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Criminal Justice System During The 1970's

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During the 1970s an idea emerged, in the United States, in regards to correctional treatment programs that “nothing works.” As this idea gained popularity the criminal justice system moved away from taking a rehabilitative approach and returned to deterrence and retributive (“just desserts”) based punishments. This was immediately followed by the “War on Drugs,” a movement in the 1980s which imposed harsh, mandatory sentences on drug offenders. The two-decade long change in criminal justice ideology and policies led the system to be plagued with an overwhelming number of non-violent offenders, many suffering from drug addiction. This led to an increase in prison populations nationwide.
It was tougher drug sentencing in particular that caused

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