Reforming the U S Criminal Justice System

The Need for Criminal Justice Reform in the United States

3.0 Understand the Need for Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal justice reforms in the United States have attracted the attention of various stakeholders. According to Galston (2016), Americans across racial, ideological, and partisan lines are rethinking the existing criminal justice system. This has contributed to immense scrutiny of the system with the view of reforms. However, the immense scrutiny of the U.S. criminal justice system has not always been centered on sound data. Many stakeholders use contradictory and complex facts to argue the case for reforms. Consequently, the debates, conversations, and policy prescriptions on criminal justice reform have undermined efforts undertaken to improve the relatively broken system. Therefore, criminal justice reform in the country needs to be based on sound data and evidence to help generate a commonplace of factual understanding. To understand the need for criminal justice reform, one must understand the system in place currently.

3.1 Inequalities in the Current Criminal Justice System

One of the major characteristics of the current criminal justice system that demonstrate the need for reform is its inequalities. The current criminal justice system was built on values that did not promote equality for all people. Mayeux (2018) suggests that the criminal justice system currently in place was developed around the input of “crime.” As a result, this system did not lend itself to address issues that were not actually crimes. This framing or structuring of the system in turn contributed to the emergence of inequalities in how different people groups are treated. Practices of crime and punishment in the current criminal justice system in the country do not reflect the idea of equilibrium. The failure to achieve equilibrium in this system is partly fueled by the politicization of crime and punishment policy, which has in turn fueled inequalities and discrimination of certain people groups.

Racial disproportionality is one of the indicators of the inherent inequalities in the current criminal justice system in the U.S. Crutchfield (2017) argues that racial disproportionality affects fairness and delivery of justice to different populations across the country. Minorities and low-income Americans are seemingly discriminated against as they system apparently favors Whites. Some of the debates and conversations regarding the need to reform the U.S. criminal justice system have been centered on the rampant racial discrimination of minorities and low-income individuals. These groups are seemingly treated differently as others are subjected to favorable treatment. The gap in the fair treatment of all people groups in the American criminal justice system continues to widen due to the preferential treatment of Whites in comparison to their minorities and low-income counterparts. Minorities and low-income Americans have continued to argue that rampant racial discrimination exists within the criminal justice system.

The rampant racial discrimination in the current system is evident in the fact that communities of minorities and low-income individuals are wrongly targeted. Since the system was developed around the input of “crime”, targeting suspected individuals and communities is considered critical to achieve crime deterrence (Mayeux, 2018). However, racial disproportionality has provided a loophole for some groups of people and communities like minorities and low-income individuals to be wrongly targeted. These people are subjected to immense supervision and treated unfairly within the current system.

Gender discrimination is also another indicator of inequalities within the current criminal justice system in the United States. Doerner& Demuth (2012) conducted a study in which they sought to determine whether women are treated more leniently when it comes to sentencing in federal courts in comparison to their male counterparts. The study was carried out on the premise that gender seems to play an important role in federal sentencing. Generally, federal sentencing guidelines are established to promote the uniform and proportional of defendants in line with legal factors. The main objective of these guidelines is to generate fair and honest results that lessen unwarranted disparities. While these guidelines exist, recent evidence shows gender differences in the treatment of men and women within the criminal justice system with regard to federal sentencing. Recent federal sentencing outcomes show that not all legal and extralegal factors are taken into consideration for male and female defendants. While existing statutes prohibit gender disparities, they are quite common in federal sentencing, which is an indicator of inequalities in the existing criminal justice system in the United States.

According to Doerner& Demuth (2012), the current criminal justice system is seemingly lenient toward women as shown in differences in federal sentencing. The gender disparities in federal sentencing are more evident when various factors are also taken into consideration. These disparities exist when factors like sentence length outcomes and educational achievements are considered. For example, Hispanic male and female defendants have high chances of being sent to prison in comparison to Black females. On the other hand, Black males are highly likely to receive long sentences in comparison to Black female defendants who receive short sentences.

