Rehabilitate Or Incarcerate? A Comparative Analysis Of The United States' Sentencing Laws On Low-Level Drug Offenders And Portugal's Decriminalization Of Low-Level Drug Offenses

Authors

• Caroline E. Sapp

Abstract

America's criminal justice system is in need of targeted reform. Throughout this country, too many Americans are trapped- and too many communities are weakened - by a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration. Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long - and for no truly good law enforcement reason. The U.S. prison population has grown at an astonishing rate over the last three decades - by almost 800 percent since 1980, despite the fact that America's overall population has increased by only about a third. As we speak, more than 219,000 federal inmates are currently behind bars. Almost half are serving time for drug-related crimes. And many have substance use disorders.

Disciplines

Comparative and Foreign Law | Law | Law and Politics

Recommended Citation

Caroline E. Sapp, Rehabilitate Or Incarcerate? A Comparative Analysis Of The United States' Sentencing Laws On Low-Level Drug Offenders And Portugal's Decriminalization Of Low-Level Drug Offenses, 23 Cardozo J. Int'l & Comp. L. 63 (2014).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjicl/vol23/iss1/4