Issues in Criminal Justice Administration and Prison Reform

Running Head : Criminal Justice and Prison Reforms

Name

University

Tutor

Date

Course

Introduction

In the United States of America , the criminal justice system is the part of the government which is responsible for ensuring that social prevails . It also is tasked with the prevention of criminal activity it enforces the laws of the land , as well as ensuring that every citizen receives justice due (Coates , Robert , Kalanj , Boris Umbreit , Mark 1994 . The criminal justice system is comprised by different professions such as the police who are involved

in making of arrests , prosecution and investigation of crime . The courts are an important part of the criminal justice and constitute of juries who pass judgments and deliver judgments by correctly interpreting the relevant laws

The courts also determine the magnitude of an offence and determine the applicable punishment . After the criminal is sentenced , the prison department takes the mandate of carrying out the actual sentence as passed by the courts . Therefore , problems in any of the department could affect the functioning of the rest of the departments as the reason why this addresses pressing issues facing the criminal justice as well as the challenges facing the prison and efforts being put to implement positive changes in the criminal justice

The functions mentioned above point to the great roles the criminal justice officials ' play . It is due to the importance of their duties to the nation that the officials serving in the criminal justice system are required to observe ethics in the execution of their duties as indicated in the criminal justice code of ethics . There has been continuous evolution of criminal justice since the early times . This has been as result of invention or adaptation of new forms of punishments and the ever-changing policies concerning the criminal justice system (Pollock 1994

In addition , the debate on the rights of the offenders or the victims has caused reforms in the criminal justice system geared towards achieving a more humane justice system . All these reforms also are designed at improving the social , political as well as economic conditions . During the medieval times , very harsh punishments were meted on offenders such as being sent on exile , as well as other various forms of corporal punishments , without any one raising objection (Crank 2000 . However , recently the calls for reforms have not only targeted cleaning the criminal justice of corruption but also on ensuring that alternative correctional measures are implemented so as to achieve effectiveness in the prisons

In modern times , there has been a rise in the number of jails and prisons that have replaced corporal punishments . For example , corruption has been a major issue worthy addressing in the criminal justice and has been a challenge in the administration of the criminal justice in the United States of America . Efforts geared towards streamlining the criminal justice include diversifying the hiring process of the criminal justice officers , greater coordination between the government and the local community is also a reform which has been adapted in...