Criminal Justice Trends

Abstract

The criminal justice system has been around for years and has faced many issues. This paper will discuss the past, current, and future trend of the criminal justice system in the United States. There will be various trends discussed, such as the trends in law, corrections, terrorism, policing, and crime.

Trends in Law

The criminal justice system establishes laws that everyone in the United States must follow. These laws have evolved overtime when to adapt to the change of society. In the past people of the community carried out the laws. The laws were a lot harsher then they are today. For example if someone was caught stealing they would be tortured in public or worse sentenced to death. The laws currently are more justice. The laws have evolved and became civilized. We are now presumed innocent until proven guilty. We have rights to protect us, and we go through a trial to defend ourselves. The laws have sentencing so people are not subjected to cruel and unusual punishments. In the past the death penalty was used very often and many people were sentenced to the death penalty. Nowadays people are looking away from the death penalty and trying to find ways to rehabilitate criminals, rather than sentence them to death. The death penalty was used by all the states in the past, but now the states are trying to put an end to the death penalty there are still some states that do have the death penalty enforced, but some also have decided not use the death penalty as a sentence to criminals. In the future the laws will evolve with society and adapt to the changes. There will be some laws that will be abolished and some new laws made. The criminal justice system will always be revising and creating new laws because crime will always be a part of society.

Trends in Corrections

The trends in corrections have also changed over the years. In the past when a criminal was sentenced to prison they would be abused by the guards, treated horribly. The...