Populism In America

Words: 1682
Pages: 7

The criminal justice system can involve simple processes that from start to finish, may take up to fifteen minutes of everyone's' time or it can be a complicated process that covers vast arrays of people, governments and agencies both nationally and internationally. For instance, receiving and-and paying a parking ticket at a designated kiosk can be quicker than ordering and receiving a cup of coffee. Most of us are probably more concerned and spend more time reflecting on potential parking or speeding tickets than we do about the vastly significant issues that have a tremendous impact on criminal justice systems. Currently, America has the highest rate of incarceration than any other country in the world; we are exposed to worldwide …show more content…
Accordingly, the American prison population rate is particularly vulnerable to penal populism that is expressly popularized by political agendas and media presentation (Dammer & Albanese, 2014). Mandatory minimum sentences; “three-strikes" laws and policies that lengthen prison stays as well as increasing the severity of punishment for drug-related crimes has helped fuel penal populism causing America prisons to remain full (Dammer & Albanese, 2014). One aspect, especially in America, is media attention to mostly street crimes, such as theft to murder while ignoring white collar crimes such as embezzlement. The attention of law enforcement and the public is shifted to crimes that have little overall economic effect as compared to white collar crime( Cole, Smith &Delong, 2013). The ratio is one dollar of loss due to street crime as compared to 66 dollars of loss to white collar crimes. However, arrest rates and incarceration for street crimes greatly outnumber white collar crimes ( Cole, Smith & Delong, 2013). American prisons are also filled with mentally ill offenders since many mental institutions have been closed following a trend that began in the 1960’s (American Psychological Association, 2014). Many aspects control the American prison population. Nonetheless, it …show more content…
The overall due process would ensure fair and equitable treatment, as well as providing a structure that would not be easily swayed by public demand for punitive regimes (Dammer & Albanese, 2014). Maybe then curfew violations, running away, smoking and other juvenile offenses would be decriminalized. Parents would then have to seek help for their children without the first step involving the police. Nonetheless, the best aspect of this philosophy is that children would then have rights consistent with the rights of adults (Dammer & Albanese, 2014). The last method would be