3.2 Mass Incarceration of Specific Demographics

The second major characteristic of the U.S. criminal justice system is mass incarceration despite decreased crime. Increased incarceration at a time when crime rates have decreased has raised concerns and controversies (Galston, 2016). There are disparities in the mass incarceration of different population groups in the United States. These disparities are evident in the racial minority overrepresentation within the criminal justice system. According to Roque (2014), historical evidence shows that Blacks are disproportionately arrested and incarcerated compared to other racial groups.

African Americans generally account for a significant portion of arrests since they are usually wrongly targeted. This is an indicator of a strong link between race and arrest and incarceration rates, which differs based on crime type. It generally appears that African Americans represent a higher percentage of arrest and incarceration for more violent, personal crimes instead of victimless or property offenses.

Minorities and all low-income individuals account for a high proportion of incarceration rates partly because of racial disparities in law enforcement contacts. These populations, especially African Americans, believe that law enforcement officers disproportionately stop and arrest them as compared to Whites. Disparities in mass incarceration of specific demographics are also evident when gender is considered. Men account for nearly 90 percent of the prison population in the United States (Western & Pettit, 2010). The significant difference between men and women in terms of incarceration is attributable to the fact that more men are involved in criminal activity than women. In addition, young people in their twenties and thirties are more likely to be incarcerated than other ages.

4.0 Psychological Impacts of the US Criminal Justice System

Existing literature demonstrates a strong link between the criminal justice system and psychology and mental health. The objective of this system is to apprehend, convict, and punish those found guilty of crime (White, 2010). However, innocence and guilt are never obvious requiring professionals in the system to work hard and make the most suitable decisions with the information at hand. The pursuit to determine innocence or guilt is increasingly complex and ends up having psychological impacts on those involved. Given its nature and structure, the U.S. criminal justice system has psychological impacts on people. These psychological impacts are primarily influenced by how the system treats people based on its structure.

4.1 Psychological Impacts on Minorities

As previously indicated, the structure of the U.S. criminal justice system shapes how it treats people, which in turn influences the kind of impact it has on them. Based on its current structure, many minorities have had psychological issues emerging from paranoia or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on acts and injustices permitted by the system. Minorities already believe they are wrongly targeted by the criminal justice system in the country due to the inherent rampant racial discrimination. This has contributed to biases in how they are viewed and treated across all criminal justice processes. For instance, many ethical prosecutors may unintentionally dismiss or disregard important information that could help determine the defendant’s innocence (White, 2020). Such incidents contribute to negative psychological impacts on many minorities who come into contact with the U.S. criminal justice system.

Minorities seemingly experience bias in criminal justice processes in terms of how their guilt or innocence is determined and information used for their conviction. Roque (2014) states that research in social sciences indicates the view that minorities are subjected to differential treatment than Whites. In some cases, weak evidence and questionable eyewitness accounts are used to generate wrongful convictions that represent miscarriage of justice. These wrongful convictions and discriminatory treatment end up having negative psychological impacts on minorities. African Americans are seemingly sentenced more harshly than their White counterparts. Blacks with a history of incarceration have mental health problems that are largely attributable to the discrimination in the U.S. criminal justice system (Assari et al., 2018). Some of the psychological and mental health issues facing minorities, particularly African Americans, include depression and psychological distress. Unlike Whites, minorities with a history of incarceration are increasingly likely to suffer from mental illnesses and psychological distress because of how they are treated in the U.S. criminal justice system.

4.2 Psychological Problems for Third-Parties

The structure of the U.S. criminal justice system results in psychological problems for people with a history of incarceration, especially minorities. As previously indicated, there is a strong link between the structure of the system and how different people groups are treated. Minorities and low-income individuals are increasingly discriminated against and subjected to unfair or biased treatment, which results in psychological distress and mental health issues. The psychological impacts of the U.S. criminal justice system are also evident in third-parties i.e. family members of the incarcerated. Psychological problems have been reported by those who are secondarily affected by family members being incarcerated at an extensive rate.