Criminal justice system enforcement

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 ... 

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. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DBA), an organization of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a federal agency whose mission is to enforce U.S. controlled substances laws and regulations and bring violators of these laws to the criminal justice system. The DBA maintains 78 offices in 56 countries throughout the world. Table 1 lists contact information for the DBA. 

Finally, parents need to make their own social assessment about likely treatment by the legal system. If they have cause to believe that their child has not or will not be fairly treated by the law because of prejudice or discrimination built into the criminal justice system, they need to factor in this heightened risk. They may feel that for the same drug offense (possession of cocaine, for example) suspicion would be more likely, enforcement more harsh, and sentencing more severe for an African-American male than for an Anglo female. If parents believe bias of any kind is likely, they need to communicate this increased jeopardy to their child, and to get legal representation to ensure equitable treatment should their son or daughter get arrested. 

Understanding who commits crimes and why can directly affect the passage of laws and the operations and practices of the criminal justice system, which comprises the agencies authorized to respond to criminal acts (law enforcement, courts, and corrections). Criminological theories can provide the basis for the creation of new and more effective programs and interventions designed to help lower crime rates, thereby making communities safer. 

Forensic science can be broadly defined as the application of science to law. It is more commonly applied to those laws (criminal and civil) that are enforced by police agencies in the criminal justice system. Specifically, it is the application of the principles of chemistry and related sciences to the examination of physical evidence collected at the scene of a crime, and the interpretation of the results of that examination in a court of law by an expert. 

Indeed, the role of law in holding businesses to account is an important one, and Paul tracks the shift towards corporate criminal liability which, he argues, is likely to spread further. A major issue that underpins his analysis is the limited and sometimes arbitrary approach taken to enforcement. In the regulatory environment he critically assesses the dangers inherent in systems of law which seek to appease public demands for justice because of fears that such approaches will lead to mistrust and non-cooperation. He also critically evaluates the different status of criminal and regulatory law in relation to community norms that underpin both legitimacy and effectiveness. 

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