Criminal Justice - many pieces, one big wheel

 Criminal Justice - Many pieces, one big wheel


Eh, maybe not so fine after all. 


Criminal justice in our society is composed of several parts.
1. Public opinion - this what the average citizen thinks and feels about crime, criminals, punishment and justice. They, the public, are responsible for putting into power politicians who will make decisions on their behalf. 
Public opinion has changed where citizens are voting to allow for criminal behavior to not be punished.  Laws are then enacted to reflect what the citizenry want. 
For example, no jail time for thefts under $1000 or no cash bail where the bad guy is allowed to walk with the promise of returning on their own. 

2. Laws- created, designed and put in place by the politicians doing the will of the people.

 Laws are crafted with good intentions but often fail because of the one size fits all attitude. 
Laws don't always allow for the nuances of real life.

3. Police - the active teeth of those laws.  The police are the visible point of contact when someone is breaking the law or who has broken the law. They are the  most visible and more vilified part of criminal justice and has its own issues in maintaining quality and integrity but is often at the whim of the public. You can't afford to train and officers make mistakes. 

4. Courts - They are responsible for overseeing how the laws and enforced and doling out punishment when they are broken.  The courts are truly beginning to fail the public and citizenry with allowing clearly bad actors to walk free with cashless bail,  light jail terms, silly diversion programs and outright bad representation like falling asleep during a trial. 

5. Prison/jail - the vehicle to enact punishment for those that break the laws as assigned by the courts.  We have moved away from a time when jails were a place you didn't want to be to where inmates can sue for emotional distress because they are not getting sex change hormones.  It is really not a deterrent much any more. 

6.  Bail /Probation/ Parole / Diversion Programs - these are for avoiding jail or getting out of jail but still under the courts supervision.  These programs have become one of the weakest pieces of wheel.  We have no cash bail where a bad guy is released with the expectations of them coming back on their own, diversion program to rehabilitate even repeat offenders and getting out early on parole and serving a fraction of a prison sentence.

What does this all mean? 
That people no longer fear the justice system or respect it. Because of this only certain segments of our society will follow the law because that's how they were raised. 


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