Criminal Justice Trend Evaluation

Criminal Justice trends in the past, present and future will be discussed and an evaluation of where this system has been and where it is seemingly going. The connection Criminal Justice has with society really has been a double-edged sword. Relationships have been forged at every angle to ensure a responsive system will be effective at every level; allowing for safer tomorrows. While evaluating some of the trends in Criminal Justice, there have been some correction, terrorism and the war on drugs situations that evaluations prove insightful. Correction is definitely one of the main issues that have plagued the Criminal Justice system.

Correction plays an integral part in the Criminal Justice system. The problem is there are so many issues past and present that need to be addressed in order for it to operate in a way that it is effective at every spectrum. Looking over the past; before so many laws were enacted prisons were not overcrowded; well needless to say today's time yield prisons with inmates bursting at the seam. It is unfortunate; laws now mandate longer and stiffer penalties for criminals. The one that tends to be hard to understand is; if you sell illegal drugs within a certain distance of a school or place of worship, the sentence in some states is considerable stiffer than if you are on the corner near an abandon building. What is the difference; simply put, it is demographics by all terms of an evaluation. Now rehabilitation has taken place and time has been served; it is time to reenter society there are no jobs because employers want hire convicted felons, what purpose will be served for all of the monies spent on the offender; one word, recidivism!!! Corrections in the past as well as present and into the future will have to work with Social Workers, Outreach Specialist, and Medical staff to equip offenders for dealing with an ever changing society. In a Vision for Change it states," In recent years, incarcerated individuals have faced momentous social, psychological, and legal barriers as they have sought to reenter society." (Muraskin & Roberts; 2005) Without these partnerships in society; corrections as a whole will be unable to meet the necessary requirement of producing a successful offender. Correction in the Criminal Justice has a lot of potential for the twenty-first century but programs that work hand and hand with helping to retrain the brain of an offender will definitely be in great demand and will require resources from society. Correction truly has some barriers in Criminal Justice but society as a whole looks at terrorism as one with barriers to overcome.

Certainly the thought of being attacked on foreign soil is a thought many Americans could imagine but being attacked on soil that breathes freedom; is not something imaginable. Terrorism is on the forefront and minds of American citizen; after the first plane flew into the Twin Tower on September 11, 2001. Three thousand Americans lost their lives and life from that point forward would never be the same. The devastation that rocked individuals during that specific attack; would burn an invisible fear of invasion that could span a lifetime. When looking at it from the Criminal Justice stand point and trying to figure out how such an attack became eminent, leads to how can such attack be prevented in the future. Sadly; the infamous stereotype takes a grip of ideas and the mind has tricky of forcing fear among most. In a Vision for Change it states, " With the issue of profiling members of certain ethnic and religious groups are being typecast as possible terrorists. In the twenty-first century, we must be concerned with the potentiality of terrorism but concerned as well with ethnicity and human rights" (Muraskin & Roberts; 2005). The Criminal Justice then tends to get caught up in the allowing for discrimination to be a major factor in how policing is handled. Terrorism has fueled a lot of unwarranted acts that cannot be challenged nor changed because of what happened in the past. In order for terrorism to be eradicated in the twenty- first century, Criminal Justice components will have to see everything as "grey" across the board in America. "The fight against terrorism will have to be a continuous battle that the Criminal Justice system will have to work with government at all levels and focus on future endeavors to ensure the safety of all Americans." (Garland,2001). When evaluating the safety of American from terrorism looking at how to curb the war on drugs in the twenty-first century will definitely be helpful to a fractured Criminal Justice.

The war on drugs in the Criminal Justice system is a key component figuring out how to reduce sentencing and overcrowded prison in the twenty-first century. As stated in Vision for Change, "The large use of illegal drugs in this country and the incarceration of those who are convicted of using them make it very clear that incarceration does not break the cycle of illegal drug use." (Muraskin & Roberts; 2005). As fate would have it most of inmate who are incarcerated in the twenty-first century or minority. How did it come to a point criminals would be defined by shades of skin. The realization is the Criminal Justice system has disported thinking in regard to African American and it is something which has been evaluated and determined that there is a link between to war on drugs and African American. The war on drugs is one that has been looked at time and time again and it comes to the mere notion of a shade of black. "Of critical importance is that while federal, state, and local mandates pursued a "War on Drugs," local police departments were