The Criminal Justice System and More Lenient Drug Policy: Three Case Studies on California's Changes to How Its Criminal Justice System Addresses Drug Use

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Weinberger
1992 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Tayman ◽  
Susan Pennell

Drug use remains a serious concern in neighborhoods and at all levels of government. Formulating drug policy requires sound information regarding the indicators of drug use and its consequences. To date, efforts to integrate drug use measures as a means to predict drug use trends have been minimal. This research describes a statistical modeling procedure that attempted to demonstrate the association between drug use in the justice and health systems to determine if drug use in the criminal justice system could forecast drug use in the larger community. Results of the path analysis suggested that integration of indicators was not useful for determining future drug use due to the weak associations among variables.


SEEU Review ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Olga Kosevaliska

Abstract The right to a fair trial is implemented in our criminal procedure and is one of the core values of our criminal justice system. This right is absolute and can’t be limited on any legal base. Its essence is fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial court with guaranteeing of all the minimum rights of the defendant. One of those minimum rights is the right of equity of arms between the parties, the prosecutor and the defense. In our Law on Criminal Procedure, it is provided that the defense has the same rights and duties as the prosecutor except those rights that belong to the prosecutor as a state authority. Therefore, the purpose of this article is elaborating the right of ‘equity of arms’ and its misunderstanding in practice. Hence, we intend to show some case studies in which some evidence are not considered by the court just because they are not proposed by the prosecutor and they are crucial for the verdict.


Author(s):  
Jerry Flores

In this chapter, I draw on feminist criminology and research on gender and crime to demonstrate how abuse and neglect in the home led the young women in my study to their first contact with the criminal justice system. I pay attention to how home instability is shaped by gendered, racialized, and class-specific challenges. First, I discuss the multiple types of abuse girls experience in the home. This mistreatment led the young women in my study to begin dating at an early age; this new behavior resulted in more abuse at the hands of family members, who viewed their behavior as inappropriate and a violation of “proper” behavior for young Latinas. As this abuse continued, most of the young women in my study began using controlled substances. Soon, they ran away from home. Once on the street, they experienced a new set of challenges, which included finding housing, staying safe, and avoiding physical and sexual abuse. By this point their initial drug use had usually turned into full-blown drug addiction. Drug use and abuse were key factors contributing to first girls’ arrest.


1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Prendergast ◽  
Yih-Ing Hser ◽  
Virginia Gil-Rivas

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in patterns and consequences of narcotics use among Hispanic and white addicts over time. Data were gathered from admission records and from interviews conducted in 1974–75 and 1985–86 from 323 Hispanic and 212 white narcotics addicts admitted to the California Civil Addict Program in 1962 to 1964. Analyses compared the two groups on narcotics use, incarceration, mortality, and other characteristics at each follow-up point and in terms of drug-use status. Compared with white addicts, Hispanic addicts showed a progression of more persistent and severe narcotics addiction. At each interview point, Hispanics were more likely than whites to be using opiates or to be incarcerated. Comparisons of opiate use at the two interview points showed that Hispanics were less likely than whites to remain abstinent and were more likely to relapse to opiate use. Overall, Hispanics also had greater involvement in the criminal justice system, higher rates of cocaine use, and a higher proportion of deaths due to violence and accidents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-261
Author(s):  
Vibha Hetu

The article has focused on six case studies. It analysed different scenarios in known offender rape cases, how the situation unfolded and led to serious consequences. The criminal justice system reacted to polarizing the offenders and victims, and thereby, creating greater dissension. The parents were deeply hurt by their daughters’ decision to form a relationship with a boy without informing them thus showing distrust in them. The fear of being ostracized by society and their norms persuaded them to take strict action against the boy in order to protect their honour. To reclaim their honour, they even got their daughter married to the rapist in one such case. Whether the daughter agreed or not is out of the question. Are these matters of being unfaithful to parents and/or hurt caused by their secret association with their boyfriend, or just a ‘false’ honour to be protected by subduing their daughter and also using the law to fulfil their ulterior motives; are questions to be delved into finding a solution to such common phenomenon.


Author(s):  
Nigel E. Turner ◽  
Steve McAvoy ◽  
Peter Ferentzy ◽  
Flora I. Matheson ◽  
Chris Myers ◽  
...  

