CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with good education to teach people judging from right or wrong , excellent police force to keep our street safe, and most of all, a good restorative justice system to carry out the justice. United States is a place with little crimes, a nation with nice houses, beautiful beaches, and expensive shops without property just like what I seen in the American movies in my opinion before I arrived here. The very moment I stood in my dream street, Hollywood boulevard, I was shocked at the scenario. I then realized that this is a place no different from other countries The United States has many problems too, especially in crimes and its restorative justice system.

The major feature of the U.S. restorative justice system is the jury system which is found nowhere else in the world except here in the America. The jury system originally was designed such that a decision of whether a person is guilty or innocent will not fall only into one individual's hand but a group of people. This feature gives the U.S. restorative justice system a lot of strength in a way that in order for 10 people to agree on a person being guilty or not, the court must supply sufficient amount of evidence so that no one will be punished by mistake. Moreover, since the jury selection is done so secretly and strict that it is not possible to judge any one in court in the favor of any side, it is the decision of the jurors who were selected from regular citizens to find any guilty or innocent. However, the major weakness of the jury system is that will the defendant get the fair trial if jurors are being prejudice. As I observe several years in the United States, racism do still exist in the United States unlike what I though before coming here. It is impossible to get a fair trial for African Americans who is being trial in a white neighbor and vice versa. This weakness of this U.S. restorative justice system has cause many problems that the jury system must be reformed. A rule should always be modified and updated along with the change of the time and society, and jury system is one of the rules that needs change.

Another major weakness in the restorative justice system of the United States I observed is the slow speed of the process. Before coming to the United States, I never know it would take about ten years for a death sentence to carry out. If any person is given death sentence and fail to appeal, he should be executed right away without hesitation, instead of wasting tax payer's money on feeding and keeping them alive. Trials are also taking too much time too; for an example, the famous O.J. Simpson trial which took more than 1 year to get a ...