Justice system, criminal

It is not uncommon for individuals under the influence of phencyclidine to come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Increasingly, there is a need for forensic experts to advise and testify in cases involving PCP and other psychoactive drugs. With the publication of a paper on acute intoxication and fatalities from PCP use, we began to receive requests from attorneys to evaluate PCP-related cases (Burns et al. 1975). We have now consulted in over 400 civil and criminal cases and have testified in municipal, superior, and Federal courts from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. 

Though shocking in terms of civil liberties, the concept is consistent with recent trends in the criminal justice system. British criminologist Nikolas Rose has described the increased employment of preventive models in the United States in the efforts to control crime (Rose, 1999). Sexual predatory statutes in some states, for example, require propensity hearings . Megan s law requires those convicted of sexual crimes to register the fact with local police after they have served their time. 

Dorothy Nelkin The gene is a malleable image. It has appeal because it can be interpreted in many different ways, but at a time with cost constraints on institutions and demands for accountability, for categorisation, then biological explanations are convenient. As I mentioned when referring to the criminal justice system, they can be used to mitigate punishment or to put people up for ever - it depends on policy agendas. 

Most drug users—the lucky ones, at least—are no strangers to coercion. People in need of drug treatment are fortunate if they run up against the compassionate coercion of family, friends, employers, the criminal justice system, and others. Such pressure needs no excuse the health and safety of the addicted individual, as well as that of the community, require it. ° [ bold emphasis added italics original ... 

Today the state and federal drug war is disproportionately focused on the poor and people of color. As speakers at a 2002 civil rights conference lamented, Our criminal laws, while facially neutral, are enforced in a manner that is massively and pervasively biased. The injustices of the criminal justice system threaten to render irrelevant fifty years of hard-fought civil rights progress. Nowhere is this truer than in the drug war. As noted by Human Rights Watch ... 

The racially disproportionate nature of the war on drugs is not just devastating to black Americans. It contradicts faith in the principles of justice and equal protection of the laws that should be the bedrock of any constitutional democracy it exposes and deepens the racial fault lines that continue to weaken the country and belies its promise as a land of equal opportunity and it undermines faith among all races in the fairness and efficacy of the criminal justice system. Urgent action is needed, at both the state and federal level, to address this crisis for the American nation. ... 

As discussed earlier, the 2002 National Drug Control Strategy report coined the term compassionate coercion and promoted it as a key element for success. The White House press release announcing the report explained that in addition to pressure from family, friends, employers, and the community, [(c)]ompassionate coercion also uses the criminal justice system to get people into treatment. " ... 

As noted in Section II of this report, people serving time in prison — especially for drug offenses — would appear to be prime candidates for coercive pharmacotherapy. Prisoners are politically weak and generally regarded unsympathetically by the general populace. Further, prisoners appear to be one of the express targets for compassionate coercion, which uses the criminal justice system to get people into treatment. " ... 

Welch, Ronald H. and Angulo, Carlos T, Justice On Trial Racial Disparities in the American Criminal Justice System (Washington, DC Leadership Conference on Civil Rights / Leadership Conference Education Fund, May... 

For men, the most frequent source of referral to drug treatment is through the criminal justice system. In 1998 (the latest year for which SAMHSA has statistics) some 39 percent of men, compared to 25 percent of women, entered treatment as the result of a judicial process. Sixty-two percent of adult men entering treatment for marijuana abuse were sent by the criminal justice system. (Figure 3. Criminal Justice Referrals, by Sex and Primary Substance 1998. http //www.samhsa.gov/oas/2k1/enterTX/ enterTX.htm). 

The criminal justice system referred the majority (54 percent) of all teens to substance abuse treatment facilities in 1999. 

Again and again in various sorts of company I encounter the same disbelieving astonishment as to the state of the German criminal justice system that overcame me at the beginning of the prosecution avalanche... 

Given the present circumstances of the criminal justice system in the Federal Republic of Germany, when a judge or a panel of judges intend to render an unjust verdict, they will have no difficulty in doing so as long as they are assured there is no organized public resistance from the media, academia, the police, or the churches. 

Millions of arrests have been made for marijuana law violations. It has been estimated that if marijuana were decriminalized or legalized, yearly arrests would be reduced by 500,000.,2 For some users and pushers, there is "revolving door" justice in which they are in and out of the criminal justice system quickly. For others, marijuana possession means real time in prison. 

The scientific qualifications of the personnel assigned to police units involved in the discovery and evaluation of physical evidence are important in determining the extent of the application of the tools of the physical sciences to the problems of the criminal justice system. With regard to the staffing of these units it has been recognized that "...there is no substitute for the educational background of science, and no amount of enthusiasm on the part of a prospective employee should be accepted in lieu of a sound scientific background..." ( 1). 

Continuing the policies of assigning police officer personnel, without physical science qualifications, to the scientific units of police agencies cannot improve the quality of any of the services required of the police. The fact that such policies have been followed by police agencies in this country has inhibited the utilization of the skills and expertise of physical scientists of many specialities and the application of scientific knowledge and instrumentation to the criminal justice system. 

Financial support of student tuition through pre-service and in-service Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) grants and loans is expected. In the case of loans, the principal is forgiven at the rate of 25% for each subsequent year of service in the criminal justice system. Some students may also be eligible for graduate teaching assistantships or fellowships. 

Within the past decade the methods of science and technology have assumed increasingly important roles in efforts to prevent, control and detect crime. One element of the total scientific effort within the criminal justice system assists in establishing that a crime has indeed been committed, in reconstructing the crime, in identifying likely suspects, and in eventually proving or disproving the involvement of a suspected offender with a particular criminal act. 

Over the past five years at the national level, NILECJ has funded a number of significant research projects in the forensic science area. Many of these projects have included the refinement or development of new techniques and instrumentation to facilitate the examination of physical evidence. Research also has examined the operations of laboratories and the manner in which they interface with other components of the criminal justice system. Other research has contributed to the development of completely new fields, such as voiceprint identification, which are now outside the scope of most forensic laboratory capabilities. 

Based upon the analyses of these data, recommendations will be made regarding manpower deficiencies within the profession, the nature of educational programs required to train qualified personnel, and other improvement programs to increase the contribution of the forensic sciences to the criminal justice system Specifically, the following reports will be prepared by the grantee ... 

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