How People Influence Criminal Justice Policies

Criminal Justice DQ

Criminal Justice Discussion Questions

The first change was the dramatic increment of offender populations that brought up variations in correctional and sentencing philosophies. The increase was unprecedented following a period loaded with relative stability. Such an increase with correctional populations was not entirely limited to prisons and jails. The second reason was that the scope number of people held in parole and probation grew substantially. The third change was limited expansion of prison capacity that affected all Federal and State prisons (Alarid, 2014). Besides, it formed a critical element in appreciating the individuals held in prison, community service, probation, or parole. The changes in these numbers over time differed based on jurisdiction and policy of the federal government. From the developments, technology has developed a great impact towards correctional activities in 21st century. The immediate effect of the concept is the application of computers aimed at collecting and sharing information. The computer networks use information collected within various criminal justice processing stages, such as arrest, to share information used in processing the offender through the correctional system (Petersilia & Reitz, 2012).

The 1990s laws were developed because of increased growth of correctional populations coupled with the costs involved in corrections.Most of the expenditures in the budget supported institutions instead of promoting correctional programs like parole, community corrections, and probation (Stemen, 2007). For instance, urine test results, needs and risk assessments, and substance involvement (self-reported) are determined throughout the sentencing stages an can be shared with the prison administrators and probation agents. Performance in times of parole and probation is used in the determination of treatment and management strategies for people returning to prison.

The first effect was that the time that offenders served in prison were lengthened as compared to the time of sentencing issued by the court. The prison administrators had a difficult time reconciling the sentences. The second effect was that disillusionment led to incapacitation, rehabilitation, and diversified focus on justice. The laws promoted intermediate sanctions through proposals of ways of providing a range of probation and parole sanctions. The third effect was that parole violations increasingly contributed towards the growth of time served in prison (Petersilia & Reitz, 2012). There was an increase in prison admissions percentage for parole violators. The participants are more informed of any developments within the criminal justice while facilitating decision makers, practitioners, and other community elements through informed….....