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.