The criminal justice system is facing certain social problems in America today, and criminal justice officials are also under intense scrutiny for some of their actions. Prominent criminal justice issues in today's society include, but are not limited to, the following: the incarceration rate in general, police misconduct, juvenile offenders, female offenders, the racial disparity involving arrests and sentencing, and the United States' war on drugs. Most of these issues are not simple problems that can be fixed easily. Overall, incarceration rates and the war on drugs are two of the most prominent issues in America's criminal justice system today.
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Incarceration Trends
Incarceration Trends in America
- From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America grew from roughly 500,000 people to 2.3 million people.
- Today, the United States accounts for only 5% of the world population, but they incarcerate 25% of the world's prisoners.
- Including people in prison and jail and people on probation and parole, , 1 in every 31 adults is under some form of correctional control in America..
- African Americans are 6 times more likely to be incarcerated than Caucasians.
- Together, African Americans and Hispanics accounted for 58% of prisoners in America in 2008, even though they made up only approximately 25% of America's population.
- Caucasians in America use illicit drugs at a rate 5 times higher than that of African Americans, yet African Americans are 10 times more likely to be sent to prison for drug offenses than Caucasians are.
- America spends approximately $70 billion per year on corrections.
The War on Drugs
The United States has been fighting a "war on drugs" over the past few decades ever since President Richard Nixon officially declared this war in 1971. This war on drugs battles numerous different types of drugs, including substances such as hallucinogens and marijuana/ methamphetamine.
However, the war on drugs has been empirically proven to be not only ineffective, but also harmful. The image provided below graphically demonstrates some of the main problems associated with the war on drugs. The argumentative essay below that provides a more detailed response as to why the war on drugs is ineffective.
However, the war on drugs has been empirically proven to be not only ineffective, but also harmful. The image provided below graphically demonstrates some of the main problems associated with the war on drugs. The argumentative essay below that provides a more detailed response as to why the war on drugs is ineffective.
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