Abstract
The paper discusses how the basis of justice within "The Republic" relies on the various facets of knowledge and the foundation for universal truths in governing, which are still applicable in the modern justice system. The paper discusses how Plato and Socrates often agree that 'right' and 'wrong' often changes through the passage of time, but through a reference to justice, the Republic gives virtue and truth as the basis for honoring order.

Tags:plato, america, justice

Abstract
This paper explains that the current debate about the legitimacy of cross burning under state law has been a conflicting issue with the primary constitutional provisions, which protect a person's right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The author points out that the critical issue of racial intimidation by the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) in the case of "Virginia v. Black" provides a foundation for various leniencies by the Supreme Court to allow racial intimidation as a precursor for validating Virginia's laws, although they correctly struck down the statute of cross burning as a blanket prohibition against the cultural milieu of Christianity in the state. The paper concludes that the premise of racial intimidation portrays a contextual denial of the right to burn a cross at a KKK rally, but the religious nature of Virginia's law violated the Fist Amendment of the Constitution.

From the Paper
"This perspective has brought great controversy over the use of derogatory language as a basis for intimidation, but since the Virginia law did not provide any type of deeper semantics to the issue of the "breach of peace" the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to prevent cross burning. The premise of religious freedom took a precedence in this ruling, since the very language of the Constitution does not deny any type of freedom of religious expression, but only if it does not physically harm another person. Perhaps, the ruling of "Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire" goes against this form of intimidation as an exception."

Tags:state, klu klux klan, absolutism religious contextual

Abstract
This paper looks at the American justice system with emphasis on death row. The author defines what death row is and what life for prisoners sentenced to the death sentence is like. Included are interviews with people on death row.

From the Paper
"America stands alone in the western world as the only so-called "Free" country that still executes its own citizens. America's justice system in particular is inherently biased, usually racially, always monetarily if you have the money to pay for a good criminal lawyer, and all the appeals, chances are you won't get the death penalty. The one thing these people all have in common is lack of funds, and without the ability to work while on Death Row, these people have no option but to just sit and wait for the inevitable to occur. The people on death row are not all "Ax murderers" or "Serial rapists," a disturbing number of them may actually be innocent of the crimes for which they've been sentenced to be executed. Our anthology will be based upon writings from within the cell walls of prisons across the United States of America. Each writing comes from a person who is imprisoned for life. Many of these people have received the death penalty and are just wasting their life away on death row. Each individual has been in prison for years and is still paying for the crimes in which he or she has committed."

Tags:deathrow, jail, life, narratives, prison, sentence, criminal, law, justice

Abstract
The paper discusses Gilbert Stuckey et al.'s book "Procedures in the Justice System" which explores the underlying philosophy and history behind the concept of justice in depth. The paper shows how the authors endeavor to create a deep understanding of the American justice system and the need for law and order for all. The author of the paper surmises that the American justice system is a double-edge sword in dealing punishment that fits the crime and that there is room for improvement so that the system doesn't unintentionally work against the victim. The paper also focuses on cruel and unusual punishment.

From the Paper
"Our justice system is the mechanism for deterring crime or so we think. Let's look at the facts. More than 1.5 million people are incarcerated in the United States today, .4% of the population Today, 25% or more of California inmates are incarcerated for drug related crimes. In the 1980s alone, 8% of the incarcerations were drug related and 57% were for violent crimes. And the statistics go on. So how effective is our justice system? Are we too lenient? Or are the loopholes of some of our laws preventing us from really curbing crime."

Tags:Fourth, Amendment, trial, lawgivers, criminal

Abstract
The paper contends that any solution that hopes to revise the American criminal justice system must address five issues. The paper details these issues: A lack of racial parity in criminal justice, a lack of socio-economic parity, overcrowding in the courts, overcrowding in the prisons and the rehabilitation of the thousands of prisoners when they are released.

From the Paper
"That the criminal justice system in the United States is biased is beyond dispute. Statistics abound that all confirm the same thing; if you are white and wealthy in the US, the odds that you will end up in jail are remarkably slim. Felony convictions send a disproportionately high number of African American and Hispanic men to prison, while their Caucasian counterparts remain free. The reasons behind this phenomenon are many - too many to be listed in this brief overview."

Tags:criminal justice system, crime and punishment, recidivism, racial profiling, selective policing

Abstract
Lawmakers are striving on a daily basis to establish strict laws for the punishment of juvenile offenders, despite beliefs that the American judicial system shows favoritism to the criminal. This paper examines how the American judicial system does not favor the criminal and states that the system is continuing its efforts to allow the imprisonment of offenders of all ages, as well as impose harsh punishments on those who commit drug and violent crimes.

