Essay Sample on Criminal Justice System

I don't believe there is an incorrect answer on if the system is broken. Similar to the system itself, the answer to the question is all contingent on perspective. There are many subdivisions of America's criminal justice system from legislative involvement to criminal involvement. When we look at the system in a contemporary sense, it is broken. However, when we look from the perspective of those who shaped it, they would be gratified by the way that it functions. 

Initially, the criminal justice system had nothing to do with psychology or sociology. Its design was to support capitalism and legal slavery and it has done such that.  As America's beliefs altered so has its idea of what prison should be. However, that has not changed the way that prisoners are exploited as a cheap labor source. 

“When I think of systems of oppression historically and in this country, they’re durable. They tend to reinvent themselves, and they do it right under your nose.”- Glenn E. Martin “13th”

California is an excellent example of this with their inmate firefighters making an average of $2-5 an hour with an extra dollar for the time they are spent fighting an active fire. While it is still the highest paying job in the system in this area it still does not provide prisoners a path to continue once they have left the system. The skills they gained within the system cannot be transferred to the outside world due to the criminal history. (Shwartz/Stark) 

How do we combat a cycle everyone is aware of, yet few come to the table to enact real change? The root of these issues generally begins with trauma. While we do not know the full depths of genes and crime, we do know that many who commit crime have had trauma at some point in their life. Whether sexual trauma, food insecurity, absent parent, etc. trauma affects a young mind in a different way than an adult brain. While both can be detrimental to the victim the brain of a young child is more likely to suffer serious harm. Per the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration “The impact of child traumatic stress can last well beyond childhood. Research has shown that childhood trauma survivors may experience: Increased involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Trauma itself can stem from a variety of issues but generational trauma within families is not uncommon. To prevent crime, we must first prevent generational trauma. This is not a one size fits all option and will not be resolute with a few slight alterations. The removal of mandatory minimums would be one of these small yet helpful changes. Minimum sentences require offenders to spend a mandatory established time in prison for the crime committed. Per the Brennan Center for Justice “Mandatory minimums often apply to non-violent drug offenders forcing judges to harshly punish those who pose the least physical danger to communities.” (Cullen) This in itself is creating more violent offenders than it is rehabilitating the offender. 

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black. But by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt their communities.” – former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman quoted from “13th”

What happens when a dog enters a fighting ring? At first, the animal may be cautious and unprovoked until it is attacked. A dog once fit to be a house pet slowly turns into an animal eager to battle for its life at any given time. This is comparable to the way non-violent offenders are introduced to this system. A non-violent drug addict is introduced into a prison full of violent offenders and can be thrust into a fight for their life. 

Now a person who was non-violent now has a violent history. Once released they find it difficult to control anger and outbursts. The counseling in prison is limited to none. Inmates are not provided therapy once they are released. Mandatory sentencing can take years from an offender's life for a few minor crimes.  

This affects not only the convicted, but the family left behind as well. Children are often cast into the foster care system. Partners are left as single parents with only one source of income. Any influx of bad outcomes can come from these sentences. A small survey from the Kansas City Star reports that 1 in 4 inmates were a product of the foster care system. Imagine what it could be like if our prisons reduced 25% of their capacity. Could we focus more on rehabilitation? Spend more tax dollars on prevention than retention? We could, however, the issue must first be acknowledged in the law. 

Prison prevention is often not the main focus of these laws. The laws are designed around those who are actively involved in the system. The right to counsel while helpful when needed does not prevent the crime from happening. Search and seizure while good in theory can create crime as easily as it can stop it especially for people of color whose communities are overpoliced. 

In Terry V. Ohio we see two black men who are stopped and searched then charged with three years in prison for a weapons charge. While this particular incident did not result in a crime what happened to so many other men of color was. Most specifically in the death of Ahmaud Arbery where three white men felt that Mr. Arbery was suspicious enough to chase down and murder. Gregory McMichael believed it was his duty as a "chief investigator" for the DA's office and prior officer to approach Mr. Arbery because they believed he was a thief, they had no evidence, and Mr. Arbery lost his life in the altercation. 

The way the law is written determines everything from the taxes we pay to the schools we attend. Not only is the law involved in criminal matters but civil and societal too. From redlining to murder, it is all intertwined into a web so comprehensive you often can’t tell where one section ends, and another begins. People in prison need more than parole officers. They need psychiatrists, after-release care, and support for families during the process. This not only is necessary for the offender but the victim as well. While we will never be able to fully prevent trauma, with the right actions, we can slow it down. From Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America:

“As citizens in this democracy, we—all of us, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and others—bear a collective responsibility to enforce our Constitution and to rectify past violations whose effects endure. Few of us may be the direct descendants of those who perpetuated a segregated system or those who were its most exploited victims. African Americans cannot await rectification of past wrongs as a gift, and white Americans collectively do not owe it to African Americans to rectify them. We, all of us, owe this to ourselves. As American citizens, whatever routes we or our particular ancestors took to get to this point, we’re all in this together now.”