...Treatment of Addiction through the Criminal Justice System According to a recent survey, nearly “two-thirds of people polled support treatment over incarceration (Pew ResearchCenter for the People & the Press, 2014).” While a staggering “sixty-three percent favor doing away with minimum mandatory sentencing” altogether (Pew, 2014). This is extremely significant as it shows that a fundamental shift is occurring. For decades, our primary source of information concerning addiction has been our U.S. Government. Their strong emphasis on the purported “War on Drugs” has led to mass corruption on their part while simultaneously taking an active role in legislating zero-tolerance mandatory minimum sentencing. The recent Pew Poll is a prime example that the majority of Americans have seen the ineffectiveness behind our current policies. As more and more research is released on the subject of addiction, it is becoming increasingly obvious that a solely criminal approach is undeniably ineffective and in some regards, inhumane. Ineffective treatment of addicts has created; over-crowding on our criminal justice system, inexcusable financial hardships on our society, and is a major factor behind the revolving door syndrome. A quick look at the current state of our prisons can be rather glaring. The U.S. currently houses approximately 2.3 million inmates. Out of this number approximately 1.5 million have been medically diagnosed with severe substance abuse issues with an additional half million...
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...The social problem of economic, class and racial inequality has been a great issue of concern for many in the United States because inequality goes against America’s cores values of upward mobility economic wise and in social class (Korgan, 2012). These social problems of inequality have been linked to disparities in quality of life and psychological and social well-being. The problem of social inequality has been found to be linked with other social problems such as crime and victimization. The problem of social inequality can even be seen in the criminal justice system in how it treats people of various races, ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes who are processed through the system (Wheelock, 2006). In essence, there exists a disparity amongst race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class in criminal victimization and how people are processed through the criminal justice system that exacerbates the social problem of inequality in numerous social institutions and complicates many individual’s efforts to escape from poverty and achieve upward mobility (Wheelock, 2006). The disparity in criminal punishment is due to various factors such as laws that were implemented to reduce crime, race, and low economic status (Wheelock, 2006). The factors that have a tremendous impact on victimization are demography and socioeconomic status (Raphael, 2006). While violent crimes are not exclusive to poor metropolitan areas, consistent patterns have been observed which reveal lower rates of crime...
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...Examining the criminal justice system reveals that minorities are over-represented, primarily because of racial prejudices within the system. The well-publicized war on drugs is one of the main causes for this over-representation, for it has primarily targeted poor people of color. As Walker et al (2003) note, despite repeated studies showing there is little difference in the level of drug use between blacks and whites in the United States, three-quarters of the people incarcerated in American prisons for drug trafficking, dealing, or abuse are African-American. In social terms, one of the most troubling problems with America’s war on drugs is that it appears to be motivated at least in part by racism. As Mason (2000) notes, under New Jersey’s Operation Pipeline drug interdiction program, for example, eighty percent of the motorists stopped by police were black and just thirteen percent were white. Sentencing laws also appear to be racist, for they punish minorities more. Getting caught with four-hundred grams of cocaine requires no mandatory prison term, but possessing four-hundred grams of crack can lead to life in prison. One of the most blatant demonstrations of prejudice in the criminal justice system is racial profiling. According to critics, racial profiling is a unfair law enforcement strategy that enables police officers to stop and question African-Americans simply because of their race. According to Malley (2000) racial profiling is a process...
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...Drug Policy Reform Eric L. Morton Urban Policy/UST 458 Cleveland State University Abstract In the United States the prison population has increased from 300,000 in 1972 to 2.2 million people today. One in 31 adults in the United States is in jail, prison, on probation or parole. The American government currently spends over 68 billion dollars a year on incarceration. Drug Policy and the incarceration of low-level drug offenders is the primary cause of mass incarceration in the United States. Forty percent of drug arrests are for simple possession of marijuana. Growing evidence indicates that drug treatment and counseling programs are far more effective in reducing drug addiction and abuse than is incarceration. Drug policies most often refer to the government's attempt to combat the negative effects of drug addiction and misuse in its society Governments try to combat drug addiction with policies which address both the demand and supply of drugs, as well as policies which can mitigate the harms of drug abuse. Demand reduction measures include prohibition, fines for drug offenses, incarceration for persons convicted for drug offenses, treatment (such as voluntary rehabilitation), awareness campaigns, community social services, and support for families. Policies which may help mitigate the effects of drug abuse include needle exchange and drug substitution programs, as well as free facilities for testing...