The prevalence rates of problem gambling in the adult correctional population are 5 to 10 times higher than those found in the general population. Yet little has been published about dealing with problem gamblers in correctional settings. We conducted a literature review and interviewed 16 key informants who provide services to clients experiencing problem gambling and/or who have worked in the criminal justice system. Our objective was to gain greater understanding of programming for problem gambling for clients who are involved in the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on Ontario. The published literature on this topic is remarkably sparse. In fact, only two peer-reviewed published studies were identified that formally evaluated a treatment program for problem gambling for clients in these settings. However, we uncovered a small number of programs (10) that had been developed for, and delivered to, this population, including a gambling treatment court in Buffalo, Gamblers Anonymous, outpatient treatment during probation or parole, brief psychoeducational programs, brief therapy, a full intense treatment program, and inpatient treatment after release. We present a series of short case studies of these programs. Although some programs have been delivered within correctional institutions, others have been offered either after release or prior to sentencing. A major issue is the lack of awareness of problem gambling in the criminal justice system among judges, lawyers, wardens, corrections workers, and parole officers. The results are discussed in terms of issues and opportunities for programming for problem gamblers in the criminal justice system.Chez la population carcérale adulte, les taux de prévalence du jeu compulsif sont de cinq à dix fois plus élevés que dans l’ensemble de la population. Pourtant, peu de choses ont été publiées sur les joueurs pathologiques en milieu correctionnel. Nous avons effectué une revue de la littérature et avons interviewé 16 informateurs clés qui fournissent des services aux clients ayant un problème de jeu ou qui ont travaillé dans le système de justice pénale. Notre objectif consistait à mieux comprendre les programmes pour traiter le jeu compulsif destinés aux clients qui ont eu des démêlés avec la justice, avec un intérêt particulier pour l’Ontario. Étonnamment, il existe très peu de publications sur ce sujet. En effet, nous n’avons trouvé que deux comptes rendus d’étude publiés et validés par un comité de lecture qui ont évalué en bonne et due forme un programme de traitement pour le jeu pathologique destiné aux clients de ce milieu. Toutefois, nous avons découvert un petit nombre de programmes (10) qui ont été élaborés à l’intention de cette population, et qui lui ont été offerts, notamment un programme judiciaire de traitement du jeu pathologique à Buffalo, le groupe d’aide Joueurs Anonymes, un traitement ambulatoire durant la probation ou la libération conditionnelle, des programmes psychopédagogiques de courte durée, une thérapie brève, un programme complet de traitement intensif et un traitement en établissement après la libération. Nous présentons une série de courtes études de cas de ces programmes. Bien que certains de ces programmes aient été offerts dans des établissements correctionnels, d’autres ont été proposés après la libération ou avant la condamnation. Le principal problème réside dans le fait que les juges, les avocats, les directeurs, les intervenants correctionnels et les agents de libération conditionnelle connaissent mal le jeu pathologique dans le cadre du système de justice pénale. Les résultats sont analysés en fonction des difficultés et des avantages des programmes destinés aux joueurs pathologiques qui ont eu des démêlés avec la justice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-788
Author(s):  
Blair Fisher ◽  
Kathryn Witherow ◽  
Nathan E. Kruis

1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Bennett

Several problems in correction can be managed either more effectinely or more efficiently by changing the system than by attempting to change the individuals being processed through the system. The evidence of the relative ineffectiveness of traditional correctional treatment programing is reviewed. An alternative approach, involving changing decisions based upon information feedback concerning decision outcomes, is illustrated by several case studies, including the California Probation Subsidy Program, the California Adult Authority Resolution 284, and the Cali fornia Department of Corrections' Parole Work Unit Program. The possibility of extending this approach to other areas of the criminal justice system is discussed. It is concluded that this alternative method of dealing with correctional problems can have an important influence, permitting the reallocation of exist ing resources to other persistent concerns.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin C. Strickland ◽  
Michele Staton ◽  
Carl G. Leukefeld ◽  
Carrie B. Oser ◽  
J. Matthew Webster

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the drug use and criminal justice factors related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody reactivity among rural women in the USA recruited from local jails. Design/methodology/approach Analyses included 277 women with a history of injection drug use from three rural jails in Kentucky. Participants completed health and drug use questionnaires and received antibody testing for HCV. Findings The majority of women tested reactive to the HCV antibody (69 percent). Reactivity was associated with risk factors, such as unsterile needle use. Criminal justice variables, including an increased likelihood of prison incarceration, an earlier age of first arrest, and a longer incarceration history, were associated with HCV reactive tests. Participants also endorsed several barriers to seeking healthcare before entering jail that were more prevalent in women testing HCV reactive regardless of HCV status awareness before entering jail. Originality/value Injection and high-risk sharing practices as well as criminal justice factors were significantly associated with HCV reactivity. Future research and practice could focus on opportunities for linkages to HCV treatment during incarceration as well as during community re-entry to help overcome real or perceived treatment barriers. The current study highlights the importance of the criminal justice system as a non-traditional, real-world setting to examine drug use and related health consequences such as HCV by describing the association of high-risk drug use and criminal justice consequences with HCV among rural women recruited from local jails.


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