Criminal Justice System Analysis

Alexander believed that rates and patterns of drug crime do not explain the fact that although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white, but prisons are only filled with blacks and Latinos. Now the statement she made is very much so true when it relates to the criminal justice system. Now I am not saying that blacks are not drug dealers but they are not along Whites sell three times as much as a black individual. Just recently down from my home, a white man who had been selling drugs for years was finally caught by the feds. However, if was living in white community with his black wife and mix kids he probably would have never got caught. This is because the police do not ride in the white area trying to catch someone

In the beginning of chapter one, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Florida v. J.L, a police officer may not search individuals based merely on an anonymous tip. The anonymous tip received was that a black man standing at a bus stop was carrying a concealed firearm. Out of the three black men at the bus stop, they searched the man wearing the plaid shirt, as described in the tip. Although public safety issues were recognized, the conviction was overturned. This unlawful search violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states, in simpler terms, that the police cannot search an individual or take their property without probable cause.

Many different states have begun sending nonviolent drug offenders to various kinds of drug treatment program the state offers. By doing this, it has significantly reduced the problems with overcrowding. If an individual is arrested and charged with simple possession of a drug and no other crime is being commented, then this person is doing no harm to anyone else. They should be given the opportunity to try and make a change in their life and beat the addiction. Instead, if this person is thrown into jail, they are still going to be an addict with a criminal record now and will not be able to be a contributing member of society. (Everett 1 ).

Since the origination of drug treatment courts, there has been countless numbers of offenders who have successfully completed the program and fought their way past drug abuse. There are also a handful of offenders who may have struggled to change their drug abuse or addiction, and fell short of completing the program. In this second part of my report, I will be determining whether drug treatment court programs actually work. To accomplish this task, I will be reviewing three empirical studies to evaluate how effective the program truly is.

Drug addiction has increased drastically across America in the last fifty years. Non-violent drug offenders fill our jails and prisons. Taxpayer dollars are put into a prison system that is proving to be counter-productive. Recidivism rates are high. Drug Court is an alternative to incarceration that offers rehabilitation to criminal offenders. In drug court, the traditional functions of the U.S. justice system are profoundly altered. The judge is the leader of a treatment team. The judge makes all final decisions and holds a range of discretion unprecedented in the courtroom, including the type of treatment mandated and how to address

In 1989, the first drug court came into existence in Miami-Dade County, Florida. They emerged in response to demands for change in the criminal justice system because of the War on Drug. (Listwan, Sundt, Holsinger, & Latessa, 2003) By 2007, drug courts were established in all 50 states. Statistics show that the prison population of women increased because of the War on drug policies. (Shaffer, Hartman, & Listwan, 2009) The drug court model became an alternative to sanctions given to drug offenders. Drug courts address addiction by merging treatment services, judicial monitoring, and probation supervision. (King & Pasquarella, 2009; NADCP, 2005; Shaffer, Hartman, & Listwan, 2009)

Drug abuse is shown to be connected to all different kinds of crime in the United States, and in many circumstances, crime is inspired by drug abuse and addiction. In fact, 80% of criminal offenders abuse drugs or alcohol (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Also, 60% of those who are arrested test positive for illicit drugs when they are arrested, and 60-80% commit another crime, typically drug-related, after leaving prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). And, even after these individuals put in the time in prison that would allow them to go through the uncomfortable process of detoxing, 95% of them will chose to go back to drug abuse after prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Given these overwhelming statistics, it is clear that drug abuse, and repeated or continued drug abuse, are a serious problem facing the criminal justice system.

Department of Justice cautioned, however, that “caseload limits alone cannot keep public defenders from being overworked into ineffectiveness; two additional protections are required. First, a public defender must have the authority to decline appointments over the caseload limit. Second, caseload limits are no replace¬ment of a careful analysis of a public de¬fender’s workload, a concept that takes into account all of the factors affecting a public defender’s ability to adequately represent clients, such as the complexity of cases on a defender’s docket, the defender’s skill and experience, the support services available to the defender, and the defender’s other duties.” Workload maximums, therefore, are not some arbitrary number to be chased after by policymakers in budget debates. They are a mechanism to ensure that the minimum obligations owed by the attorney to the accused can be met in equal measure for each of his clients. And if the addition of one more case will mean he can no longer provide effective services to each of his clients, then the attorney must not take that next case. (Mosher

The objective of drug courts is to impede the neglect of illegal drugs and alcohol related criminal wrongdoing. Additionally, drug courts encourage reclamation using a corresponding reaction to criminal violators reliant on alcohol and other illicit drugs. More importantly, apprehension of these objectives necessitates a group method, together with teamwork and support of the prosecutors, judges, probation officers, defense attorneys, and other correctional facilities staff, law enforcement agencies, treatment facilities and halfway houses, and public neighborhoods. Federal and State programs assessing alcohol and drug issues, vocational rehabilitation, housing, and education also have significant responsibilities in the rehabilitation of drug

After the Court`s decision, Gideon was appointed an attorney and acquitted after an hour long deliberation by the jury. Many people were released and retried based on Gideon`s decision. The Court had a great intent and vision that the right to counsel is required at all critical stages of the justice process. However, recent studies have displayed that public defenders and court appointed lawyers are disproportionately underfunded compared to private attorneys. Public defenders experience a great workload having multiple court appearances a day, and on average spending only 7 minutes to prepare and review for the trial. This data shows that indigent defendants are not represented properly in the court of law and it forces the accused to plea

Currently, drug courts have been proven to be successful at reducing recidivism of offenders. In the United States there are about 120,000 people receiving help in order to rehabilitate them and to try to reduce the chances of recidivism (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2011). These programs require individuals to participate in the programs for a minimum of one year. During this year the individuals are required to appear in court and be drug tested at

The United States Correctional System is often challenged as to whether it wants to rehabilitate drug offenders or punish them, and because of this it mostly does neither. Even though drug abuse and drug trafficking are widely spread national issues, the mental, social, and economic costs of "healing" through incarceration are only making the "disease" worse. Never before have more prisoners been locked up on drug offenses than today. Mixed with the extremely high risks of today's prison environment, the concept of incarceration as punishment for drug offenders cannot be successful. Without the correct form of rehabilitation through treatment within Michigan's Correctional System, drug

Those incarcerated today are not given the chance to change their behavior patterns, especially when it is in regard to drug addiction. The criminal justice system in general does not consider drug abuse as anything but a crime and does not think about treating the disease of addiction in order to reduce or eliminate the crimes that come as a

One of the most profound problems that plagues our society is drug addiction. With drug addiction comes those who offend and have run-ins with the law. Our country deals with these drug-addicted offenders by placing them in jails for a year or longer, only to have them come back out to society when their sentence is over. They are still drug-addicts and so they return to the street only to commit yet another crime. From here the cycle of crime, arrest, jail, and return to society continues, solving absolutely nothing. Therefore, placing drug-addicted offenders in jails fails to confront the major problem at hand which is that of the drug abuse. If drug-addicted offenders were placed in drug treatment centers instead of being incarcerated,

Analyzing the criminal justice system is somewhat challenging because it is a very complex structure, furnishing thousands of tedious elements. However, there are dependable methods that guide researchers to new explanations. Essentially, the use of theory and crime measurement plays an important role in attempting to distinguish a better understanding of why criminal behavior occurs and how the system functions.