Criminal Justice Issues in the US Today - Assignment Example

Criminal Justice Issues in the US Today Affiliation] Criminal Justice Issues in the US Today The United s has the highest rate of incarceration in the world today. This has been a major issue of concern among the law makers. Whether it’s the society to blame or the criminal justice system is a debatable matter. Incarceration rate in the US is the most pressing issue in the criminal justice today. Statistics show that from the 1980s the number of incarcerated people has tripled. Furthermore, the cost that the state incurs on prisons has also risen to more than six times of the expenditure on higher education (Adam, 2012).

This is attributed to mandatory sentencing laws that were enacted in the 80s; the post- Rockefeller drug laws where minor offenses are punished with major imprisonment. These laws limited the available options to a judge in determining the final ruling. Originally these laws had been put in place in effort to implement the zero tolerance policy against use of drug. It is a well known fact that drugs use especially among youths and teenagers has been a major issue in the country. Particularly, the rise in the abuse of methamphetamine is thought to be the major contributing factor towards the rise in the incarceration rate.

It is the most destructive and addictive drug which is being blamed for the recent rise in suicides, family violence and criminal acts (Howard, 2007). If these statistics and findings are anything to go by, building more prisons and increasing sentences is not the solution to reducing crime, drug use and the alarming rate of incarceration. Legislators need to think along solutions like rehabilitation and deterrence. Rise in crime has mostly been as a result of drug use. That means that putting up measures that will see to it that drug use has been significantly reduced will lead to reduction in criminal acts by a remarkable margin.

What drug addicts need is rehabilitation. Longtime imprisonment has proved to be a futile effort leading to higher unnecessary government expenditure. These finances can be channeled to other more advantageous projects such as building more healthcare facilities. References Adam Gopnik. (2012). The Gaging of America. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik Howard Unger. (2007). Policy Today. Criminal Justice in America. Retrieved from