American Criminal Justice System



American Criminal Justice System

Introduction

Law enforcement and criminal justice have prevailed in US since last 200 years. These agencies play an important role in managing the law as well as the policies related to it. These agencies have certain policies and rules which can be needed to be followed. They help and protect our society. Similarly, criminal justice is an important part of our society which includes court and corrections, law enforcement and corrections. Laws are rules which need to be followed and if not penalties can be imposed on them. The future of the society considerably depends on the field of criminal justice (Maeve, 1999).

It is a fact that over the last 25 years, the number of girls and women are caught in the criminal justice system has been skyrocketed, majority have been swept under the war on drugs and they are subject to the increasing punitive sentencing policies for the non-violent offenders. There are around more than 200,000 women who are behind the bars and majority of them around more than one million on parole and probation. Several of such women are still struggling with the mental illness, histories of sexual and physical abuse and substance abuse as well. Some of the fortunate women are able to get the services they required; it is a fact that the toll over girls and women and also their families are devastating.

Discussion and Analysis

The legitimacy of the criminal justice system relies heavily on its effectiveness and its fairness. The effectiveness of the system depends on its ability to discover the crime, to investigate, identify offenders and punishment to the accused should be convicted of the offense. Fairness, in turn, depends on the efforts to correct the imbalance between the resources of the accused and those of the state regarding the investigation, the pretrial proceedings, the trial and appeals, and the importance that can be given at each stage of the process. The system provides for protection of evidence and allows the use of legal counsel at all stages of the procedure.

Wrongful convictions undermine both the legitimacy of the foundations of the criminal justice system. The person wrongly convicted suffers a penalty for a crime she did not commit, so that the real perpetrator remains at large. In addition, wrongful convictions have the effect of undermining public confidence towards the system (Gilligan, 2009).

Condition of Prison in U.S

The U.S. prison system has its roots in 17th-century Europe. At that time, countries such as England, the Netherlands and Germany began imprisoning criminals. Previously, most convicted criminals had been subjected instead to some sort of corporal punishment, such as whipping, hanging or beheading. Criminals in England were often deported to that country's colonies around the world. Beginning in the late 1600s, people who could not pay off debts and other criminals were often sentenced to stays in prisons. The earliest jails were dark and filthy. Men and women, children and adults, and the sane and insane were thrown together in ...