U.S. criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

U.S. criminal justice - Essay Example The objectives of the criminal justice system ensure safety of the society through justice for individual, personal liberty and the right to due process.All these objectives make it absolutely certain that rule of law prevail and justice is served. The 17,500 law enforcement agencies of the country are trying very hard to achieve these objectives (Hudzik, J. 2010).The extent to which the United States criminal justice system has achieved these goals. It has been successful in securing the rights of the individuals. United States of America is considered a just society all over the world because of its justice system however there are many improvements that can be made to better beef up the process of criminal justice. But at the same it is important to understand what individuals demand from the criminal justice system and how these demands are fulfilled. Goals of individuals include social justice, equality before law, protection of society and freedom for fear. All these goals safe guard the interest of the individuals. The extent to which these goals are covered by U.S. criminal justice system is difficult to say because some of these goals are of conflicting nature but at the same time we cannot dismiss the criminal justice system of the country. United States criminal justice system is doing a very good job in allowing personal liberty and the right to due process. All these goals are being achieved and one can say this because all the procedures are followed and there are less loop holes in the system. The 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th amendments secure personal rights and liberties, and protect citizens from unreasonable searches (Howard, J. 2009). There are still roam for injustices but United States criminal justice system is going in the right direction in fulfilling its goal. Prejudice is an element that cannot be ignored and that restrains the objectivity of the criminal justice system. This has been seen in the case of minorities because minorities do not g et proportional representation in courts and that affects the criminal justice system (Santiago, C. 2011). This is another way in which the goal of individual justice is not fully achieved by the criminal justice system. The goal of human dignity is sometimes not fully achieved under the criminal justice system of the country. The reason being that maximum protection prison face mistreatment and also the criminals convicted of hideous crimes like child abuse or serial killing face treatment that is not fit for human (Sociology of Criminal Justice, 2010). Human dignity is important for even the cruelest of criminals but it is hard to attain this goal given that the emotions of guards and other prison officers also come into play. This is one grey area where attention is needed. There are both conflicts and similarities between the goals of the criminal justice system and the goals of the individual. The criminal justice system cares about individuals so that no one is wrongfully conv icted. This is especially important to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance to trail and all the rights of the individuals are safeguarded. Personal liberty is one of the goals of criminal justice system that conflicts with the goal of the individual for protection of society. Society may need protection more than ever in this age of terrorism. Getting warrants from the proper authorities might take long and that can allow the terrorists to come into action and as a result valuable lives are put to risk. The security risk in United States is so much that people protested on the trial of 9/11 attacks that were being held in Newburg (Livingston, B. 2010). This shows the conflict between goals of individual and goal of criminal justice. Justice for individual is another goal criminal justice system that clashes with the idea of social justice in some ways. When a murderer is