Purpose Of The Criminal Justice System

From the time we are kids we are told that the justice system is there to protect us and maintain justice, but what happens when it doesn’t do that? For most people there is a need for a justice system to keep the public safe and things are kept fair, but through certain circumstances arising from criminal justice processes safety and security can be compromised. The criminal justice system is meant to maintain public safety and justice by fairly punishing people for breaking the law, sometimes through incarceration. In today’s state, the American criminal justice system is excessive and inefficient in the way it treats criminals. It can be treated by reducing excessive incarceration practices, getting rid of unfair punishments, and using money …show more content…
Imprisonment is prescribed to many social problems which “are not addressed by incarceration” (Andrade) which creates unnecessary costs and problems for both the state and the criminals it punishes. There are many instances of inappropriate use of incarceration and punishing people without fully convicting them. One example is the perp walk, which is a “public humiliation of wrongdoers that the law … is designed to prevent (Daniels). The perp walk punishes people without convicting them goes against the whole purpose of the justice system which is to maintain justice. A personal example would be Piper Kerman. Piper was a “nonviolent drug offender sent to prison 10 years after committing [her] offense” (Andrade). After 10 her nonviolent offense wasn’t still relevant and she didn’t provide any danger to public safety. These are both examples of unjust and excessive punishment in the justice …show more content…
The criminal justice system would also become more fair and just. Similar measures in Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Utah have saved the states “more than $1.7 billion over the next two decades” (Lawrence). In terms of time, half of the states that have taken similar measures reduced their populations since 2009 (Lawrence), populations that were previously increasing at a growing rate since the 90s. So it can be assumed that results would most likely start to counter damage done within 7 or 8 years. Additional benefits would include an increase in public safety from offenders being properly treated and a tax break for taxpayers from even lower prison costs resulting from lower recidivism rates in the future. The solution would result in a more efficient and fair justice system without sacrificing security and