Criminal Justice Reform Essay

A. I have a strong proposition for the California Legislatureand that is a strict and logical re get to the limn iniquitous Justice System in California.B. The California Legislature is to be commended for its stance on crime. Not for their get tough policies such(prenominal)(prenominal) as the 3 Strikes jurisprudence but for their enactment of a little known section of the Penal Code entitled the Community Based Punishment Act of 1994. (Senator Quentin Kopp, sequence cartridge Feb 14, 1996)C. By passage of this act, the State of California has acknowledged the limitations of imprisonment as both penalization and a deterrent to brutal behavior.D. The legislature has in event declared that Californias shepherds crook judge system is seriously out of balance in its heavy dependence upon prison facilities and jails for penalty and its wishing of appropriate penalization for non baseless offenders and substance abusers who could be successfully treated in appropriate, less restrictive programs without any extend in riskiness to the human raceII. More facts, Opinions and Developmental IdeasA. In essence, this law proposes a community based system of intermediate restrictions for non-violent offenders that f any between jail time and traditional probation such as home detention with electronic monitoring, boot camps, mandatory community avail and dupe counter, day reporting, and others.B. Pilot programs are to be developed as a collaborative effort between the state and counties requiring a community based plan describing the sanctions and services to be provided.C. A progress report on an actof this mixture would be made by the California Board of Corrections on January 1, 1997 and annually thitherafter to selected legislative committees.III. InformativesA. It seems clear that the California Legislature has decided that imprisonment is not appropriate for many criminal offenses and that alternative sanctions are preferable for non-violent offe nders. (Randy Meyer, Political Official)B. But while this approach is to be applauded, its spreading prevents the fulfilment of its true up potential.C. By retaining those non-violent offenders that are currently in state prison and continuing to pursue defensive punishment at the local level in the form of short term shock captivity and bootcamps, the costly and ineffective methods of criminal behavior correction remain intact. (Charles Calderon-US News)D. By immediately eliminating incarceration for all non-violent offenses and requiring victim compensation and community service, resources can be committed to preventing crime rather than to the feeding and housing of offenders.E. This is consistent with the findings of the legislature and is cost efficient, requires minimal general change, and increases world safety and security.IV. The ProposalA. Our current criminal justice system appears to be based upon the Old Testament proverb that your eye shall not condolence it sha ll be feeling for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Revenge thus plays a part of the punishment model.(LA Official Boland)From a societal standpoint, we expect punishment to prevent the offender and others from further criminal behavior. Incarceration of offenders as the punishment of choice thus theoretically provides vindicate, individualincapacitation, and restriction.But I submit that such a philosophic foundation is flawed. Revenge while understandable from an individual human perspective is not a proper basis for societys response to the misbehavior of its laws. This human urge to punish should be removed from the current system and replaced with methods of restrictions that utilize the offenders potential to benefit his victim and society at large.In other words, in a free society the end desired is the correction of behavior that utilizes the least force . This conforms to the principles of circumscribed government, faculty, reduced cost , and ain freedom as advocated by both liberals and conservatives alike.The basic underlying concept of this proposal is that incarceration should be reserved for those who are violent and thus unplayful to the public. Violent crimes would be defined broadly to include any act or attempt to injure the person of another neglect by accident. This would because range from murder to driving under the influence with current distinctions of misdemeanor and felony offenses remaining in place.The court sentencing procedures would also be limited to exclude incarceration for non-violent crimes with an emphasis on victim restitution and community service. The court would maybe rely on probation reports to provide the necessary offender individualised history including employment, chore skills (or lack of), and private resources, e.g. bank accounts, property ownership, etc. Based on this information, the court would apply the appropriate sentence of victim restitution and community serv ice with close monitoring by probation officials.As with all human endeavors, compliance by offenders would roughly likely not be ascorbic acid%. The threat of incarceration would have to exist for those failing to submit to or comply with court ordered repayment and public service. Many will not agree with this receivable to the complexity and in many character references there can be more harm done then it could be beneficial. But for the some part thereis no reason to believe that the failure rate would be any gameyer under this type of system than is currently the caseV. ConclusionThis proposal provides a policy alternative to the current criminal justice emphasis