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Criminal Justice Reform / Speech Paper with Outline and all Supplements. The need for extreme criminal justice reform in California

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FACTORS: I. Basic Introduction and description - Introduce basic sides of Criminal Law and Elaborate II. General History and Development - Discuss the history and modifications of Reform Laws in California III. Main Problems and Concern Stimulants - Point out real life statistics and point out incidents IV. Conclusion - Point out the need for an extreme reform and what can be done SENTENCE OUTLINE I. An analysis of Department of Corrections data by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, CA, in Nov, 1995 indicates that since the enactment of California 's 'Three Strikes ' law two years ago, 192 have 'struck out ' for marijuana possession, compared to 40 for murder, 25 for rape, and 24 for kidnapping. …show more content…

But I submit that such a philosophical foundation is flawed. Revenge while understandable from an individual human perspective is not a proper basis for society 's response to the misbehavior of its laws. This human urge to punish should be removed from the current system and replaced with methods of restrictions that utilize the offender 's potential to benefit his victim and society at large. In other words, in a free society the end desired is the correction of behavior that utilizes the least force . This conforms to the principles of limited government, efficiency, reduced cost, and personal freedom as advocated by both liberals and conservatives alike. The basic underlying concept of this proposal is that incarceration should be reserved for those who are violent and thus dangerous to the public. Violent crimes would be defined broadly to include any act or attempt to injure the person of another except by accident. This would therefore range from murder to driving under the influence with current distinctions of misdemeanor and felony offenses remaining in place. The court sentencing procedures would also be modified to exclude incarceration for non-violent crimes with an emphasis on victim restitution and community service. The court would maybe rely on probation reports to provide the necessary offender personal history including employment, job skills (or lack of), and personal resources, e.g. bank accounts,

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