The State 's Criminal Justice System

Regardless of demographic characteristics or the number of prior criminal offenses, studies show that federal prisoners placed on community supervision consistently had lower rates of recidivism than state prisoners. Among federal prisoners conditionally released from federal prison in 2005, half (47%) were arrested within 5 years, compared to more than three-quarters (77%) of state prisoners released on community supervision in 2005. Federal prisoners (32%) also returned to prison less often than state prisoners (59%) during that time. Within 5 years of placement on community supervision, less than a third (30%) of federal prisoners had two or more arrests, compared to more than half (57%) of state prisoners. More than a third of federal prisoners (37%) had a nonfederal arrest and a third (29%) had a federal arrest within 5 years following their release. Seventy-five percent of state prisoners had a nonfederal arrest and 4% had a federal arrest during that time. Overall, 67% of all new arrests among released federal prisoners were for nonfederal charges, compared to 98% among state prisoner (Recidivism of Offenders Placed on Federal Community, 2017)

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

The United States of America is phrased by many, as being “the land of the free.” Yet, the Unites States currently has the highest per capita prison population than any other country. The United States makes up only 5% of the world’s population and of that 5%, 25% of our overall nation’s population is currently incarcerated. A few factors that attribute to our high rates of incarceration include, sentencing laws: such as mandatory- minimum sentencing, lack of initial deterrence from crime, the war on drugs and the presence of recidivism. With our ever growing incarceration rates and the cost of housing individual offenders averaging $22,000 a criminal justice agenda. Recidivism refers to a person 's relapse into criminal behavior resulting in rearrests, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner 's release (National Institute of Justice.) Many programs have been implemented in our prison system to help reduce the recidivism rates. Programs such as educational/ vocational programming, reentry programs, substance abuse programs and subsidized employment are among many programs in which have been proven effective. Yet, due to costs deficits, the clock is ticking to find evidence based programs to invest in. So, the question currently being sought after is, which method is most effective in reducing recidivism rates?

Among nearly 100,000 youth under age 18 released from U.S. prisons each year, the majority “are not provided with the critical assistance necessary for successful transition back to their communities, schools, homes, and peer groups” (Youth Reentry, 2012, p. 1). Instead, these youths return to neighborhoods that tend to lack the support programs necessary to ensure a positive transition back into mainstream society. Disturbingly, these youths frequently return to neighborhoods with high crime

The Texas criminal justice system has several key objectives: discover the truth, provide for public safety, assist the victims of the crime, punish the guilty, and promote positive change in the offending behavior. The purpose of the Criminal Justice System is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them stop the offending, while protecting the innocent.

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration. It spends more resources on its prison system than any other nation and has the largest prison population in the world. Between 1980 and 2016, the number of inmates in U.S. state and federal prisons increased from 320,000 to more than 1.5 million. This corresponds to a change in the incarceration rate from 139 to 450 prisoners per 100,000 residents. Most lawmakers tend to believe that incarceration is a necessary construct needed to reform criminals to properly incorporate them into society. They insist imprisonment reduces crime rates through incapacitation and deterrence. Thus, it is not surprising that expenditures on corrections increased as states built new prisons,

Across the United States, city and county governments seek to gain revenue through the illegitimate jailing of indigent defendants who cannot afford to pay the large and cumbersome fines that accompany committing (seemingly petty) crimes— such as missing court dates, a requirement for classes such as anger management, the list goes on. Indeed, the practice of debtor’s prison has long been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court within the United States, yet a contemporary form of debtor’s prison has begun to take form which targets vulnerable populations. When an individual commits a crime, they are to be justly punished. If this punishment consists of a fine, that fine is expected to be paid accordingly; if the fined individual simply does not have the time or money to pay these steep fines, however, they are sent to jail indefinitely. This rise of financial burden imposed upon the liberty of low income citizens through the fining, issuing of fees, and jail time sanctioned by the criminal justice system has resulted in new, illegitimate, and ostensibly unconstitutional forms of debtor’s prisons that permeate contemporary U.S. society. Jeopardizing the liberty of vulnerable populations, based upon material inequality and extraction of necessary resources, only does one thing within a society: continue the cycle of poverty and increase the poor’s dependence upon the rich for their liberty, equality and most importantly, survival.

