Criminology I: CRIMINAL STRATEGIES
Criminal Justice Strategies
Laurie L. Long
Kaplan College
CJ 102 Criminology I
Mr. Norton
December 21, 2009
Criminal Justice Strategies
Criminal Justice Strategies for drug lord sentencing, drunk-driving checkpoints, habitual offenders, aggressive police patrol and increasing the number offenses eligible for the death sentence are just various ways that the state legislature, (Wiki Answers, 2009) president and congress can create the laws (Wiki Answers, 2009).
I also ask myself, do I support these types of strategies, can they be effective tools for reducing crime in society, and why or why not?
Let me start with taking a look at mandatory life prison sentences without the possibility of parole for drug-lords or kingpins’.
In 1986, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were enacted by congress, which compelled judges to deliver fixed sentences to individuals convicted of certain crimes regardless of mitigating factor culpability. Federal mandatory drug sentences are determined based on three factors: the type of drug, weight or the drug mixture (or alleged weight in conspiracy cases), and the number of prior convictions (Papa, A., 2007).
Distributing just five grams of crack carries a minimum five-year federal prison sentence while distributing 500 grams of power cocaine carries the same sentence. This 100:1 sentencing disparity has been almost universally criticized for its racially discriminatory impact by a wide variety of criminal justice and civil rights groups, and congress. Although white and Hispanics form the majority crack users, the vast majority of those convicted for crack cocaine offenses are African Americans (Papa, A., 2007).
There are many Americans in prison that are serving sentences of more than 17 years in prison for simple drug crimes. These are marginalized offenders that don’t have the bargaining chips to establish deals. For example, Elaine Bartlett, a mother of four served a...