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Criminal Justice and the Future of Civil Liberties

An earlier forecast that the criminal justice system will be effective in reducing crime and in preserving civil liberties is modified to account for an ambiguous criminal justice system that exhibits both autocratic and democratic policies and procedures. Social surveys confirm that the United States today enjoys a high degree of civil liberties. However, contemporary criminal justice is ambiguous, promoting policies that are autocratic and democratic. This is seen in the prevalence of police brutality at the same time that many police departments have adopted community policing, a democratic approach to police administration and operations.

This essay examines four sociopolitical concepts to explain the ambiguous criminal justice system within a liberal democracy: American exceptionalism, moral panics, "governing through crime," and the "great disruption" concept. Next, the construct of the quasi-autocratic state is proposed: a regime this is genuinely democratic and liberal for one part of its population (mostly white middle-class) while a distinct group of people (mostly lower-class people of color) live under autocratic conditions. The conclusion asserts that the criminal justice system is ambiguous and will continue to be so in the next 20 to 40 years. It also poses the lager question, without offering a definite answer, of whether the autocratic elements of criminal justice practice define the contemporary American polity as a quasi-autocratic state.

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