on incarceration as punishment. It is based on the enclose of effectiveness and cost efficiency with a high regard for individual liberty that is essential to a free society. It moves away from the concept of punishment and focuses on a more operable goal of victim and societal repayment. The proposal offers pr evention at the front end rather than repayment at the seat end of crime reducing efforts.The advantages of such a system are numerous. One of the close to important assets of a revision of this kind is that of allowing for a major(ip) change in the criminal justice system with a minimum of disruption to the status quo. Rather than requiring an entire systemic change, this proposal works inwardly the current practices of the court, police, and corrections. Indeed, very few authorized changes would have to be made.Enactment of this proposal would eliminate the need for future bond measures for prison construction. Not all would it save taxpayer money, it would be most advantageous to the remaining employees of the California Department of Corrections by allowing for the closure of outdated and unsafe facilities. In addition, unemployment could be kept to a minimum by offering qualified state correctional incumbents employment with local law enforcement agencies.It is time now t o look beyond revenge and the emotionalism associated with current justice system practices.There is only one practical method of reducing crime and the subsequent publics guardianship and that is by dint of a high level of police presence on the street.(Randy Meyer, M.A.)In essence, this revision allows for a return of the local neighborhood police officer who is familiar with its residents and business owners.In the final analysis, our very freedom depends on how we treat societys criminals and misfits. By continuing to create a criminal class that has not been rehabilitated through incarceration, we are ultimately sabotaging our own security. Maybe with this we can have a means of reversing the trend of incarceration as punishment while increasing our personal safety and diminishing the fear that is rampant among us.QUICK FACTS*The current California prison population is 135,133 and is expected to increase to closely 148,600 by June 30,1996 per the California Department of Cor rections.*42.1% of these inmates are incarcerated for violent offenses, 25.3% for property offenses, 26.2% for drugs, and 6.4% for other.*Average yearly cost per inmate, $21,885 and per parolee, $2,110.*California Department of Corrections cypher for 1995-1996 $3.4 billion proposed budget for 1996-1997 for both Corrections and Youth Authority $4.1 billion. This compares to $1.6 billion for community colleges and $4.8 billion for higher education.*California Legislative Analysist Elizabeth Hill advised on February 26, 1996 that 24 refreshed prisons will need to be built by the year 2005 to keep pace with the incarceration rate. This will cost taxpayers $7 billion for their construction and increase operating costs to $6 billion annually.*California Attorney General Dan Lungren announced on March 12, 1996 that the number of homicides reported in 1995 in the most populated two-thirds of the state had declined 3.1%, rape 3.9%, robbery 7.9%, aggravated assault 4.2%,burglary 8.9%, and v ehicle theft, 11.4% (San Jose Mercury News, 3/13/96). This is consistent with a 5% decline in the national violent crime rate for the first half of 1995 per the FBI.MANUSCRIPTAn analysis of Department of Corrections data by the Center on new-made and CriminalJustice in San Francisco, CA, in Nov, 1995 indicates that since the enactment ofCalifornias Three Strikes law two years ago, 192 have struck out for cannabispossession, compared to 40 for murder, 25 for rape, and 24 for kidnapping.I have a strong proposition for the California Legislatureand that is a strict and logical reform to the present Criminal Justice System in California. The California Legislature is to be commended for its stance on crime. Not for their get tough policies such as the Three Strikes law but for their enactment of a little known section of the Penal Code entitled the Community Based Punishment Act of 1994. (Senator Quentin Kopp, Time Magazine Feb 14, 1996). By passage of this act, the State of Californi a has acknowledged the limitations of incarceration as both punishment and a deterrent to criminal behavior. The legislature has in fact declared that Californias criminal justice system is seriously out of balance in its heavy dependence upon prison facilities and jails for punishment and its lack of appropriate punishment for nonviolent offenders and substance abusers who could be successfully treated in appropriate, less restrictive programs without any increase in danger to the publicIn essence, this law proposes a community based system of intermediate restrictions for non-violent offenders that fall between jail time and traditional probation such as home detention with electronic monitoring,boot camps, mandatory community service and victim restitution, day reporting, and others. Pilot programs are to be developed as a collaborative effort between the state and counties requiring a community based plan describing the sanctions and services to be provided. A progress report on an actof this kind would be made by the California Board of Corrections on January 1, 1997 and annually thereafter to selected legislative committees.It seems clear that the California Legislature has determined that incarceration is not appropriate for many criminal offenses and that alternative sanctions are preferable for non-violent offenders. (Randy