Key Issues
Nowadays, the criminal justice system enforcement area faces some major challenges that should be addressed as soon as possible. The key issues associated with the enforcement area of criminal justice include responding to crimes committed by the youth, addressing the needs of victims, preventing wrongful convictions, police misconduct as well as controversial plea bargains, making sure that law enforcement agencies have only lawful access to information, and preventing ineffective sharing of information between agencies.
Furthermore, the changes in social and political life in the country also have a significant impact on the enforcement of criminal justice since there is an increased amount of criminal opportunities that may directly impact the law enforcement itself. Among such are intellectual property crimes, environmental, and biotechnology crimes (Wardlaw, n.d.). Thus, apart from being affected by previously unresolved problems, the criminal justice system now has to deal with crimes, which are based on innovation.
As police misconduct became a significant problem, the enforcement of the criminal justice system will be modified to address bias, prosecute unlawful actions committed by police, and enhance the process of data collection on law enforcement agencies. Prevention of wrongful convictions and questionable plea bargains should also be addressed by law enforcement through not arresting the wrong person and making sure that the plea bargain does not minimize the guilt.
Judiciary Issues
The two judiciary issues that will become prominent in the Criminal Justice System are the sentencing reform and the improvement of criminal procedures. As the current justice system is dealing with overcriminalization and overpopulation in prisons, it is crucial to begin the sentencing reform to make sure that only severe offenses are punished by large sentences. The Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 has already reduced the sentence minimum for drug-related offenses as well as offered judges more discretion in deciding on appropriate sentences while making sure that individuals committing severe crimes do not walk free early (House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, 2015).
Achieving improvements in criminal procedures is another problem that should be addressed by the Criminal Justice System since the issues in criminal procedures may often lead to wrongful convictions or false confessions. One of the improvements is associated with the Rapid DNA Act, which allows police stations to conduct rapid DNA analysis for appropriate identification.
Custodial Issues
The two custodial issues that will become prominent in the Criminal Justice System are associated with the application of alternative to incarceration methods and the reforms in the juvenile justice system. Currently, the US heavily relies on imprisonment as the key criminal sanction (American Bar Association, 2008), despite the fact that many countries around the globe prefer choosing new methods. There is a total of 2.3 million prisoners in the US, which means that the judicial system imprisons approximately 24% of the global population of prisoners (American Bar Association, 2008).
Furthermore, around 1.5 million children are currently in prisons; this calls for reform in the Criminal Justice System. Community-based programs and sanctions are useful alternatives to punishment for those offenders who do not pose a threat to society. As to the challenges associated with the juvenile justice system, it is crucial to provide qualified counsel for the youth, remove them from adult jails, reduce ethnic and racial bias, and focus on the prevention of juvenile crime as opposed to ‘locking up’ children in prisons.
References
American Bar Association. (2008). Criminal justice system improvements. Web.
House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. (2015). Criminal justice reform initiative. Web.
Wardlaw, G. (n.d.). The future and crime: Challenges for law enforcement. Web.