Federal and State Correctional Institutions

Federal and State Correctional Institutions
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The subject of state and federal institutions is attracting a lot of attention from scholars and practitioners in the criminal justice industry. As evidence, Salinas (2009) and O’Donnell (2004) made publications on the topic under discussion. It is crucial to highlight that a correctional institution could be elucidated as any place designated by law, to house persons held in custody under the law including state prisons, county, and federal prisons. Clearly, there are various agencies asked with the duty of overseeing correctional institutions. It is the reason why some governments have both state and federal correctional institutions. Critical to the discussion is the fact that both students and professionals in the criminal justice industry should understand the differences and similarities between state and federal institutions because it is useful to their present or future careers. This paper compares and contrasts state and federal correctional institutions by focusing on the management and nature of life in the two institutions.
The management and jurisdiction of state and federal correctional institutions have both similarities and differences. To begin with, both state and federal prisons house lawbreakers with an aim of punishing, rehabilitating, and educating the prisoners. It is notable that federal prisons house federal criminals while state prisons house state criminals. For further explanation, federal criminals commit crimes that traverse more than a single state. They also include crimes such as fraud and crimes against the government and institutions (Richards, 2008). One the other hand, state criminals end up in state prisons because their crimes are committed within a single state. They include crimes such as murder, robbery, and rape. It follows that different law enforcement agencies are tasked with the duty of managing the two correctional institutions under discussion. As evidence, THE Federal Bureau of Prisons (2015) reveals that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service handle the federal convicts while the state police and state wardens handle state criminals. Therefore, both State and federal correctional institutions house criminals but the management and types of criminals in the two institutions are different.
Critical to the discussion is the fact the similarities and differences of state and federal correctional institutions is not limited to their management and jurisdiction. For instance, Salinas (2009) argues that most of the criminals in both state and federal correctional institutions are always jailed for long terms because they commit major offenses. However, many convicts pr...