Prison Overcrowding: Time for New Policies

During the last quarter century or so, the criminal justice system has been plagued by the issue of prison overcrowding. This issue is greatly correlated with the “tough on crime” policies that legislature has established in recent years. Because of these policies, more men and women are being sent to prisons which ultimately end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year. Many feel that these tough on crime policies such as mandatory minimum sentencing laws and certain drug laws should be altered in more ways than one.
Because our criminal justice system has established laws such as that of determinate sentencing, many men and women are sent to prison with a minimum amount of years to serve, sometimes for crimes that aren’t very serious. For example, when the crack-powder cocaine law was created, thousands of African American men and women were sent to prison for a fixed amount of years due to the mandatory sentencing laws for possession of crack cocaine. Much like anything else, the war on drugs has been the basis for many tough on crime advocates.
Incidentally, many of these get tough on crime schemes that legislature has established during the last twenty-five years affects our correctional systems throughout the United States. With almost double the capacity in just about every correctional facility in California alone, many men and women are forced to relinquish the limited amount of freedom that they possess while incarcerated.
If our legislature doesn’t figure out a way to modify our current sentencing policies and formulate better ways of accommodating those who are currently incarcerated, our criminal justice system will continue to be plagued with this enormous financial issue. I feel we need to assemble more effective re-entry programs and put more money into rehabilitation programs rather than to our correctional systems.

Injustice: Shifts in Criminal Justice Sentencing

The topic of sentencing in the criminal justice system is an ongoing dilemma that is caused by the constant paradigm shifts in philosophy and practice by the police and court systems, which eventually affects the corrections system. Throughout the last one-hundred years or so, the criminal justice system has experienced drastic changes in sentencing. I believe that the increase in minority rates in America, the “war on drugs,” and ultimately heavier caseloads for courtroom workgroups have been a few of the many reasons that the criminal justice system in America has seen such drastic paradigm shifts in philosophy and practice in relation to sentencing.
In the area of policing, many factors can be linked to the reason why arrest rates continue to be high in our country, today. One factor in general, that I believe is the most plausible, is that the high arrest rates are due to the increase of our minority population. According to a Uniform Crime Report done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, non-white arrests account for more than double the arrests of a white citizen. The most astonishing fact about this is that the white population is much higher than that of any other race. I believe that the paradigm shift results from profound police action towards minority groups in our society.
When discussing the court’s take on the sentencing shifts, the problem of higher arrest rates in America plays a huge role for the courtroom workgroups. In years past, the court system seemed to be more steady and persistent when going through its caseloads. With the rise of arrest rates, debatably caused by the “war on drugs,” the courtroom workgroups have much heavier caseloads. Because of this, assembly-line justice tends to occur and more people are sanctioned with determinate sentencing, which eventually lands them in the corrections system with a fixed amount of years to serve.
I believe that some changes need to be done in order for our criminal justice system to work properly and sentence individuals to their correct terms instead of just throwing them in jail or prison. Just because more crimes are being committed today, does not mean that our justice system should be uncaring and show injustice like they have been in recent years past.

The Truth About Racial Inequality

Not only does racial inequality occur out on the streets and during traffic stops, it also occurs in court rooms when dealing with sentencing, adjudication, arrest, and punishment. I do not believe that there are any implications of our current justice policy for race and class because it states in our constitution that all men are created equal and that race should not be a deciding factor. By the laws of the United States, it is illegal to have race as a factor so therefore, there should be no way that a justice policy ever be associated with race or class.
I feel that racial inequality plays an important role in the United States justice system. As much as law enforcement agencies hate to admit it, racial profiling occurs, and individuals of various minority groups are constantly being harassed by officers of the law. For instance, in the documentary, The Farm, an inmate who had been incarcerated for the past twenty-five years due to rape charges, was denied parole, even when all the evidence of the crime favored the inmate. The inmate on death row was in fact, an african american male.
Every day minorities are discriminated against throughout our entire justice system. Whether it's on the streets or in the courtrooms, individuals across the nation are being treated with inequality. This is a huge problem that needs to be recognized, immediately.