ABSTRACT
Incarceration of criminals takes place in prisons and jails. This chapter examines incarceration in the American criminal justice system. It describes the history, organization, and practice of incarceration in both prisons and jails. The chapter addresses several contemporary issues in the operation of prisons and jails. State governments operate the majority of prisons in the United States. The experience of "doing time" is painful. Gresham Sykes identified the "pains of imprisonment" as deprivation of liberty, deprivation of goods and services, deprivation of heterosexual relations, deprivation of autonomy, and deprivation of security. The First Amendment to the US Constitution provides for the freedoms of religion, speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. Fourteenth Amendment ensures that the federal courts can apply the requirements of the US Constitution to the states.
