This paper will analyze the criminal justice system in America today. The discussion will focus on whether the existing criminal justice system fails to reduce crime. The paper will explore what author Jeffrey Reiman means when he states that "we can make more sense our of criminal justice policy by assuming certain acts as criminal and other harmful acts as noncriminal, and by diverting valuable resources away from social programs that could reduce crime." Moreover, the discussion will consider the role which the currently existing legal and criminal justice systems play in maintaining a socio-economic system with structural features that generate high levels of crime and juvenile delinquency. This paper will also describe some of the causes and sources of crime in contemporary U.S. society. Finally, the text will show how the alienation, personal humiliation, violence and isolation of prison life, combined with the lack of opportunity for ex-inmates outside of prison to create a new life for themselves, lead to recidivism and thus, increased crime.
America's Diversion of Resources Away from Social Programs
According to author Jeffrey Reiman, Americans can make more sense out of criminal justice policy by assuming that certain acts are criminal and other harmful acts are noncriminal, and that the government diverts valuable resources away from social programs that could reduce crime. Reiman states that the government's policy of diverting valuable resources away from social programs started at least 30 years ago. He writes that in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson ordered the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice "to investigate the causes and nature of crime" and to make recommendations about how to deal with the problem of crime (Reiman, 17). In 1967, the thick report was delivered to the President, but, "because we are a nation higher on commissions than commitments" the report did...