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John Maldonado
Professor Martinez
Writing 101
15 February 2016
Poverty Leading to Incarceration
The poor in America commit crimes in the desperate attempt in order to earn fast and
easy cash. People who grew up in poverty have a greater risk of incarceration than those who are
not. People in poverty usually live next to other people in poverty. A lot of the youth in these
communities look up to people who are doing illegal activities because of the fact that it is
around them constantly. These crimes can range from robbery to assault or worse, even murder.
You also have other people who have hopelessness in life and turn to drugs and alcohol because
they just cannot take the stress that poverty brings.
The first two photos show two friends in the Hudson County correctional jumpsuits. They
are in a room where they are going to talk to the judge through via a video link. They are in one
of the many rooms in the Hudson county jail. The photo was a screenshot photo taken by the
computer screen. These jump suits represent that they are nothing but state property now. They
have the look of sadness in their faces. They know that they are not going to go home anytime
soon and are going to be incarcerated for a long time. They have just committed one of the worst
crimes that a human being can do which is murder. Along with this charge, they also have
robbery charges, all in the first degree. The higher the degree, the more penalty the charge has
against the individual who committed the crime. The short haired suspect, a Spanish male, goes
by the name of Franklin. This is his second time, in the same week being in jail. The other crime
he committed was assault and robbery, but he was out on bail. He has a history of robbing

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because of his familys financial issues. He along with his sister and mother live in a small
apartment and just have enough to pay

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bills. He did not mean to do any harm, but was doing something in the attempt to earn some fast
Money. The long haired suspect, also a Spanish male, is a known drug dealer in my area. He is
the older brother of one of my friends. He too was also in need of money because he has a child
and a girlfriend to support. They were trying to attempt a quick come up, which means to get
money even faster. This means they were going to try and rob anyone quickly to take whatever
the victim has in his pockets. These two and a third suspect went too far and beat up the victim of
the robbery so much where he had to go to the hospital. The victim could not overcome his
injuries and was pronounced dead. The three of them were later arrested for the crimes they had
committed. This just shows what poor people will do in order to earn fast money. Crimes like
these are being committed throughout the country.

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This is a harsh crime and they went overboard in order to earn money, but what can you
do when people are in desperate need of money and there are not enough opportunities to earn
hard working money? Jobs are not hiring and people are forced to turn to the streets due to which
they get caught as well as have a record; because of this they cannot get a job. This is a vicious
cycle that has been going on in these types of areas. This cycle seems like it is never ending
because people continue to live in poverty without real help from the government. They should
create more jobs or make minimum wage higher so crimes like these do not have to happen.
The third photo shows another suspect in my area, in a black sweatshirt, dark blue jeans,
and beat up boots. The photo was taken by a reporter of the jersey journal. He is being led by an
officer to take a seat to wait for the judge. This is the room where the judge will give him his
sentence. These punishments include jail time, probation, or some type of rehabilitation program.
His charges include underage drinking, aggravated assault on a police officer, and resisting
arrest. Also, in the photo, there is a typical public defender who sometimes cannot even
remember the defendants name. He cannot afford a real

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Attorney so these amateurs are appointed to him. He is known as Christopher. He was drunk and
high trying to enter a bar that he was not allowed to go in. The security guards at the bar did not
let him in because he did not show identification due to which they assumed that he was
underage. He turned violent and because of this, he along with another suspect who was with
him started a fight with the guards due to which the police were called. When the first officer
arrived at the scene, they were uncooperative with the officer and tried to fight him as well. They
ended up breaking the officers hand in attempt of resisting arrest. More officers were called to
the scene where they were finally brought down to the floor and restrained. Christopher, has a
history of abusing drugs and alcohol. He is a high school dropout because he felt that it was a
waste of time.
He turned to the streets, but quickly went downhill because of his drug abuse. He started
off selling drugs and just smoking marijuana, but as years went by he started to abuse drugs; he
went from the producer to the consumer. He felt that he was not ever going to amount to
anything. He gets high, just to get by so he does not have to deal with the reality of his
hopelessness. He uses it as an escape from reality. This happens a lot around Hudson County. A
lot of people turn to drugs just like Chris did because they feel like they can never amount to
anything. They feel like this because they never had the opportunities that other people have.
Usually, if your parents are doing well financially more doors are open for you. You are going to
live in a better area and you are not going to be exposed to things at a young age that leave you
traumatized. These things occur in poverty areas. It is an everyday thing and usually more crimes
occur in these types of areas than middle or rich class areas.
In conclusion, people who live in poverty are more likely to commit crimes than any of
the other financial groups. They are in desperate need of money and sometimes have no choice,

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but to turn to the street to commit crimes. They do this for the fast money they can get in order to
survive; these include bills and food. There is the other side where people turn to drugs because
of the hopelessness of life. They start doing these drugs and became addicted; they get caught in
a web where they get stuck and cannot escape. This is a vicious cycle that seems never ending to
these poverty stricken areas. As in the first photo those 2 suspects turned to crimes to help fund
their needs. They chose to harm and rob a person in order to get money fast. The other suspect in
the third photo turned to drugs because of his hopelessness in his life. He turned to drugs to
escape the reality of his life. These two main crimes, robbery and drug use, are most common in
these areas.

Works Cited
Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal. "North Bergen Man Charged with Cop Assault in West New
York: Police." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.

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Kathryn Brenzel | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "Killed over $5? Robbers 'needed Money,'
Beat West New York Man to Death, Authorities Say." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.