Preview

Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1832 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice
The United States Criminal Justice System is a fundmental part to society that focuses on protecting citizens in the United States Constiution as well as ensuring each individual is law adbiding law and not commiting serious acts of crimes. Each law was put in state and federal statues to ensure it continues and as time has changed some of the laws have not changed. In present day, the criminal justice system faces comptemporary issues as well as trends that not only affect today but in the future and how important each member of society hold a significant value to the criminal justice system.
For many decades the criminal justice system has endured many issues and problems that are currently questioning exactly how fair United States Criminal Justice system is to citizens and criminals that participate in both misdeameanor and violent offenses. The Corrections Department is one specific department that faces many controversies involving the validilty of one’s constitutional right of the Eighth Amendment. The Founding Fathers created one of the famous amendments that prohibits the law from enforcing cruel and unusual punishment in capital punishment. At one time, capital punishment consisted of electrocution, firing squad, and the gas chamber. Unfortunately, many individuals believe that this form of punishments were cruel and unusual and many states eliminated these methods in their executions. In present day, lethal injection is the new method used in state executions that have not banned the death penalty as a form of punishment. The death penalty is used in only 32 states as of 2014 however the re-creation of lethal drug cocktail makes the world ponder if the lethal injection method is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. The issue of the new combination of lethal injections drugs have many opposers speculating should the death row inmate have the legal right to know exactly what is behind the newly developed death penalty drugs as well as if it

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Today our world is filled with crime. People who tends to commits such crimes must have consequences for their illegal actions. “The Criminal Justice System,” is a system that keeps everything fair and safe. This system was set up in order to ensure that fairness and justice will be served to people who breaks that laws.…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Criminal Justice Trends

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Criminal justice system is forever changing to protect and server society. Relationships between the United States government, state, and local policing looking at programs from the past, need changes for the future. State and local law enforcement responsibilities, and functions in fighting crime by enforcing laws, apprehending offenders, preventing crime, and preserving the peace, has changed since September 11, 2001. State law enforcement is expanding their responsibilities, changed from acts of terrorisms, new laws, and procedures of new types of crimes. Cyber-crime, new technology, terrorism, immigration, drug, and human trafficking contributing for changes in laws nationally and international. Need to identify and assess recent and future trends that affect the criminal justice system (Homeland Security and Law Enforcement” 2009)…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 4048 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Thesis: Capital punishment is useless as a deterrent, morally indefensible, discriminatory in practice, and prone to errors that may have led to the execution of wrongfully convicted people. Its continuing legality in the United States is critically undermining American moral stature around the world. The Supreme Court should bring the United States in line with the rest of the civilized world and hold that death is a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Summary: The death penalty process consumes tremendous amounts of money and resources and fails to deter criminal activity. It is not uniformly applied geographically, and where it is allowed, it is used in an often arbitrary and racist manner. As a result, states have been curtailing the use of the death penalty, the Supreme Court has limited its application, and both death sentences and executions are down sharply. This is at odds with the recent efforts of some states to expand the range of capital crimes, and with national polls which still reflect a clear majority of Americans favor capital punishment. Meanwhile, momentum has been accelerating in the international community to abolish the death penalty, and the United States is increasingly criticized for failing to keep in step with other civilized nations in this area. Capital Punishment in the United States Since the 1977 resumption of capital punishment in the United States, nearly 1,100 convicted prisoners have been put to death in the thirty-eight US states where the practice remains legal. As of the beginning of 2007, approximately 3,350 people remain on death row in American prisons. In recent years, the evidence has shown that the death penalty process consumes tremendous amounts of money and resources and fails to deter criminals. FBI Uniform Crime…

    • 4048 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Criminal Justice Trends

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Within this paper I will discuss past, current, and future trends and how it affects and changes our criminal justice system. I will also address recent and future trends and contemporary issues that affect the criminal justice system, as well as the values of the criminal justice system in a changing society.…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The death penalty in the U.S. has been and continues to be a controversial debate between citizens. Debate regarding the policies, laws and if the death penalty is the best way to punish offenders who commit violent crimes. The history of the death penalty in the United States dates back to the late 1970s. Between 1968 and 1977 there were no executions in the United States. In the Supreme Court case of Furman v. Georgia, the court ruled that capital punishment, as it currently employed on the state and federal level is unconstitutional (Jones, 2006). The Eighth Amendment states that any form of capital punishment qualifies as “cruel and unusual punishment.” The use of executions during this time was primarily based on race and was considered by the Supreme Court as “arbitrary and capricious.”…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For the past 50 years, America’s criminal justice system has encountered several significant changes dealing with courts and policing. According to Marion and Oliver (2006), the historical Supreme Court rulings like Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona mold the way courts and law enforcement handle individuals charged with committing crimes. This paper will discuss the evolution of courts and law enforcement reflects the diverse and changing need for today’s population which is first importance, the urgency for cooperation and communication among criminal justice agencies and law enforcement within the country. Individuals must know the importance for courts and police to collaborate closely together for the goal of ensuring all laws are applied fair and equally, protect the public, and prevent crimes for all individuals.…

