What war on drugs? Is our government complicit in the continued proliferation of the illegal drug trade in our nation? This supposed war on drugs has been ongoing for better than one hundred years with no apparent conclusion in sight. Perhaps we should entertain a new strategy to achieve ultimate victory in this never-ending conflict.Our criminal court system provides numerous avenues for offenders to eschew responsibility for their misdeeds. Overburdened criminal courts rely heavily u

The sad truth is that the U.S. Criminal Justice System doesn't work for many different reasons -- from our overflowing prisons to the destructive war on drugs and disproportionate effect on minority communities to conflicts between police and citizens and problems with prosecutors and the courts. In FIXING THE U.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, author Paul Brakke provides an in-depth look from a conservative perspective at the many flaws in the system and how to fix them. The chapters in the book cover these topics: - why our criminal justice system is a national shame - how families suffer severe collateral damage - alleged misconduct by the police - how powerful prosecutors misbehave - when judges show bias and exceed their judicial power - how the media makes matters worse with their sensationalized coverage - nine prescriptions to fix our broken criminal justice system This is an important, break-through book that shows the damage of the system not only to individuals accused of crimes but to their families, the economy, and society as a whole.

Most people think they know what ails the American criminal justice system because the experts keep telling us: Too many people go to prison-even nonviolent offenders who've committed low-level infractions. They're locked up in an overcrowded system, and they are not rehabilitated. Instead, they're reenergized to do more damage to society. Ed Barajas, who retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons after twenty-seven years, argues that we've gotten the narrative wrong. He challenges the notion that prisons are a necessary evil at best and a shameful institution at worst. More importantly, he suggests practical and lasting solutions to solve the real problems. He also points out that the first step to fixing those problems begins with those who work for the criminal justice system remembering who they serve-the taxpayers that pay their salaries. Barajas examines how everyday citizens are partnering with the criminal justice system to reduce crime on the local level. Many of these communities are safer and more secure than ever, but they've largely gone unnoticed. While "experts" ask the wrong questions and make misguided assumptions, citizens, victims, and criminal justice professionals are transforming the system through a quiet revolution beyond the traditional calls for reform. Ed offers an insightful and comprehensive policy analysis about the state of the American criminal justice system and provokes thinking beyond traditional policy models. Moreover, he offers solutions that have been proven successful which currently are overlooked or ignored by national policymakers. -Selma Sierra, Policy Director Bingham Research Center, Utah State University I worked with Ed at the National Institute of Corrections for over a decade. His ability to see through the maze we call "corrections" was not only edifying but refreshing. He gives a clear picture, as well as solutions, to so many practices that are not working. -Rick Faulkner, President, The Faulkner Group, LLC

Justice for All identifies ten central flaws in the criminal justice system and offers an array of solutions – from status quo to evolution to revolution – to address the inequities and injustices that far too often result in courtrooms across the United States. From the investigatory stage to the sentencing and appellate stages, many criminal defendants, particularly those from marginalized communities, often face procedural and structural barriers that taint the criminal justice system with the stain of unfairness, prejudice, and arbitrariness. Systematic flaws in the criminal justice system underscore the inequitable processes by which courts deprive citizens of liberty and, in some instances, their lives. Comprehensive in its scope and applicability, the book focuses upon the procedural and substantive barriers that often prohibit defendants from receiving fair treatment within the United States criminal justice system. Each chapter is devoted to a particular flaw in the criminal justice system and is divided into two parts. First, the authors discuss in depth the underlying causes and effects of the flaw at issue. Second, the authors present a wide range of possible solutions to address this flaw and to lead to greater equality in the administration of criminal justice. The reader is encouraged throughout to consider and assess all possible options, then defend their choices and preferences. Confronting these issues is critical to reducing racial disparities and guaranteeing Justice for all. Describing the problems and assessing the solutions, Justice for All does not identify all problems or all solutions, but will be of immeasurable value to criminal justice students and scholars, as well as attorneys, judges, and legislators, who strive to address the pervasive flaws in the criminal justice system.

This critical yet honest appraisal of our criminal justice system addresses its strengths and its flaws--and makes recommendations for improvement. The American Criminal Justice System: How It Works, How It Doesn't, and How to Fix It calls attention to a criminal justice system that needs improvement. Author Gerhard Falk shows that the police themselves often violate the law; that prosecutors send innocent citizens to prison and even to death row; that defense attorneys take on cases they are not prepared to handle; that juries vote guilt or innocence on the basis of emotion, not facts; that judges are often failed attorneys or unscrupulous politicians; and that jails and prisons are too frequently warehouses of the poor. As background for his analysis, Falk discusses the history of the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, as well as the history of prisons and "the prison industrial complex." He also offers a devastating analysis of the death penalty and its practitioners. The book ends with recommendations for the improvement of our criminal justice system so that America can truly be, as our Supreme Court proclaims, a land of "Equal Justice under Law."

The rule of law has vanished in America’s criminal justice system. Prosecutors now decide whom to punish and how severely. Almost no one accused of a crime will ever face a jury. Inconsistent policing, rampant plea bargaining, overcrowded courtrooms, and ever more draconian sentencing have produced a gigantic prison population, with black citizens the primary defendants and victims of crime. In this passionately argued book, the leading criminal law scholar of his generation looks to history for the roots of these problems—and for their solutions. The Collapse of American Criminal Justice takes us deep into the dramatic history of American crime—bar fights in nineteenth-century Chicago, New Orleans bordellos, Prohibition, and decades of murderous lynching. Digging into these crimes and the strategies that attempted to control them, Stuntz reveals the costs of abandoning local democratic control. The system has become more centralized, with state legislators and federal judges given increasing power. The liberal Warren Supreme Court’s emphasis on procedures, not equity, joined hands with conservative insistence on severe punishment to create a system that is both harsh and ineffective. What would get us out of this Kafkaesque world? More trials with local juries; laws that accurately define what prosecutors seek to punish; and an equal protection guarantee like the one that died in the 1870s, to make prosecution and punishment less discriminatory. Above all, Stuntz eloquently argues, Americans need to remember again that criminal punishment is a necessary but terrible tool, to use effectively, and sparingly.

The Criminal Justice system is broken: both the ideal of justice and that of rehabilitation have been lost, but there is hope. Everyone can agree on that. Right now, criminal justice costs too much, it punishes those with drug problems and mental illness who commit crimes, but doesn't offer them the help that they need, and often, it merely slaps the wrist of violent offenders who go on to offend over and over again. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and the public can all agree that "the system" isn't working. Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney, Jason W. Swindle, Sr. has stepped up in The Verdict Is In: Fix the Criminal Justice System to offer innovative new ideas and a fresh vision for fixing the broken criminal justice system in an effort to get this important national conversation started. The Verdict Is In pulls back the curtain of the legal system itself for the uninitiated to see "how it really works in real life."