America has taken steps to ensure that crimes do not go unnoticed or unpunished. This has led to an increase in the number of people who have been incarcerated. In recent years those who are incarcerated come from all races, religions, genders and even social classes. The United States puts more people behind bars than any other country in the world. America needs to look for ways to reduce incarceration rates, there are too many people going to prison for too long for no good reason. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Mass incarceration is a forced deprivation of liberty and individual liberties and rights, resulting in overpopulated jails and prisons. America leads other countries in incarceration rates. In the world, America has the largest prison population in terms of percentage of the total population and number of inmates. High incarceration rates inflict many unnecessary costs on society, impacting the lives of individuals, families, and communities. Crime rates themselves have decreased, but they still pose a threat to the American economy. The cost of incarceration alone hurts the economy. One city paid $168,000 a year for an inmate, and the average annual cost to taxpayers was $31,286. Social costs are also an issue, whether victimization costs or intangible costs. America's war on drugs appears to play a major role in incarceration rates. There are strict laws that put non-violent drug criminals behind bars. There has been an increase in law enforcement activity to stop and extinguish drug use. This is partly why America has such high incarceration rates. To say that the war on drugs has been the only role played in influencing incarceration rates would be false, or to say that limiting sentences for nonviolent drug abuse would be the only cure for this problem. US sentencing laws, in general, are too strict, the idea of ​​always being tough on crime has led to harsh policies, which is the result of inmates spending too much time in prison. Here are three recommendations for building an effective criminal justice system. First, America can reinvest savings, eliminate truth in sentencing and three strikes laws, and prosecutors could seek lower penalties when appropriate. If the United States were to reinvest the savings, there would be so much money saved that could then be redistributed to education, improved public safety, and rehabilitation programs, which would bring enormous benefits to society. If three strikes laws and truth in sentencing were eliminated, judges would then be able to make sentencing decisions that would be more appropriate for the offender. These two laws deprive the judge of the possibility of evaluating the details of the crime in order to issue fair sentences. The maximums and minimums of the subsequent sentence should be further evaluated. If someone commits a crime, yes, they should be punished, but for how long? Just because someone has a longer prison sentence doesn't mean they will be better rehabilitated. Longer stays could lead to criminal relapse. Sentencing guidelines should be improved to make the sentence proportional to the crimes committed. Finally, prison time should be eliminated for lower-level crimes. The price per inmate per year is too high to convict minor charges such as possession, sale of marijuana or even petty theft. For these.