The Criminal Justice System
...y also have recreation time to work their bodies. Most prison facilities have weight rooms, basketball courts, etc. there are other programs that the inmates can get into so that they can have a more speedy and productive rehabilitation period during their time in incarceration. There are drug programs in the prison systems such as the excellent one at the Patuxent Institution for Defective Delinquents. There are also programs for the female inmates such as the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars. This allows the women in correctional facilities to meet with their daughters two Saturdays out of the month. There are also work release programs which allow offenders to have some of their freedoms. They inmates can be picked up during the daytime in order to work and establish themselves into society in a much better way. At night they have to go back to the institution that they came from. One of the pros with court system is that are legitimate judges that make rulings that are fair and just, which are not based on opinions of governmental officials. The courts also have the power of jurisdiction. Meaning that they are able to hear and decide on different court cases. With this type of power the courts are able to give the best verdict on any type of case whether it is on a common law or if it conflicts with one of our constitutional rules, which is only handled by the United States Supreme Court. Our law enforcement agencies also have their strengths. The law enforcement agencies try to establish community oriented policing. Through community oriented policing the police and any other law enforcement agency can have exceptionally good ties with the people of the neighborhood. This develops trust with the local law enforcement and loyalty to the one who are appointed and paid to serve and protect them. This also makes room for such programs as the neighborhood watch program. This allows the local community to have a watch over their neighborhood at all times. There are also youth-based organizations to help the younger civilians to stay out of trouble and for some to rehabilitate them so they can stop making trouble. there are such programs as the D.A.R.E program different sheriff camps to show the youth that police are there to protect them not scare them. The correctional facilities that house the inmates of America are supposed to meet certain standards such as having sufficient diets for the inmates. They are also supposed to provide personal hygiene items, proper clothing, recreation, descent living accommodations for the inmates. Many facilities do not meet these requirements. Most of the facilities are overcrowded with inmates. Over crowdedness can sometimes lead to institutional violence, suicide, and sometimes short term sentencing. Many of the juvenile facilities that do not meet the standard of living for the delinquent inmates have a lot of over-crowdedness. This pushes some of the younger offenders who committed more serious offenses into the adult facilities. This issue also falls into another issue and that is rape. Rape is one of the biggest issues in our prison systems today. Like for instance in the Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto, Georgia there is a huge issue of rape. There was an article presented in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about two inmates that had tremendous issues about rape. On November 16 2004 two inmates sued to state of Georgia for not stopping the threats and rapping’s that they faced on a daily basis especially the younger inmates. This prison holds some of the youngest inmates in an adult facility in the state of Georgia. There are nine inmates there that are from the ages of thirteen to sixteen. These inmates have been convicted as adults. One inmate, Wayne Boatwright Jr., an eighteen year old inmate, was strangled in his cell last February. Other cases such as the one about the 41 year old inmate who says he has been raped twice since October. Or the 17 year old inmate who testified that he is so fearful of being raped that he lies in bed fully clothed awake at night ready to defend himself against any sexual assault. There are also problems with drugs in the prisons. Most inmates are in jail for some sort of a drug offense whether it is trafficking the drugs, distributing them, or using them. But when they get into the jail society they are still able to get the drugs that they were able to get out on the street. So how are they getting to the drugs? Most of the time it is the correctional officers that bring it to them. Or they get it through other means. With all of these flaws it is no wonder is it sad that criminals go to jail to become better criminals. Unfortunately there is a downside the judicial court system. In high profile cases, judges’ decisions can be brought for monetary value at the expe...