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...Criminal Justice Trends Demetria Wakefield CJA/394 May 13, 2014 Earl Garrett Criminal Justice Trends The criminal justice system is changing every year to protect and serve society better than the years before. The United States government, the state police, and local police look at the past to make changes for the future in fighting crime. The responsibilities of the state and local police are to fight crime by enforcing the law, apprehended offenders, prevent crime, and preserve the peace among societies. On September 11, 2001 police responsibilities changed because of the attack on the United States. State police expanded their responsibilities to fight terrorism, new laws, and new types of crimes. The criminal justice system has two main aims, which are to manage crime and to guarantee due process. This paper will discuss past, recent, and future trends, contemporary issues that are affecting the criminal justice system, and the criminal justice system in a changing society. Past Trends In the 1960’s the general downward crime rates that been marked since the 1930’s came to an end. Crime report rose, more arrests were being made, lawmakers started passing tougher laws that increased penalties, cases prosecuted by the court increased, more people was placed in prisons and jails, or placed on probation or parole, and spending by the government grew for criminal justice institutions. The Federal Government changed in an effort to fight crime. In the 1960’s, the...
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...Justice Policy I N S T I T U T E Treatment or Incarceration? Treatment or Incarceration? National and State Findings on the Efficacy and Cost Savings of Drug Treatment Versus Imprisonment by Doug McVay, Vincent Schiraldi, and Jason Ziedenberg January 2004 Justice Policy Institute 4455 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite B-500 Washington, DC 20008 v 202.363.7847 f 202.363.8677 www.justicepolicy.org POLICY REPORT J u s t i c e P o l i c y I n s t i t u t e Table of Contents Introduction: The national and local problem of drug imprisonment 3 Methodology 4 Finding 1: Treatment can be less expensive than a term of imprisonment 5 Finding 2: Treatment can be cost effective 6 Finding 3: Treatment can reduce substance abuse and recidivism while building communities 9 Finding 4: Promising treatment models exist in Maryland and around the country 11 Maryland: Break The Cycle The Correctional Options Program (COP) Drug Courts: Maryland and the National Perspective California’s Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA) 11 12 13 14 Conclusion: Drug treatment can be more effective than cycling people in and out of prison 18 Endnotes 20 About the Authors Treatment or Incarceration? was primarily authored by Doug McVay, former research director for Common Sense for Drug Policy, a non-profit dedicated to expanding...
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...Drug trafficking in the United States: Blacks are treated unfairly when it comes to drugs. Cheryl Cooper English Composition 11 Instructor Lesa Hadley 01/18/2012 When it comes to drug trafficking in the United States most African Americans and minorities are treated unfairly when it comes to drug charges being handed down from the criminal justice system. “Critics of American drug policies have long said that war on drugs is really a war on people. Today, the Justice Policy Institute is releasing a new study chock- full of jaw- dropping statistics to prove it. One in four people locked up in American prisons is behind bars for a drug offense, the study finds. They number almost as many as the entire US prisoner population did in 1980 (458,131 vs. 474,368). The study adds that the US incarcerates 100, 000 more people for drug offenses than there are people imprisoned for all offenses in the entire European Union even though the EU has 100 million more citizens than the US. Other stats show how America’s war on drugs has been waged disproportionately against African Americans.” The groups that are mainly targeted in the drug trafficking in the United States are minorities and African Americans. This is a worldwide problem and it needs some immediate attention do to the lack of fairness that is presented when it comes to whites committing the same charges. There are issues and concerns when it comes to racial profiling that takes place in poor low income...
