The Criminal Justice System and its Corrections

The criminal justice system is composed of four categories: law enforcement, legal counsel, courts, and corrections. I am going to focus on one of these subjects and the problems or issues that are within the corrections part of criminal justice usually refers to the events that occur after being sentenced in a court of law. During the past few decades many problems have arisen in this area, solutions have been discussed and put into use over the years as well. However, there are still problems that are being dealt with in today’s corrections.

One problem that is faced in the corrections system today is overpopulation in the prisons. Prisons all over the United States are becoming overcrowded and that leads to many other problems such as inhumane living conditions. Two or more inmates have been forced to occupy cells made for a single person. Some prisoners are put into spaces that were not even built for housing. As many as a couple hundred inmates are housed in gyms or other available areas while sharing a toilet with over 50 others. (Atkins, 2011) The state of California was ordered by a panel of judges to reduce the number of prisoners by more than 30,000. When this was ordered the prisons had become so over run with inmates that it was considered cruel and unusual punishment. The 8th amendment in the constitution forbids this and so the amendment is being violated. After losing an appeal attempt, the order was made to stand. California now had an abundance of work to do inside its prisons. Being home to thirty-thee prisons, California is home to the largest experiment ever held by the criminal justice system. (Stelloh, 2013)

Due to the overpopulation in prisons many inmates are not treated as they should be. All inmates have ...

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