    • 1878 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The criminal justice system is an important aspect of American society along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The purpose of laws is to protect society from harm, make certain everyone’s safety, and equally treated. The criminal justice system works to protect the innocent and punish the guilty without violating the rights the criminal suspect to avoid any injustices. As society develops the criminal justice system needs to evolve so it is important to create new laws to keep up with the evolution and new trends. As new trends and contemporary issues develop in society, they can have a straight impact on the different roles of the criminal justice system, such as technology, capital punishment, and sentencing policies, which have great effects the criminal justice system. Also the police, courts, and corrections play an important role ensuring justice.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The courts, police, and correctional facilities make up the criminal justice system. Their significance plays a crucial role in the development of public policy issues. A comparative analysis is conducted over the past 50 years of how the courts, police, and correctional facilities impacted these policy changes. Additionally various opportunities exist between the criminal justice policy and the criminal justice system.…

    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This paper discusses what society expects of the police, courts, corrections, and how they are realized and unfulfilled. In addition, the employees of the system, their goals, expectations, and temptations and the differences in their goals from society 's goals. Last, is to discuss the individuals that are charged by the system and their legitimate and non-legitimate needs.…

    • 2207 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The definition of the criminal justice system is best described as a search for the truth, it is the system of law enforcement, the bar, the judiciary, corrections, and probation that is directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution, and defense, sentencing, incarceration, and supervision of those suspected of or charged with criminal offences. However know human is perfect and due to the justice system being handled by…

    • 5096 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “The Federal Government Plans To Seize Nebraska’s Illegal Execution Drug Shipment When It Arrives In The U.S.”, author Chris McDaniel writes about a letter from the FDA explaining that Nebraska next shipment of execution drugs would be illegal. As well, the repeal of the death penalty that happened in the Nebraska legislature. The death penalty is a dividing issue in the United States because the ongoing debate over its constitutionality. In this debate over its constitutionality, I side against the death penalty. I am against the death penalty because if exonerating evidence surfaces after a prisoner is executed there is no way to fix it. Also, I question the appropriate method for execution with the issue of cruel and unusual…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States (U.S.) Criminal Justice System (CJS) consists of three interconnected branches that rely on communication and collaborative efforts to function and meet the needs of society. The three CJS branches of law enforcement, courts, and corrections can appear autonomous but it is common for all three branches to share responsibilities and rely on information collected from various areas of the CJS. Some examples of necessary collaboration and communication situations between CJS branches include legal searches, investigations, and pre-sentence reporting. Supreme Court decisions or major state cases will also influence the roles and responsibilities of the CJS branches at both the state and federal levels (Fagin, 2017). Lastly, research…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Justice Means to Me

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Criminal Justice in today's society is over whelming with fears of being wrongly accused for a crime that was not committed by that individual . Justice is defined in a lot of ways being able to adequately give equal punishment for crimes committed; Our justice system sets an example .…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Us Crime Measurement

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    References: EduDecisions. (2012). The United States Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from EduDecisions Web site: http://www.edudecisions.com/articles/criminal-justice-careers/system.php…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The eighth amendment states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. Many people’s arguments against the death penalty seem to revolve around its violation with this amendment. In my opinion this argument is invalid because although death was once considered a “cruel and unusual punishment through its earlier methods, no such inhumane treatment is used today. We have abolished the electric chair and the archaic practices of hanging and death by a firing squad to make way for more civilized means of ending a life. Most states use a regimen of 3 drugs. The first of these, sodium pentothal, renders the inmate completely unconscious. This drug is the same one used by anesthesiologists in surgical procedures, such as the removal of your wisdom teeth or the implantation of new breasts. It is given in greater amounts to the prisoner to ensure no discomfort is felt when the second and third drugs effectively quell the heartbeat of the inmate.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays