eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.

  • Bookmark and Share

Prisons

    Prisons Editor's Picks

    • Problems in Prisons

      Prisons house offenders who have been convicted of crimes from drunk driving to murder and everything in between. Prisons house many different types of prisoners who have a variety of different personalities as well as medical conditions and different forms of mental illness. Common problems in prisons include gang violence,... more »

    • Sentencing Guidelines for Sexual Assault

      About half of all sexual crimes go unpunished, according to the FBI Crime Report. Of those that are reported and prosecuted, 54 percent end in an acquittal or dismissal. Because the types and degrees of sexual assault vary widely, sentencing guidelines are complicated and sometimes arbitrary. In many cases, two people convicted of the... more »

    • Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana

      The legalization of marijuana, although controversial in the United States, could lead to many economic and safety benefits, and would take power away from violent drug cartels that currently run the illicit marijuana trade. more »

    • How to Get Info about a Federal Inmate Online

      The federal government has made it easy to check the status of its federal inmates online. With just some simple information, people can get access to an inmate's release date. The Federal Bureau of Prisons will also allow people to see whether an inmate is still in federal custody. more »

    • About Building a Prison

      Building a prison involves more than just steel bars and bricks. While construction materials and specialized items such as the unique toilets may present supply issues, there are things to be considered long before any purchases are made. These include what kind of prison is being built, where it will be built and dealing with local... more »

    Prisons Quick Guides

    • Textiles Jobs

      Many people work in the textiles industry and may not even know it. Certain types of chemists,...

    Prisons Articles

    Wikipedia

    Prison

    A prison (from Old French prisoun), retrieved on 2009-10-12. is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail (or gaol), although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility. Prisons are conventionally institutions which form part of the criminal justice system of a country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime.

    A criminal suspect who has been charged with or is likely to be charged with criminal offense may be held on remand in prison if he is denied or unable to meet conditions of bail, or is unable or unwilling to post bail. A criminal defendant may also be held in prison while awaiting trial or a trial verdict. If found guilty, a defendant will be convicted and may receive a custodial sentence requiring imprisonment.

    As well as convicted or suspected criminals, prisons may be used for internment of those not charged with a crime. Prisons may also be used as a tool of political repression to detain political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and "enemies of the state", particularly by authoritarian regimes. In times of war or conflict, prisoners of war may also be detained in prisons. A prison system is the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prisons, and depending on their nature, may invoke a corrections system. Although people have been imprisoned throughout history, they have also regularly been able to perform prison escapes.

    History
    For most of history, imprisoning has not been a punishment in itself, but rather a way to confine criminals until corporal or capital punishment was administered. There were prisons used for detention in Jerusalem in Old Testament times. Dungeons were used to hold prisoners; those who were not killed or left to die there often read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison

    Related Ads

    Prisons People & Community

    Connect with people who share your interest by joining one of our Groups:

    Topic Contributors
    Get Free Legal Newsletters

    Copyright © 1999-2009 eHow, Inc. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.   en-US Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

    Demand Media