In 1976, a scholar on crime and justice by the name of Guenther offered a compelling assessment of the state of the criminal justice system. The argument he presented is one in which the criminal justice system came to reflect a system that was inherently “unfair, harsh, and biased”. From the perspective of Guenther, this system could no longer be considered a Criminal Justice System and instead should be viewed as a Criminal Processing System. Upon further analysis, it can be found that The criminal justice system is unfair, harsh, and biased because of the relationship between social, economic, and political isolation, the politicalization of crime, and perceptions and stereotypes.
The criminal justice system must be accountable, transparent, …show more content…
The politicalization of crime is harsh because it allows political figures to capitalize on the insecurity of citizens and the vulnerabilities of the marginalized. For example, In the mid-1960s, President Johnson issued a crime commission on law enforcement and administration of justice that called for more action to be taken regarding fighting crime and repairing the american criminal justice system. In its implementation, the crime commission resulted in severe evaluations and reforms, in turn, causing massive unrest among the people. Such harsh political influence over society is not uncommon. In fact, Mass social unrest existed throughout the 1960s and well into the early 1970s. Though, by the 1970s, political figures had begun to focus on targeting a suitable enemy (Wacquant, 1999). The suitable enemy is usually a vulnerable minority. In politics, the suitable enemy is used to convince a dominant group they deserve more or more generally that one group is more deserving than another. Judicial practices tend systematically to disadvantage persons who are or are perceived to be of foreign origin. In doing so, the criminal justice system is refusing to adhere to all of packer’s assumptions and is sequentially …show more content…
Economic isolation presents itself through dependency on government financial aid programs and overall economic inequality. While the wage gap had existed for decades, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the gap began to decimate society. The 1970s were a decade of economic hardship as the percentages of inflation and unemployment increased dramatically. A limitation on resources pushed the government to increase prices and in turn made commodities more difficult for citizens to afford, pushing them into economic vulnerability. Such economic uncertainty pushed citizens living below the margin to turn to government assistant programs. However, those in society who are in a position to receive financial aid are forced to remain in that position. If those receiving financial aid partake in certain jobs or receive a promotion and find their circumstances to be improving, the government will no longer support them. This causes them to fall back into the position they started because while their situation may have been improving, it is usually not enough for them to support themselves on their own. Thus demonstrating the unfair interrelationship between dependency on government financial aid and the economic hardships of inflation and unemployment in the 1970s. (Hogan, Chiricos, and Gertz,