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Criminal Justice Reform Research Paper

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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?

What is “Criminal Justice Reform”?

Our criminal justice system is complex and multi-faceted. When people talk about criminal justice reform, they are actually referring to a number of distinct issues and problems. On a national level, the focus on reform can be seen as a recognition that the “tough on crime” legislation that was all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s – mandatory minimums, “three strikes” laws, enhanced sentences for drug crimes to name a few examples – created more problems than they were designed …show more content…

And I believe we can help those who have served their time and earned a second chance get the support they need to become productive members of society.”

Consider these statistics from the ACLU:

• The U.S. has more people behind bars – 2.3 million - than any country in the world.
• The federal prison population has increased by almost 790 percent since 1980.
• In the United States, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person is, despite approximately equal rates of use.
• At least 3,278 people were serving life sentences without parole for drug, property, and other nonviolent crimes in 2012.
• Taxpayers spend almost $70 billion a year on corrections and incarceration.

The human and economic costs of mass incarceration have become untenable, which is why politicians on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as police chiefs and civil rights groups, have made reform a priority, though they may not necessarily agree on the specifics of reform. The primary issues that you will hear a great deal about in 2016 …show more content…

• Reforming policing practices

Federal Reform

Getting anything passed in the U.S. Congress these days can seem like an impossible task. When you add an election year to the mix, it further muddles the road between talk about criminal justice reform and actual legislation.

Nevertheless, criminal justice reform may be the exception to the rule of gridlock in Congress, as a reform bill with broad bipartisan support was introduced in the Senate in the fall of 2015. The ‘‘Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015’’ contains a broad array of changes to the justice system on the federal level, including:

• reducing the length of mandatory minimum sentences, and limit them to serious drug felonies and violent crimes\
• banning solitary confinement for juveniles and allowing them to apply for parole after a maximum of 20 years
• granting judges more flexibility and discretion in sentencing for a wide range of offenses in doling out sentences for a range of crimes\
• strengthening re-entry programs in federal prisons designed to reduce recidivism and enhance reintegration into the workforce after

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