Criminal Justice in the United States

Paper Summary:

This paper is a study and commentary of criminal justice policies in the United States. It discusses the basis of the American system of criminal justice and the state and local methods of dispensing justice. The paper contends that U.S. contemporary policies concerning crime and punishment are some of the most draconian in any Western nation and the harshest in American history. Also mentioned is the fact that, although the U.S. does not have the highest crime rate or highest violent crime rate of Western countries, it has some of the highest rates and lengths of incarceration.

From the Paper:

"Contemporary policies concerning crime and punishment are not only among the most draconian among wealthy nations, they are also the harshest in American history. No other Western country continues use the death penalty except the United States: 3300 prisoners were on death row in 1997 and more people were executed--76--than in any year since 1955. Capital punishment has been abolished by all the big democracies except the United States, Japan and India. Additionally, many emerging democracies in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have also abandoned it. Capital punishment in the United States is derided by critics in Europe for being antediluvian and barbaric."

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