Changes in Law Enforcement - Essay Example

The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice guides criminal justice policy in the United States. The criminal justice system is the main body of the rule of law which mainly constitutes three parts; law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections. This paper will discuss the changes expected in the field of criminal justice over the next fifty years. Capital punishment United States practices capital punishment for aggravated murder and rarely for felony murder.

Although all of the American colonies practiced capital punishment prior to the declaration of the independence, the crimes subject to death penalty and mode of execution have largely varied over time from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Obviously, the US legal system considers capital punishment as an effective way to deter homicides and other severe crimes. As per the reports of Death penalty information center (Sep 20, 2010), there were 37 death penalty executions in United States in 2008 and it was recorded as the lowest number since 1994.

However, a notable change has been occurring for the recent decades; for instance, many states including Michigan, Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, North Dakota, West Virginia, Vermont, and Wisconsin have abolished capital punishment recently. . reported that the homicide rate per 100,000 population is just under 10 and it remains constant irrespective of increased death penalty execution rates. 75% of criminologists who belong to American Society of Criminology are of the opinion that increasing numbers of executions would not result in deterrence (Religious Tolerence.org). Hence, capital punishment seems to be abolished in the United States over the next fifty years.

Gang violence and Gun control According to Children’s Defense Fund and National Center for Health Statistics “in a single year, 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the United States” (cited in Currie, April 20, 2007). It indicates that a child is killed in every three hours by gunfire. The alarming gun crime rate raises sever threats to the US economy and social life. Evidently, the increased gun crime rate among adolescents is directly attributed to teenager gangs. Thousands of students are said to have expelled from schools for bringing firearms to school.

The proponents of gun control argue that deaths among teens due to gun crime make rather huge figure than disease related deaths. The liberal use of gun has been identified as one of the major threats to social safety that requires further political and legal concerns. Therefore, the US government tends to bring forth rather stringent ‘gun and gang control’ regulations in future. In addition, instead of punishing juvenile delinquents for gun crime, parents might be caught liable for their children’s criminal deeds.

These are some of the legal provisions expected to take place in immediate future in the US law enforcement system. Release of terrorists Many of the developed nations, especially the United States have become the target for several terror groups.