Several societal shifts that have taken place since the United States' foundation have contributed to the development of our current criminal justice system. In order to establish order in society, allocate blame, and deter misbehavior, the American people have constructed a variety of institutionalized systems over the course of history. The policing, judicial, and penal systems of today are responsible for these tasks. This framework was not there in the early stages of the American criminal justice system. (Beckett,2018)

In fact, before the United States created formal rules, laws, and institutions, religious teachings and the concept of sin were used to guide social norms and conduct. In many colonial penal codes, actions such as swearing, blasphemy, and Sabbath-breaking carried severe penalties since they were defined in terms of the Bible (Beckett,2018). Dunking, stoning, and whipping were all forms of punishment intended to shame the wrongdoer into repenting. In a perverse twist, society still places a premium on making criminals feel regret, but this time it's more for the sake of the victims of their crimes than for any greater power.

The prevalence of religious principles in American criminal law declined as the country grew both populous and geographically dispersed. Now the law is being designed to protect moral values, which were more important to a bigger percentage of Americans at the time than religious ones. As a result of this shift, the number of laws and the number of infractions both increased, both of which are continuing trends. The widespread belief is that this is happening because moral laws are not as deeply internalized as religious ones, making them less effective in regulating acceptable conduct. To rephrase, God's law has historically had a greater impact on establishing acceptable behavior than have the police, courts, and corrections systems.

These happenings, for better or worse, are what have molded the modern American criminal justice system. The development of institutionalized police, courts, and punishments was necessitated by the shift from tiny, religiously similar villages to enormous, heterogeneous metropolis with wide religious and cultural norms.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the American criminal justice system underwent significant change. According to Sanmartin, (2020), the safety of American citizens is higher now than it was before the 9/11 attacks. Since the 9/11 attacks, the US criminal justice system has consolidated security measures in a way that was not the case before. The normal police, the traffic police, and other special teams like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and SWAT squads now work closely together (Mitnik, Freilich, and Chermak, 2020). It is now much simpler for US security services to detect, assess, and respond to any security incident because information gathered by one team is shared across all platforms. However, according to Johnson and Hunter (2017), the increased security measures have forced terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS to alter their strategies.

Now, instead of carrying out actual attacks, these groups are relying on Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs). According to Mitnik, Freilich, and Chermak (2020), these are individuals enlisted to execute criminal acts on behalf of terrorist groups. On June 12, 2016, for instance, a lone shooter opened fire at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 and injuring scores more (Nelson et al., 2016). So, these groups seek out and employ people like that to carry out their criminal activities.

The US criminal justice system has varied its unified security framework to meet with the threat posed by HVEs. In the United States, individual states are no longer dependent on the central government for matters of national security and intelligence (Mitnik, Freilich, and Chermak, 2020). Since 2001, most of the states, including California, Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii, have had their own intelligence systems (Nelson et al., 2016). Thus, the FBI and other security officers are informed of any criminal behavior, and the results of the analysis are made public. In addition, state legislatures in the United States have passed laws permitting them to acquire information prior to allowing locations for public gatherings (Nelson et al., 2016). A new issue arises, however, despite the fact that this appears to be effective in blocking terrorists' escape routes. The danger posed by immigrants must not be ignored.

The social Justice principle that needs to be addressed is the principle of equity. When people of different backgrounds and socioeconomic conditions are provided with resources designed to help them achieve the same goals, we talk about promoting equity. In contrast, equality provides everyone with the same opportunities to achieve a common goal.

For this reason, equality does not always equate to fairness because certain people or communities have more complex requirements. Advancing policies that offer assistance in overcoming systemic hurdles may be part of a social justice approach that integrates resolving equity issues.

Cultural and diversity issues present in criminal justice in the US.

There are a number of problems in our judicial system right now. Two variables that have a negative impact on the justice system must be known in order to grasp the underlying problems.

To begin, there are stereotypes. Racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination all contribute to the perpetuation of stereotypes in our society. Caretakers, the media, and other factors can all contribute to the development of harmful stereotypes in children. These preconceived notions about a given set of people can cause biased evaluations of them. One definition of bias is the tendency to form an unfavorable opinion of someone or something based on preconceived notions or assumptions about that category.

A person's ability to think clearly and rationally, or their "cognition," can be negatively impacted by this type of thinking over time. The brain learns shortcuts as we absorb information, simplifying what we see so that we can more rapidly draw conclusions in the future. Consistent bias and stereotyping in one's mental processes causes the negative effect of that individual applying the taught prejudices to their interactions within society due to the shortcut formed in the brain. For instance, if a police officer was brought up in a wealthy, majority-white neighborhood and was taught that people of color are overwhelmingly criminal, the officer might apply that mindset to real-world situations

The US criminal justice system has varied its unified security framework to meet with the threat posed by HVEs. In the United States, individual states are no longer dependent on the central government for matters of national security and intelligence (Mitnik, Freilich, and Chermak, 2020). Since 2001, most of the states, including California, Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii, have had their own intelligence systems (Nelson et al., 2016). Thus, the FBI and other security officers are informed of any criminal behavior, and the results of the analysis are made public. In addition, state legislatures in the United States have passed laws permitting them to acquire information prior to allowing locations for public gatherings (Hawks, 2022). A new issue arises, however, despite the fact that this appears to be effective in blocking terrorists' escape routes. The danger posed by immigrants must not be ignored.

Terrorists are worried that immigrants will provide them with a pathway into the United States to carry out attacks. According to Johnson and Hunter (2017), the US criminal justice system has taken an increased interest in immigrants entering the country since 2004. Former US President Donald Trump similarly instituted strict immigration rules and prioritized border security (Ouellet, Bouchard, and Hart, 2017). However, dealing with immigrants increasingly requires participation from multiple parties. Using the centralized security system, both local law enforcement and FBI agents can conduct background checks on immigrants (Nelson et al., 2016). They don't let anybody into the country who have a criminal record back home. Additionally, the security authorities are able to keep tabs on all immigration activity thanks to the unified security system. This strategy appears to be effective as well, however there is another issue. Terrorist groups can reach and recruit HVEs using online platforms like social media.

Beckett, K., Beach, L., Knaphus, E., & Reosti, A. (2018). US criminal justice policy and practice in the twenty‐first century: Toward the end of mass incarceration?.  Law & Policy,  40(4), 321-345.

Sanmartin, M. X., Ali, M. M., Lynch, S., & Aktas, A. (2020). Association between state-level criminal justice–focused prenatal substance use policies in the US and substance use–related foster care admissions and family reunification.  JAMA pediatrics,  174(8), 782-788.

Hoff, E., Adams, Z. M., Grimshaw, A., Goddard-Eckrich, D. A., Dasgupta, A., Sheth, S. S., & Meyer, J. P. (2021). Reproductive life goals: a systematic review of pregnancy planning intentions, needs, and interventions among women involved in US criminal justice systems.  Journal of Women's Health,  30(3), 412-428.

Hawks, L. C., Walker, R. J., & Egede, L. E. (2022). Association Between Lifetime Criminal Justice Involvement and Substance Use Disorders in US Adults with Diabetes.  Health Equity,  6(1), 684-690.

Nelson, M. S., Wooditch, A., Martin, F. A., Hummer, D., & Gabbidon, S. L. (2016).

Hate crimes in post-9/11 Pennsylvania: Case characteristics and police response revisited. Race and justice, 6(4), 303-324.