Reflection of Class

There were so many shocking new facts and information.  This overall class was pretty new.  I came into class thinking I was going to know most of the information but the amount of details that helped me open my mind were just plain shocking.  I definitely have a much more open mind related to corrections and a completely new viewpoint.

The details related to racial disparities shocked me along with the furthered knowledge on how mandatory minimums and three strike law impact the mass incarceration surprised me too.  What also surprised me was the idea that not every person in prison is an absolute terrible person and that the government can better utilize rehabilitation and community supervision to not only save tax payers money but also decrease recidivism rates.

I enjoyed all the assignments.  All of the material really went together and built of each other to further enhance my knowledge and the overall learning experience.  Everything was very engaging.  

I want policymakers to know that there needs to be a change in the current laws to better incarcerate the violent offenders.  That the US does not need to incarcerate so many nonviolent offenders.  They need to do their own research on rehabilitation and how to actually reduce recidivism rather than just locking offenders up because close to 97% of people in prison will be release back into the community.  The public needs to know how racially targeted these mandatory minimums and how the three strikes law targets the lower income neighborhoods.  What I hope will change in the corrections system is that we turn to rehabilitation, education and treatment programs to help them go back into society and help the inmates after the leave.

I would recommend this class to other students because of how much material I learned and enjoyed this class!!