From the Paper
"According to Butterfield (1996), as crime in America appears to be on the decline, reports from law enforcement officials indicate violent crimes are expected to rise. In the opinion of many American citizens, the American judicial system treats criminals as victims indicating favoritism towards the criminal. According to Reidinger (1996), the American judicial system has taken an attitude that "perpetrators not only deserve blame but are worthy of it, in the fullest, most human sense of the word" (p. 98). In actuality, the American judicial system imposes strict penalties in the majority of criminal defense cases in this country, despite the Americans' belief that it favors the criminal. Youthful Offenders Due to an increase in crime in the United States, the general public holds a mistaken notion of leniency toward our youthful offenders. As an example, underage students on college campuses continue consuming alcohol at alarming rates; yet the majority of colleges fine students rather than pressing charges and allowing them to face legal punishment. In a recent article entitled Murder at an Early Age, Adler (1998) advises that psychologists maintain the theory that a young child who commits a cold-blooded rape and murder cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality leaving the impression to the general public that the child has gotten away with murder. In his article, Adler (1998) reports that according to the Justice Department, all states may now charge juveniles as adults. This gives judges and prosecutors the power to file major youth felony cases in adult courts."

Tags:administration, criminal, justice

Abstract
This paper looks at the tendency of the U.S. criminal justice system to focus primarily on minority groups and to mete out unnecessarily harsh punishment for minor crimes. Statistics are provided to support this contention, and the negative consequences of such a criminal justice system are discussed. The paper talks about the need to change the system and the probability of change, considering the growing awareness of human rights and equality.

From the Paper
"The criminal justice system in the United States has been the subject of increased scrutiny for some decades. If the statistics are taken into account, it appears that there are several shortcomings that need to be addressed. One of these is for example the focus and manner of punishment of certain crimes. The focus of criminal justice appears to be on minority groups to an incongruous degree. Furthermore crimes of a lesser nature appears to draw sentences that are unnecessarily harsh. The problem with this kind of criminal justice system is that the attention of crime fighting and prevention are focused in the wrong areas, and thus crime that should be curbed is allowed to increase rather than decrease."

Tags:prisons, prisoners, sentences, procedure, african-americans, racism, poverty

Abstract
This paper discusses the history of the criminal justice system in the civilized world and in the United States in particular. It then looks at the evolution of the American criminal justice system and discusses the challenges that the criminal justice system has faced over time. Finally, the paper discusses what the future may hold for criminal justice in the United States.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The History of the Criminal Justice System
The Criminal Justice System Comes to America
Modern Challenges to the Criminal Justice System
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Yet another complicated issue for the American criminal justice system to sort out at the current time is the issue of justice for foreign terrorists. Because those who wage terror against the US are often not parts of organized, recognized military organizations, they are not prosecuted under international military justice, but are subject to the laws of the US. Herein, however, the controversy lies, as there are those legal experts who maintain that Constitutional protection only applies to American citizens, not those who are foreigners who have sought to kill American citizens and destroy the American homeland. What has happened recently is that American jails have become filled with suspected terrorists from abroad and to merely release them could spell disaster for America, but keeping them locked up for years on end without due process of law once again violates the rights that some feel these individuals are entitled to receive. As such, the crisis is clear, and will have to be resolved somehow in the future (Cook, 2001)."

Tags:crime, punishment, law, dispute, judge

Abstract
In large countries, administering justice is by no means an easy task. This is because there are a great many people, composing a diverse demography amid a never-ending sea of social problems. In order to cope with these problems, criminal justice systems are set up to implement laws that address disorder. But in spite of the criminal justice system being established, intricacies created by social disorder mitigate the efficiency of the laws implemented. In addition to this, there may be other factors, such as malpractice by law enforcers that cause the justice system much embarrassment and dissatisfaction. This paper argues that the American criminal justice system appears to be composed of separate systems with weak links to each other, since they each act almost independently according to the discretion or loopholes in the law. The paper uses a case study to present its argument.

From the Paper
"Another weakness in the justice system is the allowance for law enforcing officers to use discretion. These are actions that are legitimate, but it must be remembered that these actions are allowed because of the fact that if every one had to be judged by the narrow descriptions of the law there would be many more people in jail than there already are. But the problem is that there have been several cases where police discretion has also been used in a negative fashion."

Tags:Mumia, Abu, Jamal, jail, federal, judge

Abstract
This paper explains that racial disparities in the American criminal justice system refer to the difference in the number of minorities versus whites represented inside correction institutions; the incarceration rate for blacks is 8.2 times greater than that of whites. The author points out that, contrary to public belief, the higher arrest rates of black drug offenders do not reflect higher rates of drug law violations; whites actually commit more drug crimes than blacks do, but arrests appear to be easier to obtain in low-income areas because most drug transactions are conducted in public in predominantly black neighborhoods; whereas, drug transactions are more likely conducted indoors in working, upper-class, white neighborhoods. The paper recommends that establishing accreditations for law enforcement, increasing the data collection, continuing to diversify the workplace, and reforming court procedures and sentencing guidelines will help reach the goal of fairness in the justice system.

From the Paper
"One discriminating practice used by police officers is racial profiling. Racial profiling can be defined as practice of stopping, questioning, and searching potential criminal suspects in vehicles or on the street based solely on their racial appearance (Human Rights Watch, 2000). Profiling has contributed to racially disproportionate drug arrests, as well as, arrests for other crimes. It makes sense that the more individuals police stop, question and search, the more people they will find with reason for arrest. In retrospect, if the majority of these types of stop and frisk searches are done on a certain race then it makes sense that that race would have a higher arrest rate. This is the problem that racial profiling creates and it is most obvious in drug arrests."

Tags:profiling, bond, drugs, number, guidelines