Changes Within The Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system has evolved over numerous decades. Punishable crimes were only considered exceedingly serious actions. As time went on; post World War 1, laws were enacted and punishments were enforced to deter crimes from occurring and to protect the public (Gardner and Anderson, 2012). Whitey Bulger and Al Capone were both well-known criminals who seemed to live without proper punishment for what we would consider today. The government changed how laws were passed and laws can be determined by not only the federal government, but state governments, and local governments, as well. These laws are put in place based on what laws are believed to help the community and society (Gardner and Anderson, 2012).

Not all decisions are directed through the lack of resources. There are times when political considerations or aspirations take the forefront of the criminal justice system. For instance, when an administrator of the police decides to do a crackdown on what are known as, public order crimes due to complaints from the citizens. Employees of the criminal justice system also make decisions based on what their own personal morality or values dictate. It is through these particular decisions that may make the criminal justice system look unjust in the eyes of some observers as fair in the eyes of others. It all depends on their individual perspectives besides their own individual circumstances.

As a country, we should care about all of our citizens and work toward bettering them, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. When it concerns the issue of corrections it should not be a discussion of punishment or rehabilitation. Instead, it should be a balance of both that puts the spotlight on rehabilitating offenders that are capable and willing to change their lives for the better. Through rehabilitation a number of issues in the corrections field can be solved from mental health to overcrowding. More importantly, it allows offenders the chance to do and be better once released from prison. This paper analyzes what both rehabilitation and punishment are as well as how they play a part in corrections. It also discusses the current reasons that punishment as the dominant model of corrections is not as effective as rehabilitation. After explaining rehabilitation and punishment, then breaking down the issues with punishment, I will recommend a plan for balance. A plan that will lower incarceration rates and give offenders a second chance.

Our criminal justice system has over time implemented and changed the means of sentencing and punishment for crimes. In the United States plea deals are accountable for 90% of criminal cases. A plea deal is an agreement between prosecutor and defendant in whom the defendant accepts a guilty plea to a charge and in return receives some type of concession from the prosecution. As we have moved forward in the judicial system and now have the ability to look back on previous cases, plea deals have become more controversial. The majority of awareness in this area has been used to look deeper into false confessions, grazing right over the fact that false confessions are a large part plea deals. A controversy arose when many refused to believe that situational factors during interrogations and dispositional factors inherent to the suspects could result in false confessions. (Redlich, 2010)

Since the beginning of time, the United States’ Criminal Justice System (CJS) has been scrutinized and will continue to be. If significant changes were to occur within the CJS it could potentially take decades. Different persons, institutions, governments, and even departments within governments have different views; it is a natural occurrence. Thus, as with any subject matter, there are always controversies that cause disruption within society. Often, the controversies stem from the lack of understanding and the historical patterns of unsupported data.

The criminal justice system has become an ad hoc medical and social service delivery institution with more than eight million offenders under correctional control. Offenders have more physical, substance-abuse disorders, social and psychological deficits than the general population. According to Estelle versus Gamble, correctional institutions are required to provide reasonable care for all offenders who are incarcerated. Other issues such as psychological and social services have become a burden. A recent survey of prison administrators sheds light on the capacity of offenders that needed medical, psychological, and social services for offenders. The survey also dissected the analysis of the organizational factors that may affect whether an

Evidence suggests that we are more punitive when it comes to crimes relating to property and drugs, but not far from the norm when it comes to violent crimes. In the United States there is an unusually high incarceration rate, this is partly because

In today’s society crimes in the United State are growing each day, and the major aspect of the U.S criminal justice system is the punishment imposed on those who committed crimes in our communities. One method of sentencing criminals was the establishment of the mandatory minimum sentencing. During the early days of the republic, specific sentences were carried out for certain crime and early mandatory sentences the forms of punishment used at the time stretched from ducking stools/cucking stools for disorderly women and dishonest tradesmen in England, Soctland to hanging for convicted murderers. However, in recent years, evidence gathered have shown that the federal mandatory minimum sentencing were not in effect for reaching the goals of the criminal justice system. Chief Justice William Rehnquist has previously stated that “these statutes are “perhaps a good example of the law of unintended consequences. This essay will discuss the history, goals, benefits, and negatives of the American Judicial Systems Mandatory Sentencing.

There can be changes in how the criminal justices process deals with rape victims; first, train all criminal justice agency professionals on the traumatic and disturbing effects of rape on the lives of its victims. Compassion for the rights of victims often leads to a more convictions and seek longer sentences. If the experience of victims in the criminal justice process is to be improved, there have to be a better understanding of the impact of victimization and of the need to treat victims of crime with courtesy, compassion, dignity, and sensitivity. There must be continual progress in raising awareness and expanding information services and assistance to victims of crime.

From the Oval Office to the campaign trail to the streets of Chicago, Baltimore, and cities across the country, criminal justice reform was a prominent topic of discussion in 2015. But will all of that talk result in any action in 2016?

Mandatory penalties have not always been a central feature of the U.S. criminal justice system (Subramanian, Ram and Delaney R, 2014). Until the 1980s, sentencing in the United

There have been a number of changes within the legal and criminal justice system in the last 3-4 decades. History remembers, for example, the Kent State and Chicago Democratic Convention riots in 1968, and since then, a number of criminologists and political scientists have been asked about the use of force, rights-based policing, community involvement, and crime prevention (Russell 2005). The Red Cross and Amnesty International, for instance, have endorsed a rights-based policing model. This idea tempers all police activity with the basic tenet of human rights and rights under the Constitution. Central to this argument is the nature of the relationship between the community and the Criminal Justice System. Local law enforcement bond with community members to implement the day-to-day needs of that community. The idea centers around a basic philosophical tenet: use less force, communicate more, pay attention to human rights, and work to dialog and prevent, not to punish and incarcerate (Williamson 2008).

Today punishment is the most dominant correctional goal of both the state and federal government in response to criminality. The purpose of punishment is to protect society, rehabilitate criminal offenders, and reduce recidivism. In both the state and federal correctional institutions, their objectives are to use punishment as form deterrence while

The criminal justice system is a group of institutions that work together to protect a society, prevent and control crime, and maintain justice; enforcing the laws regulated by society. As the years have gone by and society has evolved; so have the criminal justice system and its methods to accomplish its role in society. This short analysis will evaluate the main facts that have been affecting the criminal justice system for decades and have influenced the evolution the justice system is enduring in a changing society (Muraski, 2009). Amongst the changes in the system, we will discuss the effect the changes have had on the citizens and how their perceptions have evolved as well.

One organization within the American criminal justice system that has undergone significant changes during the last few decades is the parole board, which is the institution responsible for determining when a prisoner is eligible for early release. Historically, parole has been used by the criminal justice system to regulate overcrowded prison inmate populations, while providing rehabilitated criminals with a second chance to assimilate into society. Since the beginning of the 21st century, however, a confluence of increased security during the War on Terror, rising crime rates across the nation, and widely publicized instances of recidivism has spurred politicians and the public alike to call for the abolishment of the parole system. According to the United States Senate Research Center's brief on the shifting landscape of parole boards in the American criminal justice system, "while some states have abolished parole, systems similar to parole still exist throughout the United States" (Reimer, 1999), and this patchwork system of parole and non-parole states has led to widespread institutional and organizational adjustments. By examining the various methods of implementation used by state governments to adjust or abolish their parole board system, one can assess the relative efficacy of these efforts from the perspective of change management, which is one of the essential pillars of proper organizational leadership.