Did you know that one of the biggest issues with the justice system is simply how many people become repeat offenders? Just take a look at the raw statistics: Roughly 2 million individuals are behind bars in the United States. Every year, around 700,000 of them are released. This is at the state and the federal level.

The issue, though, is that roughly 40 percent are then arrested and put back in jail over the next three years, all for brand new offenses.

While there are many reasons for this, some studies have shown that people who are released from jail lack education and skills to move forward with their lives and find employment; since they were incarcerated, they could not go to college or, in some cases, high school. As a result, they may feel they have no choice but to turn back to crime.

To fight this, correctional education programs can be used. These are programs that inmates can enroll in to spend their time learning valuable skills and even getting degrees while they are incarcerated. When they are then released, the training they got from these programs makes them more qualified for jobs and more likely to find employment on the outside.

If you are facing criminal charges, it's important to know what options you have, even when deciding to plead guilty. You need to know about your rights to things like education programs, which can help you to better your life, and which go beyond simple incarceration. When moving forward with sentencing, be sure that you know what options you have and what types of deals the court may be willing to provide in Colorado.

Source: Rand, "How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here?" Lois M. Davis, accessed Mar. 06, 2015