Criminal justice system
The criminal justice system of the United States is failing every day compared to other justice systems of other developed and democratic countries. In the past decades, the crime rate has increased rapidly due to poor policies. The American criminal justice system is composed of three elements, namely, law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Their shortcomings include police brutality or excessive use of force by police to kill even unarmed teenagers, which have led to constant protests. Also, weak justice systems in courts where rouge police officers are not indicted, and victims are always denied justice. There is increased inmates than anywhere else in the world. The dramatic rise of incarceration is worrying, considering the resources at hand. These and others are a reflection of failing or weak criminal justice system that is wallowing and simmering in the boat of its failure that is crystal clear because of continuous unconstitutional politicization.
Individuals killed by police are on a high rise, and the trend will continue for some time because of the weaknesses in the police department. The core of this debate is based on inequities in the basic operations of the criminal justice system. These include police practices, aggressive policing, the use of force, the severity of criminal sentences, the disparities caused by these practices on communities of color. There is a belief among communities of color that the system is manipulated against them, and they are surprised because the institutions created sorely to protect them are failing or even targeting them. Police are biased in using force against these communities, which have widened the gap between the black and white. There are always different opinions on law enforcement, race relations, and the criminal justice system in the country.
In courts, victims of police aggression have been denied justice because of the weak policies in the judiciary. The public has critiqued the functions of the prosecutor and the grand jury system because of questionable judgments against officers. They have failed to indict police officers who have been found to cause the deaths of unarmed United States citizens. They have shown an inability to be impartial in prosecutions involving law enforcers in the same jurisdiction. Special grand juries who investigate gross police misconduct have failed to address possible conflicts of interest. Instead, they have been justifying the wrongdoing of law enforcers. In correctional centers, the number of inmates has increased by more than 350% in the United States prison. The trend seems to continue because there is increased pressure from the public to reduce the crime rate. Incarceration has been used as a way of controlling crime. Ironically, America forms 5% of the world population and 25% of its jailed people. The correctional facilities are not functioning, and it seems like a constant continuous problem challenge because the number of released inmates is less compared to incoming convicts. These few released felons come out of jail without any change of behavior; in fact, about three-quarters of them commit new offenses just within the first after release.
The criminal justice system is showing little efforts to reduce negative perceptions from the public and improve its efficiency. The department has urged Congress to offer prisons department the resources and authority it requires to provide training and education to inmates who are at risk of re-offending. This program would convicts learn how to earn honest money on release and promoting healthy relationships with friends and families. The system is learning how to solve future problems affecting all age groups of people. It is learning from these mistakes and failures and turning them into an opportunity of change in the United States criminal justice system (Childs 2018). The system is also embracing technology to implement innovations and policies. This is gradually increasing accountability and reducing harsh instances of denying communities of color justice (Hopwood 2018).
The criminal justice system needs urgent reforms to revive its tainted picture. These include digital data collection and accountability, police training, rebuilding the destroyed or lousy relationship between community and law enforcers, and offering independent, diligent, and thorough investigation and prosecution when police take lives. It should serve as a new approach to change the United States policing and the criminal justice system. Society and the system need to change its belief and biased perceptions like cheering of unnecessary humiliation by police when arrested. There is a need for handcuffing unarmed citizen with no record of crime and who is cooperating fully.
Reference
Hopwood, S. (2018). The Effort to Reform the Federal Criminal Justice System. Yale LJF, 128, 791.
Childs, T. (2018). Building Police-Community Trust in Illinois: Will We Ever Get There: An Examination of the Illinois Police and Community Relations Act. S. Ill. ULJ, 43, 675.