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...Policing Policies- Community Policing CJA/580 Public Policy Issues November 21, 2011 Professor Joseph Gutheinz, Jr., J.D. Policing Policies- Community Policing This country has a system that operates and helps maintain rights and protection of the citizens. This same system also punishes those who violate the laws and policies set forth by the government. This system is the criminal justice system. As a previous subject in this course, there are three main branches of government, executive, legislative, and judicial, play a major role in the criminal justice policy process. The executives are the advocates of policies and budgets to implement these policies; legislatures create the policies and laws; and judicial officials are those who handle those in violation of these policies. Within the criminal justice system is law enforcement (e.g., police officers), court systems (e.g., judicial officials), and correction (e.g., jails and prisons). Each sector plays a major role in the enforcement of the law, protection of rights, and to ensure that justice is for everyone. The main focus of this paper is police officers. Police officers carry many roles and responsibilities. “Police agencies are those government agencies that have some responsibility for enforcing the law and providing protection to our local communities” (Marion & Oliver, 2012, p. 304). In this paper the subject to discuss is community policing. What is Community Policing? Community...
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...Mandatory Minimum Sentencing A Review of Literature With America's recently increasing problem with illegal substances; a war on drugs has erupted. American drug use has exponentially grown over the last 60 years, causing law enforcement agencies to crack down on drug use, trafficking, abuse and possession. President Nixon stated that the United States' War on Drugs was "public enemy number one" (Jarecki, Barnes, 2013). In response to this growing issue, the United State's criminal justice system began sentencing criminals to jail for a "mandatory minimum" period of time in drug related offenses. With hopes of making a dent in the drug war and of taking the guess work out of sentencing, the courts adopted the law. These longer more harsh sentences have had a positive outcome on the war on drugs. It has helped by getting offenders off the streets and the substances out of the hands of Americans. The criminals that are being sentenced to these long terms deserve the time they are given because they chose to break the U.S. law and came into contact with illegal controlled substances. By giving these mandatory minimum sentences, the criminals are off the streets and away from the pressures of drugs and crime where they used to live, and have the chance to regain a new life through prison rehabilitation. The mandatory minimum sentences are given not only to help punish criminals individually, but also to help the judicial system by way of giving the judges a guideline and a standard...
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...Criminal Justice 410 Strayer University Plan To Improve Correctional Facilities Professor Douglas Brinkley Donna M. Davis July 30, 2012 Prisons in America face many problems today. One such problem is the amount of elderly inmates. Elderly inmates represent the fastest growing segment of the federal and state prisons. The aging inmate population has created new challenges for the American corrections system. The population of aging and elderly prisoners in the United States prisons exploded over the past three decades, with nearly 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now behind bars, according to a recent report published by the American Civil Liberties Union. This represents an increase of over 1,300 percent since the early 1980s. (Graying in Prison). Some contributing factors to the increase in elderly inmates are, get tough on crime reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes rules and truth in sentence laws established in recent decades are keeping more offenders in prison for longer periods of time. Inmates are living longer and this also contributes to prison overcrowding. (Elderly Prisoners, 2012). In passing some of these laws, such as the three strikes laws, the courts and the Criminal Justice System did not think about the aging inmates and the problems that go with it. As people age, generally they develop health problems and within the prison system, this is no different. Prisons aren’t geared to the needs...
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...dynamics of the criminal justice system apply to various racial and ethnic groups. 3. Leinfelt, F. H. (2006). Racial Influences on the Likelihood of Police Searches and Search Hits: A Longitudinal Analysis from an American Midwestern City. Police Journal, 79(3): 238–257. 4. Office of Justice Systems Analysis (1995). Disparities in Processing Felony Arrests in New York State: 1990–1992, Office of Justice Systems Analysis, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. 5. Sabol, W. J., and Couture, H. (2008). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007. Washington, D.C. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 6. U.S. Census Bureau (2007). 2006 American Community Survey. Available online at: http://www.census.gov/acs/ www/index.html. 7. Sabol and Couture, op. cit. 8. U.S. Census Bureau, op. cit. 9. Bonczar, T. P. (2003). Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974–2001. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 10. Snyder, H. (2006). Juvenile Arrests 2004. OJJDP Bulletin: Washington, D.C.: National Disproportionate Minority Contact Databook. 11. Federal Bureau of Investigation (2007). Crime in the United States, 2006. Washington, D.C. 12. Spohn, C. (2001). Thirty Years of Sentencing Reform: The Quest for a Racially Neutral Sentencing Process. In W. Reed & L. Winterfield (Eds.), Criminal Justice 2000 (Vol. 3, pp. 566). Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice. 13. King, R. (2008). Disparity by Geography: The War on Drug in America’s Cities. Washington...
