Alternative Sentencing: Money Well Spent Essay -- Criminal Justice

Florida is losing the war on do drugss though financial attrition. The economic impact of substance abuse in Florida is estimated to be roughly 6% of the put ins gross domestic harvest-feast (Miami 20). One contributor is the myopic view by a discriminative organization that chooses to impose harsh criminal penalties, including incarceration, on non-violent offenders with minor obstinance charges. Increasing budgetary constraints, leading to fewer available resources, contrast raspingly with the rapidly growing substance abuse. In 2009, statewide drug convictions change magnitude by 5.9%, while state and federal funding towards alternative-sentencing programs decreased by 5.8% (Families 3 interior(a) amount of money). Currently Florida has more than 20,000 inmates in prison and an excess 60,000 in jail for assorted drug charges, a large piece of land for crimes involving minor possession or simple purchasing (Families 2). The fiscally intelligent response to non-violent offenders supercharged with minor possession is not the judicial systems traditional approach, but rather utilizing alternative-sentencing programs such as drug court. In 1982, as a result of pressure to avoid federal sanctions, Florida enacted mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenders (TASC 4). Within 18 months, as thousands of offenders were charged with simple purchasing or possession of controlled substances, federal and state courts were right away overwhelmed. The growing number of incarcerated drug offenders tripled over the next decade causation prisons and jails to suffer from overcrowding (National TASC 6). With federal and state budgets stretched dangerously thin, Florida legislature quickly passed state statutes allowing judges to discharge simple purchase and possession charges after th... ... 03 April 2012.Florida. executive Office of the Governor. Directory of DCF Funded Adolescent SubstanceAbuse Treatment Programs. Tallahassee administrator Office of the Governor, 2009. Print.Florida. Supreme Court Task Force on Treatment-Based drug Courts. Report on Floridas do drugs Courts. Tallahassee Office of the call forth Courts Administrator, 2009. Print.Miami Behavioral Health Center. The Annual Economic Impact of Alcohol and Drug Use in Florida. Miami Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, 2009. Print.National Center for State Courts. Budget Resource Center. www.ncsconline.org. NationalCenter for State Courts, n.d. Web. 03 April 2012National TASC. Considering Public Safety The TASC Abilities. Alexandria Office of Justice,Programs, n.d. Print.TASC. Clinical Case Management Model. upper-case letter D.C. N.p. n.p. 2011. Print.