Information Needs of Various Components the Criminal Justice System
The most important step in creating law and order in the society is to ensure that a suitable criminal justice system is in place for the accomplishment of justice administration to the public. Criminal cases in the modern day have increased meaning that the judicial system needs to be extra effective and efficient while at the same time ensuring that there is fairness in the process. Every justice system aims at providing a neutral ground for all individual who approaches the bar seeking justice. Various components of the criminal justice system have the collective responsibility of deciding what policy decisions must be embraced as resources and time are utilized to achieve the objective of a balanced justice system. While rulings in courts are made by a minority few at the top of the structure, the decisions made affect the entire society considering that criminals are either imprisoned or let free back into the society. Prison overcrowding is a critical problem currently that needs special attention. As such, the process of administering justice is one that must be treated with careful consideration involving relevant information and all the possible consequences of rulings.
The Problem
Prison overcrowding is an important concern facing the criminal justice administrators in most countries. Prisoner accommodation requirements that focus on various indicators including health, floor space, lighting, and ventilation among other factors provide crucial evidence that support this assertion. The United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners has advocated the application of these standards to all prisons and correction facilities. However, the problem is not the increasing number of criminals, but rather the number of criminals being passed over to the prisons and correction facilities. In most countries, prison overcrowding is neither caused by a high number of criminals nor the spacial problem in the facilities, but a problem of inadequate facilities coupled with limitations in the policy and legislative frameworks (Charles, Richardson & Timothy, 2004).
The public depends on various components of the criminal justice system comprising homeland security, juvenile justice system, the courts, law enforcement agencies and correction facilities. They both work towards to maintain law and order by punishing law offenders and administering justice as applicable. In the United States, the issues of justice administration and criminal sentencing have been controversial over the years with issues arising on the process of prosecution of offenders. It is only as late as 2009 that the justice and integrity commission started efforts to improve the efficiency of sentencing and maintaining confidence in the justice system. Previously, there had not been any specific legislation addressing the concerns of persecution about the increasing number of prisoners. Currently in the United States, the criminal justice system is struggling to deal with the higher number of remand prisoners as well as those in correction facilities (Dharmadasa, 1989).
The factors that lead to overcrowding of prisoners are varied and complex. One of the main factors however is the increasing delay in bringing the offender to trial and consequent sentencing or acquittal. The problem is also tied to the fact that the courts sentence criminals for too many offenses. Unrealistic long prison sentences also lead to the problem of overcrowding. The American Bar Association (2009) suggests that the part of the reason the justice system has widespread disparities in justice administration is based on inadequacies in the legislative policies guiding the system. The association cites that the current national policy on crime is contributing to the problem from the premise that prevention of crimes has too much been relying on punishment rather than rehabilitation and other methods of controlling crime. Punishment in the past was biased towards imprisonment without allowance for appeals. Death penalties, for instance, became common in the 16th century for criminals of murder (Larry, 1983). In most countries though, death penalty laws have been reformed in favor of life sentences that further complicates the issues of overcrowding.
Overcrowding affects the lives of inmates severely thus requiring immediate attention. Penal administration, government policies, courts, the juvenile system and correction facilities among others ought to address the problem by making amendments to the system as a whole. Larry Alexander (1983) suggests that, for there to be real justice then people have to suffer for their wrongdoing. This suffering must also be of a nature equal to the crime. Each criminal, irrespective of the crime committed is, therefore, entitled to punishment as long as the act in concern is recognized by the respective authority as unlawful. As a result, in an ideal society, it is expected that all criminals are brought to book and judged against their crimes. However, largely due to the nature the policies in the criminal justice system some sentences for small-crime offenders are excessive and should be revisited to discourage prison time. Impeding clear access to judicial relief has promoted loopholes for punishing individuals without proper grounds for imprisonment.
Recommendations
Policy decisions must be developed to address legal and administrative provisions on remand and bail. Moreover, community options instead of imprisonment can relieve the prisons especially for minor offenders. The classification of a case as worthy of punishment differs from one state to another depending on their legal provisions on the matter, but changes in these classifications can go far in reducing prison overcrowding. The control of crime can be achieved without necessarily implementing punishment. There is a need to consider making changes in the policy framework in order to accommodate rehabilitation programs as well as other crime control measures that do not advocate for imprisonment as a priority. The result would be only a small number of criminals and more so small crimes ending up in jail. In addition, alternative sentences as well as early release mechanism can pay a great deal in helping to reduce the problem.
In conclusion, denying criminals the chance to become law-biding citizens again does not only promote their contempt of the laws, but it also increases the chances of committing another crime and ending up in the same punishing process. The concept of justice relies on the perspective of measured punishment. The basis of the application of justice is the demands that courts should apply punishment in equal extent to the crime in order to reflect public detest of the crime. Components of the criminal justice system including homeland security, juvenile justice system, the courts, law enforcement agencies and correction facilities should consider shifting how they handle criminals. This can be done by managing the crimes through control and rehabilitation. This would provide a bright source of light in an array of interests as far as correcting prison overcrowding and having an equal society is envisioned.
References
Charles D. C., Richardson J., Timothy M. et al. (2004). Jail Overcrowding: A Serious Problem Requiring Comprehensive Solutions. NCJRS: Michigan State Court Administrative Office. Retrieved at http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=203891
Dharmadasa, H. G. (1989). Overcrowding in Prisons and Countermeasures (From Resource Material Series No. 36, P 13-20, 1989). National Institute of Justice (NCJRS)/Rockville. Retrieved at http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=135661
Larry Alexander (1983). Retributivism and the Inadvertent Punishment of the Innocent. Law and Philosophy
The American Bar Association (2009). Criminal Justice Improvement. NY: Crime
