Cesare Beccaria's Influence On The Criminal Justice System

When thinking about the criminal justice system, people tend to think about police officers, prisons, parole, or trials, but these things were not always implemented as they are today. A man by the man of Cesare Beccaria is to thank for having influence on the criminal justice reform across the Western world, as he took into account the cruel and not up-to-date laws. In 1764 Beccaria wrote On Crimes and Punishment, which explains how governmental policies need to incorporate utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number, meaning that the higher-ups cannot look out for their own selfish interests. He spoke out at the current system deeming that the unreasonable punishments bestowed upon offenders was excessive, and that the laws

In particular when he said, “Men generally abandon the most important regulations either to the care of ordinary common sense or to the discretion of persons who have an interest in opposing the wisest laws…” (Beccaria, 1986, p. 7). Beccaria believes that we, as human beings, have a tendency to have our personal interests in mind and not the common interest, which is how unjust and oppressing laws are formed. This is definitely prevalent in recent years with the whole “war on drugs” introduced by Nixon, and how is was designed to increase federal drug control agencies and introduced mandatory sentencing. Nonetheless, it has been found to disservice those who are of color in the U.S., particularly those that are poor, so this policy was specifically targeting a certain group of individuals. Those at the top of the food chain have the power to change the laws to better suit the interests of the common person, but they are being blinded by greed and their own self-interests. Of course, not all of Beccaria’s views of the criminal justice system were still going to be relevant in today’s ever changing world. His view on having proper or proportionate punishments is an ideal way of operating the criminal justice system, yet, our system seems to continue presenting excessive punishments. For instance, the

The criminal justice system is far from being perfect in terms of convicting all of those who have committed any sort of crime, whether it’s a crime in the suites or a crime in the streets. Although, one major area that requires improvement is the need for increased funding to prevent crime instead of reacting towards it. As Irvin Waller (2014) stated, “Preventing crime before it happens is cost-effective and also cost-beneficial, as healthy kids and youth turn into productive adults later on” (p. 237). If cities and states invested their resources into early education, housing and social services, neighborhood watches, and sports programs, instead of building more prisons, the less likely the impacted individuals are to end up there. Many will think that this is crazy, because how can you prevent crime by offering preschool or other services to those who require it the most? Well, once people are given the resources to succeed in life, they won’t have to look for alternative measures, which will more than likely involve them running into trouble with the law. Preventing crime seems foreign to the public, because we’ve always reacted to robbery, murder, or arson, and that these individuals were going to commit the crime regardless. Though with these presented programs,