Essay --

Damon Perez Mrs. Mcgillivray 8th Grade Science 18 December 2013 Incarceration is the process of being sent to prison. The top 10 reasons people are sent to prison are: larceny, drug possession, public intoxication, fraud, theft, aggravated assault, armed robbery, DUI, homicide, and rape. Women are 20% of people arrested. About 15% of people that are arrested are released within 4 hours or less - and about 66% are released within 48 hours. Some people that are arrested are released on bond - 46%. Some people who are arrested are charged with felonies - 25%, the other people were charged with misdemeanor offenses - 75%. There are differences between prison, jail, and juvenile detention. Prisons are operated by state governments and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). They are designed to hold individuals convicted of crimes. People serving long sentences (over a year) go to prison. Jails are most often run by sheriffs and/or local governments. They are designed to hold individuals awaiting trial or are serving short sentences. People serving short sentences (a year or under) go to jail. A youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center or, known as juvie, is a secure residential facility for young people. They are called juvenile delinquents. They are waiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care.(www.BOP.org) There are approximately 1494 prisons in the United States. Jail is where people serve time for the bad stuff they did, a place where a person convicted of a crime is detained. Prison is a place for those convicted of serious crimes. Felony charges are more serious crimes that carry much higher jail time. Misdemeanor charges are still serious crimes just not as dangerous nor se... ...y will schedule a hearing to think about the sentence at a later date. In most felony cases the judge waits for the results of a presentence report, prepared by the court's probation office, before making the sentence. If the defendant pleads not guilty, the judge will proceed to schedule a trial. People charged do not have to prove their innocence. Instead, the government must provide evidence to convince the jury of the person’s guilt. The level of proof in a criminal trial is proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," which means the evidence must be so strong that there is no logical doubt that the person charged committed the crime. (http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/UnderstandingtheFederalCourts/HowCourtsWork/CriminalCases.aspx) Works Cited: www.fbi.gov www.uscourts.gov www.fedstats.gov www.state.gov www.zellislaw.com www.avvo.com www.wisegeek.com