Prisoner reentry has recently returned to policymaking agenda, as the need to remedy the cycle of incarceration is being acknowledge and addressed. With this renewed interest in reentry come federal funds and an effort to rigorously evaluate programs aimed at helping prisoners successfully reintegrate into their communities. This paper examines these initiatives, describing lessons learned and identifying obstacles of both program implementation and evaluation. The goal is to provide insights and recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in order to facilitate the development of evidence-based practices. I find that many

The population of offenders in correctional institutions in the United States is at an alarming amount, and it doesn’t have to be. Each year 7 million offenders are absorbed and expelled from correctional institutions and jails, placing a heavy burden on the criminal justice system (Morgan, 2011). Many of these offenders will recidivate, and with rates that are estimated at 70%, means 4.9 million will eventually return to the criminal justice system, creating a vicious cycle of arrest, re-arrest, and imprisonment (Morgan, 2011). Among this population are offenders with mental illnesses that need to be addressed, or specialized care that needs to be administered. Without the support of mental health programs such as mental health court,

Crime takes place all the time and it is America’s duty to ensure that these criminals are properly punished for their wrongdoings. With rehabilitation, one can not ensure that if given a second chance the criminal will not offend again. We need to confront crime with a proper punishment and that is where retribution comes in. With retribution society appears more secure and crimes of violence decrease. Since it is essential to control violence in society, retribution is essential. Retribution should undoubtedly be favored over rehabilitation in America’s criminal justice system because it enforces the law and ensures justice. Newman as a punishment for crime , “poor results Foundation work for other agencies to tackle crime.” Death leads to the front. Murder they are . Also open to allow them to better everyday in addition, the complex moral crime.

In 2014, the United States incarcerated 449,000 newly convicted offenders while releasing 636,300 inmates (Carson, 2015). Upon release, offenders were expected to be able to function back in society under parole supervision. This is not the case for many offenders. As they are released from prison, they lack the necessary skills, education, opportunities and support system to successfully reintegrate back into society (Petersilia, 2000; Travis & Visher, 2003). In 2005, research showed that 67.8% of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and 76.6% were arrested within 5 years (Cooper 2014). The high percentage of recidivism is overpopulating correctional facilities while producing a cycling effect for offenders. To attack the issue of recidivism this paper will address the following question: How does lack of support system and resulting poverty influence prisoner re-entry? What are some programs or policies we can incorporate to reduce recidivism?

More than 700,000 offenders are released from state and federal prisons every year with over two-thirds returning to jail within three years of their release. Reentry programs are created to aid offenders that are incarcerated make an effective transition into society once they are released. Reentrance into ones community from a stay in jail or prison is a difficult transition for most offenders, not to mention for their family and even the community. There are many trials for these offender, such as being uneducated, therefore not able to find adequate employment, drug abuse, limited options for housing and mental health issues. (Prisoner Reentry Programs: Ensuring a Safe and Successful Return to the Community. (n.d.).)

Many believe that the criminal justice system of our nation was created with the intentions of keeping our neighborhoods safe, by maintaining law and order within our communities. Has our criminal justice system failed in fulfilling its purpose? Has the system been redesigned with the intentions of unfairly targeting minority men? It seems clear that many agencies have been structured to unfairly target men of color, through many controversial tactics. It is also quite evident that the contentious policing tactics that have been deployed in many minority communities have severed policing relations in these neighborhoods. These unfair tactics have led to the unnecessary death of many minority men. Many believe that there are areas of needed

Police departments are constantly trying to reduce crime with the help of technology. In 2010, researchers believed they had created an algorithm that could calculate future crimes. The Santa Cruise Police Department applied this algorithm hoping to locate possible delinquencies. This predicative policing algorithm deploys officers to the most targeted locations. The algorithm is a mixture of anthropological and criminological behavior research. It uses mathematics to estimate crime and predict future crimes locations within 500-square-feet. To determine criminal patterns, the system uses historical and current data to focus on gang violence, batteries, aggravated assaults, drug crimes, along with many more similar crimes. In order for the data to be secure, the employees transfer the data on selected crime types from the records management system to the secure Web-based program. After a period of six months, the police department indicated that the crime rate of burglaries and motor vehicle thefts had decreased. The Los Angeles Police Department tested the program and also noticed a decrease in crime. Though change is difficult, the Santa Cruise Police Department emphasized that the new system does not supersede officer intuition but enhances it. The program also does not replace officer’s education and expertise, but puts them in the right place to prevent

Community outreach such community supervisions for probation and parole is important. Prisons, psychiatric hospitals, or other community based housing also help when an individual can’t be in their own home after being convicted of a crime. According to the National Institute of Justice, about 495,000 of the 750,000 prisoners who will be released this year are likely to be rearrested within three years. With effective programs, we could reduce the number of repeat offenders by nearly 100,000. Pertisiila, J. (2011, November 03). Each year, the IDOC releases over 20,000 offenders back into their communities. Their goal is to prepare offenders to lead productive lives and equip them to integrate back into society, while still ensuring that public safety remains a top priority. Partnering with communities on the vital issue of