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• the structure of the criminal justice system
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Flaws of the Criminal Justice System With matted hair and a battered body, the creature looked at the heartless man outside the cage. Through the dark shadows you could only see a pair of eyes, but those eyes said it all. The stream of tears being fought off, the glazed look of sheer suffering and despair screamed from the center of her soul, but no one cared. In this day in age I am ashamed to think that this is someone's reality, that this is an accurate description of a human being inside a Canadian women's prison . Exposing the truth behind these walls reveals a chauvinistic, corrupt process that serves no greater purpose. The most detrimental aspect of all is society's refusal to admit the seriousness of the situation and take responsibility for what has happened. Imagine Kirsty and Marc, a young couple who resort to robbing a house in a desperate attempt to make money. They are caught, charged with the same crime and given the same sentence, except for one thing: the male dominant world we live in does not stop at the courtroom door. Marc is sent to a medium security prison one hour from his family with every opportunity to earn his way into a minimum-security facility. He spends his days learning to cook in the kitchenette and has access to basic necessities like aftershave or hairspray. Meanwhile, Kirsty walks into her frigid six-by-ten foot cell with bars for a door, a toilet in plain view and not a trace of sunlight. She is twelve hours from home with no hope of changing location since there is nowhere else to go. The stories of rapes, beatings and riots told by her new neighbours are endless. Kirsty realizes that the only way for her to survive this place is to oppose nature and forget what it is to feel. This is discrimination against women as they are penalized more severely than men for committing less crime. How can women strive for equality when they cannot attain justice in the justice system itself? The controversy over the gender bias goes beyond the "too-few-to-count" syndrome as Sally Armstrong calls it, it is a question of women's constitutional right to be treated equally. Looking beyond women's issues and questioning basic humanity, we find a deceptive, unstable yet somehow egotistical governmental department. With an organization like this in control, there is no hope of rehabilitation for the prisoners as was discovered throughout the inquiry performed on Correctional Services Canada.
This mistreatment includes the use of restraints, poor health conditions, sexual abuse by corrections officers and the isolation of women contained in high security units. Perhaps the most alarming part of this report was that the United States agreed to an international treaty that was agreed upon by one hundred and forty-five countries that are currently legally bound by said treaty, but only as far as what was already stated in the Constitution and not anymore than that. Women in American prisons are victims of rape and various forms of sexual abuse by prison staff. Also, as stated in Jill 's story that sick or pregnant women are unduly and unjustly required by law to be bound in chains while giving birth for the sake of safety. This bondage of pregnant women is an utter violation of the basic human rights of women that are incarcerated. The final topic discussed in this report was the fact that most prisons, more specifically, maximum security prisons are developed and cater to men and their gender specific problems. Only recently has this begin to improve but the conditions are still outrageous and some of the high risk units within the prisons violate the basic right to privacy and dignity because they allow male guards to see these females at all times without any privacy. The conditions talked about in Prison Life
The study continues on to explain further ramifications, such as, physical effects. This shows some of the devastating effects the practice of administrative segregation has on inmates’ mental and physical well-being. Often, it is the mentally ill that are unfairly subject to this practice. “Mentally ill inmates may find themselves inappropriately placed in administrative segregation because of a lack of other suitable placements, protective custody reasons, or disruptive behavior related to their mental illness.” (O 'Keefe 125). Instead of providing safety to inmates and staff as the prison system claims administrative segregation is for, its main objective is social isolation. Which is one of the harmful elements of AS that makes it torture. Additionally, an annual report from the Canadian Government’s Office of the Correctional Investigator’s states, “close to one-third of reported self-injury incidents occurred in (federal prisons) segregation units”. Therefore, one can infer that the negative effects of AS are contradictory to providing safety to inmates. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendéz proposed administrative segregation should be banned as the “isolation of inmates amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or – in more severe cases – to torture.” The ramifications of administrative segregation amount to what is defined as torture by lawyer and human rights Juan Mendéz. Administrative segregation is an unconstitutional treatment of inmates and does not constitute the values of our society, or the dignity and humanity of all people. Which is contradictory to rehabilitating a person to be physically, socially and mentally restored for reintroduction into society. Its use in Canada’s prison system is unjustified, unethical, and ultimately,
As many Canadians focus their time on social media, they have yet to acknowledge major issues in our country let alone our international community. Throughout the years, prison environments have improved in many ways but with incarceration rates on the rise since the late 1880s, there has been concerns. A critical matter today in Canada is prison overcrowding. Many prisons around the country have exceeded its facilities maximum capacity, consequently the prisoner population is accumulating. With this increasing inmate population, there is a decline in correctional spending (Howard 1996). In Canada, 21,704 adults are in provincial/territorial custody, and 15,141 in federal custody adding to 36,845 adults in custody throughout the country. (Statistics
The state of women in the United States criminal justice system, an apparently fair organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but. While the policies imposed in the criminal justice system have an effect on all Americans, they affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. By looking at the United States' history of females in the criminal justice system, the social manipulation of these females and the everlasting affects that incarceration have on all women, both in and out of prison, this essay will explore the use of the criminal justice system as simply another form of control from which there is no hope of escape. This system of control then leads to the examination of the everlasting, yet never successful, female struggle to balance the private sphere of domesticity with the public sphere of society and the criminal justice system's attempt to keep women within the boundaries of the private.