Meyer, Political Official). But while this approach is to be applauded, its spreading prevents the fulfillment of its true potential. By retaining those non-violent offenders that are currently in state prison and continuing to pursue defensive punishment at the local level in the form of short term shock incarceration and bootcamps, the costly and ineffective methods of criminal behavior correction remain intact. (Charles Calderon-US News).By immediately eliminating incarceration for all non-violent offenses and requiring victim compensation and community service, resources can be committed to preventing crime rather than to the feeding and housing of offenders. This is consistent with the findings of the legislature and is cost efficient, requires minimal systemic change, and increases public safety and security.Our current criminal justice system appears to be based upon the Old Testament proverb that your eye shall not pity it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Revenge thus plays a part of the punishment model.(LA Official Boland). From a societal standpoint, we expect punishment to prevent the offender and others from further criminal behavior. Incarceration of offenders as the punishment of choice thus theoretically provides revenge, individual incapacitation, and restriction.But I submit that such a philosophical foundation is flawed. Revenge while understandable from an individual human perspective is not a proper basisfor societys response to the misbehavior of its laws. This human urge to punish should be removed from the current system and replaced with methods of restrictions that utilize the offenders potential to benefit his victim and society at large.In other words, in a free society the end desired is the correction of behavior that utilizes the least force . This conforms to the principles of limited government, efficiency, reduced cost, and personal freedom as advocated by both liberals and conservatives alike.The basic underlying concept of this proposal is that incarceration should be reserved for those who are violent and thus dangerous to the public. Violent crimes would be defined broadly to include any act or attempt to injure the person of another except by accident. This would therefore range from murder to driving under the influence with current distinctions of misdemeanor and felony offenses remaining in place.The court sentencing procedures would also be modified to exclude incarceration for non-violent crimes with an emphasis on victim restitution and community service. The court would maybe rely on probat ion reports to provide the necessary offender personal history including employment, job skills (or lack of), and personal resources, e.g. bank accounts, property ownership, etc. Based on this information, the court would apply the appropriate sentence of victim restitution and community service with close monitoring by probation officials.As with all human endeavors, compliance by offenders would most likely not be 100%. The threat of incarceration would have to exist for those failing to submit to or comply with court ordered repayment and public service. Many will not agree with this due to the complexity and in many cases there can be more harm done then it could be beneficial. But for the most part there is no reason to believe that the failure rate would be any higher under this type of system than is currently the caseThis proposal provides a policy alternative to the current criminal justiceemphasis on incarceration as punishment. It is based on the premise of effectiveness and cost efficiency with a high regard for individual liberty that is essential to a free society. It moves away from the concept of punishment and focuses on a more functional goal of victim and societal repayment. The proposal offers prevention at the front end rather than repayment at the back end of crime reduction efforts.The advantages of such a system are numerous. One of the most important assets of a revision of this kind is that of allowing for a major change in the criminal justice system with a minimum of disruption to the status quo. Rather than requiring an entire systemic change, this proposal works within the current practices of the court, police, and corrections. Indeed, very few authorized changes would have to be made.Enactment of this proposal would eliminate the need for future bond measures for prison construction. Not only would it save taxpayer money, it would be most advantageous to the remaining employees of the California Department of Corrections by allo wing for the closure of outdated and unsafe facilities. In addition, unemployment could be kept to a minimum by offering qualified state correctional officers employment with local law enforcement agencies.It is time now to look beyond revenge and the emotionalism associated with current justice system practices.There is only one practical method of reducing crime and the subsequent publics fear and that is through a high level of police presence on the street.(Randy Meyer, M.A.)In essence, this revision allows for a return of the local neighborhood police officer who is familiar with its residents and business owners.In the final analysis, our very freedom depends on how we treat societys criminals and misfits. By continuing to create a criminal class that has notbeen rehabilitated through incarceration, we are ultimately sabotaging our own security. Maybe with this we can have a means of reversing the trend of incarceration as punishment while increasing our personal safety and di minishing the fear that is rampant among us.