. Contraband only requires that letters and envelopes are searched more carefully to ensure that they do not contain any contraband. In addition to this, letters can also be checked for hidden codes more thoroughly, to prevent the passage of contraband through third parties already on some criminalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ payrolls.Investing in better technology to improve on and build capacity for efficient service delivery works extremely well for the control of contraband. For this, it is rather obvious that it can be achieved without replacing the traditional letter system.Indigence is not an option that would lure millions of individuals into pursuing. In this light, indigence within correctional facilities seems to be more compulsory than it is optional. Because of this, establishing a set of criteria that must be met to determine indigence within the facilities works to discredit the correctional facility not only for this decision, but also as an institution (Dershowitz, 1996).The right to a lawyer and the court of law is also a fundamental need for every free individual. This is because it provides the ordinary individuals, inmates inclu ded, the opportunity and ability to pursue a legal process and hope to achieve success through this same process. By having postcards as the preferred object of writing, then client-attorney confidentiality is compromised, since an attorney would be unable to converse with their client without having other individuals "join" in the conversation (Neubauer Fradella, 2012). It is for this reason that postcards are very inefficient as the sole mode of communication with inmates in this correctional facility.In addition to this, inmates also stand the possibility of being subjected to high levels of harassment. Having prison guards, wardens and other staff have direct access to the intricacies and details of oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s life based on communication to and from oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s family is an infringement on their right to expression and privacy, as ...