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Compare And Contrast The American Criminal Justice System

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The U.S vs Austria’s Criminal Justice Systems

Throughout the history of the U.S., the criminal justice system has been far from perfect. There have been numerous instances of injustice and corruption observed within it. For example, since as early as 1790, the United States has constituted the use of the death penalty (U.S. Marshals Service). On the other hand, because of the corruption-free criminal justice system in Austria, the death penalty was abolished in Austria in 1968 (Winkler). In reality, corruption is just one of the numerous flaws of the U.S. criminal justice system. Although both countries are thriving in many ways, and they share many similarities, only one has the upper hand in their criminal justice system. The U.S. criminal …show more content…

In the United States, the death penalty is often used unfairly in situations where it is clear that the defendant is not guilty of the crime or that the defendant is not deserving of the punishment. The appropriate use of the death penalty is very subjective. This is due to the fact that there are very few guidelines, and it is mostly up to the jury and judge to decide whether or not to impose the death penalty when the defendant is guilty of a capital crime. The judge can look at many factors, such as history, the regret of the crime, and the nature of the crime when deciding (U.S. Dept. of Justice). Additionally, in 2009, all five of the women who were on Alabama's death row were condemned for the unexplained deaths of their young children, spouses, or boyfriends. (Stevenson, 201) In these cases, it is obvious that the defendant is not guilty, and most definitely should not be punished in such a way. However, due to the subjective nature of the death penalty, they are punished. On the contrary, Austria outlawed the death penalty in 1968 (Winkler). The maximum sentence is a life sentence for the most severe crimes. This is superior to the death sentence as in the rare case of an incorrect conviction, the defendant can still be released. But, this is just one of the ways the U.S. criminal justice system is

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Comparing the justice system of Canadian with the United States legal systems we find some similarities as well differences in the form of the legal system. However, viewing the Canadian criminal justice system it is somewhat separate in its combined judicial legal system where all the courts share the same system to include Canada’s Supreme Court which has the final decision authority throughout Canada. On the other hand, the United States has two parallel and independent judicial systems. The federal judicial system applies to federal law where the state judicial system is independent at the state level.

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Retrieved 9 April 2017, from http://legalbeagle.com/6554727-three-components-criminal-justice-system.html The History & Development of the U.S. Criminal Justice System - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Study.com. Retrieved 9 April 2017, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-history-development-of-the-us-criminal-justice-system.html The Early Years of American Law - Colonial Freedom, Britain's Push For Greater Control, A New Start, A New Criminal Court System. Law.jrank.org.

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If they were to be executed based off a wrongful conviction, the justice system would never be able to reflect on their mistakes and learn from the verdict

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While the American Justice System may be flawed in its ways of dealing with conflict, no judicial system can be perfect. Many cases can be highly influenced by race and personal feelings rather than the obvious truth. Because of these racial tensions in the court, having a fair trial between African Americans can be next to impossible. Though some people believe that there is no racism, only a flawed Justice system. Many sources claim that the justice system is, in fact biased when judging a criminal court against African Americans.

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America’s criminal justice system need to make a change. We are constantly wasting millions of dollars on prison cells that won’t even be needed if they gave citizens who broke the law quick and easy punishments. In our society today many youths are being sentenced harsh punishments due to petty crimes, these harsh punishments include five or more years in prisons. Our criminal justice system is just plain corrupted and unreasonable. Judges show give fast punishments which are less severe to citizens who has broke small laws.

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For the victim's families, it may not feel good enough to just be living a life in prison or in some cases even being let back into society. And the death sentence

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Criminals are shielded from cruel and unusual punishments. Finding the better option for good is sometimes the only answer. More so, execution is a crueler punishment than a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The process of entrusting a jury and judge with the power to decide someone's fate and put an end to their life will always be inhumane and seen as a cruel punishment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled capital punishment constitutional, it is difficult to determine if someone really deserves to die rather than just spending life locked away with no possibility of release.

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The death penalty was not seriously challenged as a constitutional issue in the U.S. until the late 1960s, a time of considerable turmoil on civil rights issues here, and a time of movement toward abolition of the death penalty in Europe. This challenge resulted in the somewhat surprising decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia in 1972 finding the death penalty to be unconstitutional as it was being applied everywhere in the U.S. The question of extradition and the possible use of the death penalty has raised major concerns throughout Europe, Canada, Mexico, and parts of Africa. While the U.S. sorely wants to bring such suspects to justice, many countries just as strongly believe that the death penalty is a human rights issue and extradition in such circumstances would be a violation of deeply held principles. Doubts about the accuracy and fairness of the death penalty have increased dramatically in the U.S. as scores of inmates have been freed from death row.

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Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a legal process in which a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime by the government of a nation. The United States is in the minority group of nations that uses the death penalty. There are thirty-three states that allow capital punishment and seventeen states that abolished it (Death Penalty Information Center). The morality of the death penalty has been debated for many years. Some people want capital punishment to be abolished due to how it can cost a lot more than life imprisonment without parole, how they think it is immoral to kill, and how innocent people can be put to death.

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The death penalty is a punishment of execution, given to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. The death penalty laws were established in the 18th century B.C when king Hammaurabi of Babylon instituted the law for 25 different crimes. In Jewish history the death penalty could only be given after trail by the Sanhedrin, which was composed of twenty-three judges. There were four different ways the death penalty was imposed on an individual, these were burning, stoning, strangling and slaying (Talmud). In today’s society most countries have abolished the death penalty due to various reasons such as unfair justice, but others still have it in place, for example some states in The United States of America.

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U.S vs Norwegian Criminal Justice Systems Every country relies on being able to enforce the law in order to have a functional society. To accomplish this, nations have come up with different justice systems which ensure its laws are being applied to everyone equally. A justice system has many roles such as protecting society, punishing crime, rehabilitating criminals, and defending the victimized. Countries do this in different ways, like Norway and the United States.

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From the creation of the United States, legislation urged for accurate judiciary sentencing and fair treatment under the law, even including such requirements in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. However, as time went on, the judicial system continued to be horrifically flawed without regard for the legality of its failings. As a result, the biggest threat to the inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, in present day America is corruption in the justice and police system. Corruption worms its way into many aspects of everyday society, though very prominently in the United States’ justice system.

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The Death Penalty, loss of life due to previous crimes and actions, is believed by some to be extremely costly, inhumane, and cruel unlike some others whom believe it is just, right, and provides closure. The Death Penalty is not a quick and easy process. Most who get sentenced to deaths row wait years for their ultimate punishment of death. Some believe that it is not right to punish and kill a human for actions they have done because, they believe that the inmate should have another chance. Then others believe that it is right to punish someone for their actions especially if their actions involve killing another or multiple humans.

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