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...paper will analyze the current trends and the impact incarceration has on communities of color and how criminal justice policy and practice plays a role in this. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of a total population of 1,976,019 incarcerated in adult facilities, 1,239,946 or 63 percent are black or Latino, though these two groups constitute only 25 percent of the national population. Some of the greatest racial disparities in rates of incarceration happen in states in which minorities are massed in urban areas, which tend to have both higher rates of crime and greater law enforcement activity. This paper will also discuss how these incarcerations affect the offenders, public safety, criminal policies and procedures. Racial Disparities in Corrections There are many factors regarding the disproportional rates of incarceration in communities of color. Data generated by the U.S. Department of Justice predicts that if current trends continue, one out of every three black males born today will go to prison in his lifetime, as well as one of every six Latino males. The rates of incarceration for women overall are lower than for men, but similar racial/ethnic disparities still apply. Some law makers are looking at ways to develop policies and practices to reduce insupportable racial disparities in the criminal justice system, it is essential to analyze the factors that have produced the increasing levels of incarceration in...
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...Moreover, the conviction for drug offenses accounted for ⅔ of the rise in the prison population and was the greatest perpetrator of racial oppression. Police had free reign as to what counted as justified cause and the courts even allowed an implicit drug exception that went against the Bill of rights. Black bodies accumulated within the prison system and even with the removal of mandatory minimums many were set in a perpetual cycle of recidivism. While within the prison the 13th Amendment allowed these same bodies to endure a condition analogous to that of their ancestors. Alexander sheds light on this issue with her inclusion of the example, “ Today, many inmates work in prison, typically earning far less than the minimum wage—often less than $3 per hour, sometimes as little as 25 cents. Their accounts are then “charged” for various expenses related to their incarceration, making it impossible for them to save the money that otherwise would allow them to pay off their debts or help them make a successful transition when released from prison.” (Alexander 70) The previous quote conveys the notion that prisoners are virtually paid very little, one could even argue not at all. The oppressive nature of America’s justice system does not seek to reform prisoners so that...
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...RUNNING HEADER: American Prisons 1 The American Prisons and Judicial Systems Megan Pierce English Composition 122 Professor Angela Temple September 23, 2013 American Prisons 2 There’s no question about the about the racial disparity in America’s prison system. More than 60 percent of people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For black males in their thirties, one in every ten is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the “war on drugs,” in which two thirds of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color. Guerin, P., Harrison, (2011) Washington, D.C: Bureau of Justice statistics. American prisons have a disparity of minority inmate population. Is this trend due to a higher rate of minority crimes, or the manner in which the judicial system operates? Some people have negative views about the people in the inner cities where disproportionate numbers of impoverished and African Americans live. Robert Right, an evolutionary psychologist believed the high rate of young African American men in prison is due to their adaptation to poverty. Conservatives think poverty is due to African American sub culture that is pathologic. Harvard professor James Wilson claimed, “The reason why it is called an underclass is that its members have a bad character: they mug, do drugs, and desert children.” (Miller,1996). There is a recurring idea that the inner cities...
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...all citizens, and race has no weight in the American criminal justice system.[2] While the United States Constitution guarantees equal treatment of all citizens, regardless of race, racism still exists in the American law enforcement and criminal justice systems. In this era with the end of official institutional racism, there has been a corresponding shift from de jure racism to a de facto racism where members of minority groups, especially African Americans, are subject to unequal protection of the laws and excessive in the American criminal justice system, particularly in drug law enforcement.[3] Drug law enforcement is far more discretionary than for other offenses. It is for the police to decide when and where they will seek to make drug arrests, and what priority they will place on enforcing drug laws.[4] Since the war on drugs began in the 1980s, two general trends have been identified. First, there has been a substantial increasing in the number of drug arrests overall; and second, black males have constituted an increasing proportion of these arrests.[5] Based on this evidence, it would be natural to assume that the number of arrests is proportional to the crime rate – that blacks began using drugs in greater numbers since the 1980s and continue to up to the present day. In reality however, it appears that this is simply not the case. In 2000, a black male had the same likelihood of being a monthly drug user as did a white male (6.4%), while a Hispanic male...
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