law essay example

law essay example

The Importance of Criminal Justice Reform

1. Introduction

The United States is known for having the most renowned justice system in the world. It is one of the very bedrocks that seem to define us as a nation and a people. It is a system that has been admired and duplicated by countries around the world. However, the reputation of the US justice system has been tainted by the increasing number of injustices being committed. This is most commonly exemplified by the massive disproportionate population of incarcerated individuals to the general population. It is estimated that the total number of prisoners held in America’s justice system has increased from 300,000 to over two million in the past thirty years. An even more frightening statistic is that one in every thirty one American adults are currently incarcerated on either parole, probation, or serving time. This, in conjunction with the racial and class dynamics of our prison population has led to the justice system being branded as racist and discriminatory. This reputation has led many citizens to question whether the justice system lives up to its own ideals and its reputation around the world.

2. Current Issues in the Criminal Justice System

Overall, class and economic disparities are a serious issue in our current justice system.

Another example of unequal treatment along economic lines is the incarceration of the mentally ill, who often become involved in the justice system due to a lack of mental health treatment alternatives. These individuals also receive harsher sentencing and often end up in state prisons due to their illnesses.

In the case of capital punishment, a condemned person’s poverty can lead to the state providing a less qualified attorney. This has led to an increase in the number of innocent persons being executed. This shows how, due to economic disparities, the justice system can wrongfully punish the poor and favor the privileged.

While the criminal justice system is not inherently ‘racist,’ it is more likely to harm racial and ethnic minorities. As a result, the system is often described as such. Supporters of this view state that the proof is in the results. The wealth of the accused often has an effect on the results of their case. Defendants with limited economic resources are unable to afford a good lawyer or necessary court fees. Consequently, they receive a lesser quality of defense that may result in longer sentencing, and the accused being wrongfully convicted for a crime that they did not commit.

3. Proposed Solutions for Criminal Justice Reform

C. Holding Prosecutors Accountable for the Wrongful Conviction of an Innocent Person. Recent DNA exonerations have shed light on the problem of wrongful convictions in the United States. It has been proven that innocent people have been convicted of capital offenses and sent to death row. Others were wrongfully convicted of crimes and have spent years in prison before evidence of their innocence came to light. In light of these disturbing findings, the ABA calls upon the government to enact legislation which creates legal remedies for persons who are the victims of prosecutorial misconduct and to establish a review board with the authority to impose sanctions on prosecutors whose misconduct causes the conviction of an innocent person. Finally, the ABA calls on the administration of justice to ensure that the capital punishment system is administered fairly and impartially and avoids the execution of innocent people.

B. Defendant’s Right to Record of the Proceedings. A mobile society, advances in technology, and the ever-increasing movement toward privatization of criminal justice services make it difficult to retrieve the record of earlier criminal proceedings when it is needed for current or potential future litigation. To ensure that a record of the proceedings is available to the accused in the future, the ABA urges legislation and implementation of court rules to require preservation of hearings and trials in both audio and visual form. This should include all testimony and other oral statements (including sidebar conferences) and the complete text of evidence and arguments of counsel.

A. Economic Disincentives to Improve the Quality of Defense Services. The ABA supports the elimination of flat fee contracts for indigent defense services. Flat fee contracting creates a disincentive to providing thorough representation. Furthermore, flat fee contracts compromise the quality of defense services by forcing contract attorneys to handle excessively high caseloads and provide representation with limited resources. When there is no cap on funding for the defense, counsel will be able to conduct the investigation and hire the experts necessary to provide quality representation. If the state fails to adequately fund indigent defense in any given case, the courts should presume that a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has occurred, requiring reversal of the conviction unless the state can prove that the error was harmless.

4. Benefits of Implementing Criminal Justice Reform

So aside from direct benefit for those in the system, an improved criminal justice system can help reduce costs and economic strain upon the nation. It is no secret that in its current state, the criminal justice system is far too expensive for the results which it yields. With fewer people in jail, aside from a population decrease, we can reduce the number of corrections positions and perhaps boost the quality of their pay. By putting the emphasis back into programs that will prevent crime, the American tax dollar will be worth not just peace of mind, but progress. And with a lower crime rate and less need for defense on criminal cases, it is very possible that the systematic effects of criminal justice reform can ultimately yield a lower cost for a higher quality.

When thinking about the benefits of criminal justice reform, you should start considering who it benefits. Over the years, prison has almost become a right of passage for the poor and some minorities, rather than a punishment. And of course, nobody wants to experience that if possible. If the quality of probation and parole is increased, as well as creating better solution programs like drug treatment and mental health care, there would be no immediate need for prison or jail. With these alternatives being more effective and less expensive, crime can be better averted, and perhaps there would be a reduction of victims from all classes and races. It is vital to remember that an ideal outcome on this topic would be equal treatment for all people, or in a less perfect world, equitable treatment for the same offenses. The American people can better realize the democratic ideals of freedom and equality which it claims to represent. This sentiment is echoed whenever the leaders of this country pass support acts to improve the criminal justice system. With a reduced crime rate and less disparity among criminals, the country can feel a whole lot safer and start directing focus towards a brighter future.

5. Conclusion

At the current pace, some of the programs necessary for reform – mental health treatment, drug treatment, and HIV prevention – will take literally several hundred years to be adopted. But even these simple, commonsense programs will only happen if the public becomes more aware of the benefits of dealing with drug use as a health issue, rather than as a criminal issue. The human rights issue is also something that has to be addressed by the public. The public needs to become more aware of who is being imprisoned and for what reasons. It’s also important to expose the public to the conditions of prison, to make the issue more real and less abstract. People seem to think ‘if someone is in prison, he deserves it’, not realizing the sheer amount of nonviolent drug offenders or the conditions that these people endure. Exposing the public to the conditions of prison can only be beneficial in sparking an interest in prison reform. The public must continue to work towards an increased awareness within the government regarding the abysmal failure of the criminal justice system. Over the past 20 years has the government been more aware of the need for drug treatment in prison? At this rate, in another 20 years the answer will be the same. Nothing. The government will not take action unless it is pushed to do so. This concept became clear only recently when the Supreme Court of British Columbia made a ruling regarding HIV and needle exchange programs. Despite a wealth of scientific evidence supporting the program, it is something that the government remains uncomfortable with. The ruling is a recent occurrence, and it suggests that only the judicial system is capable of forcing the government to make the necessary changes to the criminal justice system.