Second that the criminals targeted by the improvements were dangerous people who must be incarcerated because lesser sanctions would not be effective in limiting the illegal behaviors. The Third mandatory prison sentences would reduce crime by incapacitating or discouraging the dangerous offenders who were targets of the improvements. With the carrying out of the improvements there was unique growth in the size of federal and state prison populations. Finally, the massive increases in incarceration that resulted from the improvements have been distributed unevenly throughout the population. In specific, there has been a geographical clustering of incarceration.
Criminal Law Evaluation CJA 354 August 29, 2011 Criminal Law Evaluation Criminal law is evolving to keep the criminal justice system alive. Criminal law models itself to the behavior of criminals. As people grow in knowledge to break the law, the punishment becomes greater for each crime. At least that is what has happened in the past. Now with the overcrowding of prisons, criminal law is changing once again.
Sydney, Australia’s most populated capital city will also surge upwards to 7 million residents (ABS, 2008). According to ABS Social trends, Queensland is projected to surpass Victoria as the second most inhabited state by 2050 (ABS, 2008). This Data envisages that Queensland’s population is to double to 8.7 million (a quarter of the country’s population) compared to the 8.6 million of the population which is projected to live in Victoria (24% of all residents). Western Australia is also forecast to increase with the states population growing from 10% in 2007 to 12% of the population during 2056. The rapid population growth in Queensland and Western Australia reflects the relatively high rates of migration to these states.
The existence of prisoner brutality within correctional institutions is not only a reflection of the larger society as well as a byproduct of the prison subculture, but is also the cause of vast consequences and resulting great implications on inmates, officers, communities, the justice system, and society as a whole, making its increasing yet well-hidden prevalence an essential issue to be uncovered and addressed by the United States. Abusive behavior of inmates and correctional staff has been an essential aspect of prison culture since the founding of the American penal system. Housing a number of violent and non-violent convicted criminals in close confinements provides a logical explanation as to why prisons are subject to an environment
One factor that supports the notion of structural bias is that the level of Aboriginal over-representation increases at each progressive stage of the criminal justice system. 57 The proportion of Aboriginal people that are dealt with in the courts is less than the proportion of Aboriginal people that are sentenced to imprisonment or detention. For example, in 2003 in Western Australia between 17 and 26 per cent of people dealt with by adult courts were Aboriginal. 58 However, Aboriginal people constituted over 36 percent of all adult prisoners in 2003. Similarly, about a third of the juveniles dealt with in the Children’s Court are Aboriginal but Aboriginal juveniles account for about 70 to 80 per cent of all juveniles in detention.
Under these acts users would normally receive a lesser sentence than those in possession of illicit drugs while Cultivation and Trafficking are considered to be very serious offences carrying very harsh sentences (Australian Drug Foundation, 2010). Throughout the 1980s and 90s Australia saw a large increase in crime rates which were attributed to an increase in illicit drug use and dependence. The CJS has developed significantly since the 80s and 90s by initiating interventions and diversionary initiatives to deflect offenders from the Criminal Justice System and a lifetime of possible incarceration (National Drug Strategy, 2010,p.1). Australia’s criminal justice system continues to progress with these diversionary initiatives according to social, economic and political demands. An example of which is Payne’s definition of diversion.
These laws are enacted by governments with the process of criminalisation, where certain types of deviant behaviour are made unlawful. The regulation of social conflict through the action & sanctions of the state is the most obvious form of social control. The states role is as an agent of the form of social control is closely connected to the concepts of authority & legitimacy. In the first few centuries in places like Australia, the criminal justice system served two purposes. The first is instrumental, the state responds to crime to secure benifits of the wider society such as crime prevention & crime reduction.
| The 1996 Gun Law Reform | | | Australian laws regarding guns have been developed in response to an increase of violent crimes. While they have had some success subduing violent crimes to a degree there is still room for needed improvement. | | 12/9/2012 | | Gun Law Reform of 1996 Australian laws regarding guns have been developed in response to an increase of violent crimes. While they have subdued violent crimes to a degree there is still room for improvement. Brought about by the Howard Government in 1996, the tightening of these gun laws were in response to Australia’s increasing crime rates averaging a rise of 18% each year, eventually leading to the Port Arthur Massacre of 1996 .
The impact of immigration, because it includes undocumented illegal immigrants States: For the only time in the 20th century, the population of all 50 states increased, ranging from a tiny half-percent rise in North Dakota to the booming 66 percent in Nevada. Eighty percent of the nation's 3,141 counties and equivalent areas grew, compared with 55 percent in the 1980s. Eight of the 10 largest cities gained population in the 1990s, with only
Childhood obesity is increasing at rates of epidemic proportion across the globe and is becoming a significant health problem. The current obesity rates in Australian children are among the highest in the developed world. ‘In 2007–08, one-quarter of all Australian children, or around 600,000 children aged 5–17 years, were overweight or obese, up four percentage points from 1995 (21%). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABOS) (2009). ‘Research indicates an annual increase of this figure of 1-1.5%, a trend that suggests half of all young Australians will be overweight by the year 2025’ (Tipping the scales: Intervention and management of childhood obesity 2007).