Challenges That Face Criminal Justice System of the USA - Essay Example

Section/# Issue Analysis: An Examination of Three Salient Challenges that Currently Face the United s Criminal Justice System As the complexity of our society has increased, so have the number of challenges that face the criminal justice system. This brief analysis will seek to review, explain, analyze, and offer a subset of recommendation for three such challenges that currently face the system. The three challenges which will be analyzed include: the problems associated with incarceration for profit, the increasing percentage of total population within the United States that is being incarcerated, and the effects that the War on Drugs has had with overall stress on the criminal justice system. These topics have been chosen as a function of their interconnected nature as well as the fact that it is this authors belief that each of these situations works to exponentially complicate and compound the primary issue that the US criminal justice system faces; namely overcrowding in its penitentiary system. The first issue that this analysis will consider relates to the issue that has evolved from what this author will deem “incarceration for profit”. Although few individuals in the United States are aware of this practice, the fact of the matter is that it has grown from an isolated incidence to a multi-million dollar a year industry. The central issue can be explained as a system whereby overburdened municipalities cannot immediately afford the massive expense that is called for in order to build a new penitentiary system. As a way to bridge this gap while making a substantial profit, private firms enter into the equation and offer the municipality a joint venture which is oftentimes hard to resist. These firms offer to front the necessary capital to build the facility as well as staff it with private contracting security firms. The catch then comes as the municipality agrees to an extended lease of the facility. Although at face value this may seem an ingenious way for a private firm to work to alleviate the strains that a municipality may have with relation to prison overcrowding, it is however slightly more sinister than one would at first presume. Due to the fact that a private firm now has stake in the criminal justice system, a system that arguably the state and the state alone should have prevue over, the interests of rehabilitation and reform are placed as secondary to overall profit. Such a situation is counter to the very foundations of what the criminal justice system is supposed to provide to society. In this way, incarceration has become the primary focus of policy makers and local leaders whereas the needs of those incarcerated as well as the secondary objectives of rehabilitation and reform are all but forgotten in a drive to provide more “bed space” for existing and incoming offenders. This issue has been compounded by a host of policy decisions; some of these are beyond the scope of this individual analysis. However, two of the complicating factors will be discussed at greater length within this analysis. Likewise, the second challenge which faces the current criminal justice system is the result of the failed War on Drugs. The “war on drugs” began in 1971 as a mandate from President Richard M. Nixon. Rather than engage in a thesis length discussion as to the nature of drug usage and whether it is a victimless crime in society, this paper will focus on the obscenely high costs that are associated with the unsuccessful prosecution of this war on drugs. In 2010 alone, the United States federal government expended in excess of 15 billion USD to combat the drug problem in the United States.1 This figure expands when one considers the fact that taken on aggregate, state and local governments expended a further 25 billion dollars during the very same period. The expenditure alone however is only a portion of the problem. Drug related arrests account for in excess of 13% of all arrests that are made; more than any other crime with respect to total annual arrests made (Drug War Clock 2011). However, regardless of the amount of money that is allocated to the drug war, little if any direct effect seems to be appreciated. Drugs are readily available on any street in America; smuggling and trafficking activities are higher in occurrence than were previously observed in the early 1970s when the war on drugs began. Similarly, the drug epidemic, and our nation’s dependence on such elicit substances, has worked to thoroughly destabilize our southern neighbor. Similarly, the United States has seen an exponential growth among the number of incarcerated persons as a function of percentage of total population. Although it is a not a point that many would be happy to reveal, the United States imprisons more individuals per capita than any other nation on earth. This is odd for a relatively peaceful nation that prides itself on being the beacon of liberty and freedom for the rest of the world. This trend has not always existed however and is intimately and inexorably tied to the other two issues that this author has thus far considered in this analysis. Figure 1.0 displays the number of incarcerated persons as a percentage of the total US population as a function of time. Figure 1.0 In this graphic, one can readily see that a rapid increase in overall incarceration rates has been affected over the past 30 years of US history. One might reasonably expect that the overall crime rate or the population rate must have risen equally dramatically during the same period. However, this is not the case. The United States population has experienced approximately a 26% growth rate from that of 1980. Accordingly, the crime rate, as compared with 1980 has actually dropped. As such, one might be inclined to question how if crime rates have dropped and the population growth has been confined to a relatively small percentage, what has contributed to a 4 fold increase in imprisonment rates. The reason for this is the series of draconian 3 strike laws and other such implements that are on the books in a number of jurisdictions. Additionally, although violent crime rates have been consecutively dropping since their high in the late 1980s, drug related crimes and arrests have remained static and in some cases even grown. Accordingly, one can easily understand what seems to be an ever-increasing percentage of the general population imprisoned to be indicative of the overall failure the nation’s drug policy has had to effect any real positive societal change. Although this is a tangential point, it bears mention. The fact of the matter is that the United States is entering into what can only be considered uncharted territory with relation to the extremely high number of individuals imprisoned per capita. This uncharted territory is bound to have negative repercussions as many of the non-violent criminals, after experiencing the harsh realities of prison, will likely become conditioned to pursue more violent crimes in the future. Even if this is not the case, the societal ramification of a nation of former inmates is a situation that gives every pause when it is considered. Rather than continuing to insist on heavy prison sentences for repeated drug usage, the United States criminal justice system should seek out a model that is more in keeping with other developed nations. In effect, keeping drug offenders locked up for a crime that is likely the result of inherent addiction and chemical dependence is not only counter-intuitive, it costs the nation hundreds of billions of dollars in lost potential and incarceration fees on an annual basis. This has combined to create what one might deem as a perfect storm with relation to the criminal justice system. Due to the fact that the failed war on drugs is effecting little overall change, other than generating a high number of inmates for an already overcrowded and overburdened criminal justice system, the process is further exacerbated. Likewise, the situation is further compounded by the fact that for profit entities find it in their interest to maintain most prison systems at maximum capacity for as long a period as possible. Lastly, the fact the United States criminal justice system is struggling with an ever increasing number of incarcerations per capita is indicative of the other problems that this analysis has examined. Furthermore, these three distinct situations can be understood as providing a unique synergy among themselves. By working to alleviate the stress of the system with respect to further regulating any of these component parts, one could reasonably expect to lessen the overall problem that is faced by the compound result of each. Reference Drug War Clock | DrugSense. (2011, June 6). DrugSense. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock Read More