Gender conflict is an issue that still exists within our society, long after the days of the Women’s Rights Movements and the division of career opportunities amongst men and women. While many times women are the ones facing obstacles, there are several instances in which the U.S. Prison System has made it harder for men to deal with their convictions. In Joanne Mariner’s article, “Deliberate Indifference,” she thoroughly describes the horrendous acts of rape and assault that occur within prison cells across the country. As male inmates are raped and violated, their suffering is setting the standards for different types of “masculinity” within our society. Nell Bernstein also discusses how the use of video-chat software is affecting the outlooks of convicted fathers and their struggle to keep contact with their families in his article, “Relocation Blues.” Both articles reveal the unrecognized struggle of male prisoners as they fight to survive in some of the harshest facilities within the country.
The Canadian justice system does need improvements; however, the way citizens are sentenced and punished is all systematic. In the article, Sapers questions the justice system’s commitment to inclusion and social justice. He articulates how “Canada’s prison system must address this cultural shift by introducing more culturally relevant programs, increasing staff who speak languages other than English and French, and recommended ethnicity liaison officers be placed in Canadian institutions” (Barrett, 4). These programs are desired; conversely, it needs to be noted that the intention of prison is to strip a person from their deviant self and rehabilitate them into an individual who is less likely to deviate in society. For this reason, inserting these programs in detention centres will in fact defeat the objective of prison. By accommodating these prisoners; they will never learn anything from their faults, and they will depend on prison to always support them. This being said, prisoners should not be keen on the idea of being in prison and do everything possible to ensure they never revert back, once they served their sentence. Another key point is if these programs were implemented to make confinement a more enjoyable place, prisoners would not desire to leave and will deviate more to have a longer sentence. This will result in dissipating more Canadian tax money because there will be a higher amount of people in confinement. Instead, these programs could be employed into Canadian society for people who in fact need it. Prisoners of all races gave up their freedom in Canada as soon as they executed a crime and should not be
The American people rely on the justice system set up by our founding fathers to uphold certain standards of fairness and equality. Society is brainwashed into believing that the justice system is to flaw and bad people are supposed to go to jail. However, this has not been the case for many years due to corruption in the Supreme Court followed by the Federal Courts and other inferior state courts. The American justice system has taken on a life of its own, following theories of fairness that are no longer connected to the needs of a free society. Instead of a justice system that weeds out the good from the evil, power has been given to the prosecutors, finding a good lawyer is harder than it seems, and rules have become unconstitutional.
After reading the articles and consulting Reiman’s book, all of the authors discuss the importance of altering our criminal justice system to enhance the morally functioning aspects and to abolish the qualities of the system that are the problem.
Erin G., 2010, A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women: The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. vi, 202, Vol. 8(2)175.
The criminal justice system views any crime as a crime committed against the state and places much emphasis on retribution and paying back to the community, through time, fines or community work. Historically punishment has been a very public affair, which was once a key aspect of the punishment process, through the use of the stocks, dunking chair, pillory, and hangman’s noose, although in today’s society punishment has become a lot more private (Newburn, 2007). However it has been argued that although the debt against the state has been paid, the victim of the crime has been left with no legal input to seek adequate retribution from the offender, leaving the victim perhaps feeling unsatisfied with the criminal justice process.
The criminal justice system is about how a society deals with people who violate criminal law. The criminal justice system has a lot to do with politics. Politics expresses what is and is not criminal, and what the consequences are. The community plays two important roles in criminal justice system. The community is responsible for reporting crimes they witness happening. Police depend on the community for this information as they can't always be there to witness a crime. Lastly, the community makes up the members of the jury who convict or acquit criminals.
Crime is a very serious issue in today’s society that is talked about through many different methods, media, television programs, etc.. Clarence Darrow’s speech, “Address to the Prisoners in the Cook County Jail” displays a very strong feeling on whether or not “criminals” in jail our really at fault for their crimes or if it’s the fault of those people on the “outside”, those not in jail. Once being a lawyer himself and defending criminals like Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, both notorious murders, Darrow has a strong insight on hard core criminals and the legal system. He utilizes his experience and knowledge along with the appeals of pathos, logos and ethos, to gain the respect and opinions of his audience. Darrow’s main purpose in this speech is to state his feelings of disregard for the justice system.
Some of the more positive features of the criminal justice systems throughout the world are that of the following: In Canada the accused person must be brought before a judge within 24 hours of their arrest, or as soon as possible. In Canada and the United States of America you are considered to be innocent until proven guilty. In Canada and the US you have the right to appeal the verdict of the hearing. In Canada all judges must have at least ten years of experience at any position within the Canadian Bar and the judges in Canada are appointed to their positions (U.S. Relations with Canada, 2015). In Germany judges must explain their decisions fully and explain their reasoning for resolving the disputed issues as they did (Maxeiner, 2012).
Before women can prove they too deserve the same rights as men, they must first put to rest the myths and beliefs of their status in this country. This myth of the female status in the United States, and in most other places in the world, has always been the same. It is the belief that women should be in the kitchen, taking care of the kids, and the house, amongst other beliefs. However, in today's society, this is considered ludicrous. For instance, in her essay, 'Ain't I a Woman?' Sojourner Truth delivers a powerful message and addresses the issues of women in the society. She argues that women should have equal rights, because they can do the same things as men. For example she says, ?That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place anywhere. Nobody helps me into no carriages, or over no mud puddles, or gives me any best place? (348). She, then, con...
The present system of justice in this country is too slow and far too lenient. Too often the punishment given to criminal offenders does not fit the crime committed. It is time to stop dragging out justice and sentencing and dragging our feet in dispensing quick and just due. All punishment should be administered in public. It is time to revert back to the "court square hanging" style of justice. This justice would lessen crime because it would prove to criminals that harsh justice would be administered.