guse. There are a million people in Federal and State prisons. This number has tripledsince 1980. The US has the highest prison population in the world. These high numbers seemto be caused by the use of mandatory sentencing laws and from having highunemployment rates. Over the past fifteen years, the prison population has grown 250percent. Probation and parole populations are also growing about seven percent everyyear. It also seems that these criminals have more problems than those from the past. Today’s criminals are less educated and have more mental disabilities. With all of the change with today’s families, religions, schools, and economies, it ishard for the correctional system to keep up. The correctional system has to continue torenew its programs and facilities so that they can successfully help return offenders to theirfamilies and society. The correctional system must be responsive to all of today’sproblems. The correctional system main purpose is to assure public safety and increasethe success rates of offenders in the most cost-effective way. Corrections has been a tremendous help to our society. The history of correctionshelps us see where we are going with the idea of rehabilitating criminals. The correctionsindustry can measure its failures and successes by just looking to the past. The correctionssystem has come a long way but there is still a long way to go. By understanding how aresociety changes and how that influences crime the corrections system will be able toincrease the rate at which criminals can turn themselves around. Our court systems have,in recent years, been said to be inefficient, sometimes ineffective, and even backlogged tothe point where cases have to be dismissed because of how long it takes for them to get tocourt. After my trip to court, these are my opinions and observations on the "Efficiencyand Effectiveness of our Criminal Court System". The court procedures o...
