A Brief History of the U.S. Criminal Justice System
Britain was responsible for most of the early legal practices in the United States. The Enlightenment, a prominent intellectual movement, influenced how people thought about human behavior. Classic criminological theory reached its pinnacle in the late eighteenth century. In the United States, colonists relied on religion to help them understand and deal with crime in society. The existence of slavery also had an impact on the development of criminal law.
The many components of the American criminal justice system, such as courts, policing, and prisons, progressively emerged at the federal and state levels from the American Revolution until the early twentieth century. Apprehending suspected criminals, investigating crimes, deciding guilt, imposing sentences, and carrying out penalties of criminal offenders have been the responsibility of these loosely linked components of the criminal justice system.
Almost all criminal punishments included fines, execution, or brutal tortures such as whipping, branding, and the amputation of noses and ears before the 18th century. Imprisonment was not considered a penalty in and of itself. Hence, jails were created to house suspects awaiting trial or sentence. As society saw the ills of gruesome physical punishment and numerous executions, sentencing criminals to prison began to emerge as a viable option.
There was no unified American legal system before the American Revolution. Each colony had distinct legal regimes. From colony to colony, criminal law, punishments, and courts differed. The goal of the reformers, after the revolution, was to create a more consistent and professional legal system. This eventually led to drafting a constitution for the new nation by the founding fathers.
The Constitution presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to create uniformity while also ensuring that liberties were not lost to the new federal and state administrations that were being created. The Constitution gave the federal government authority. The founders felt that by restricting the powers of the government, they would be able to achieve their goals. The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, outlined people’s rights in the criminal justice system.
With the introduction of the Bill of Rights, Americans expected certain protections in the criminal justice system. There were more specific rights and freedoms for individuals through the Constitution’s first ten amendments. For example, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the state from inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment” and imposing “excessive bail” and “excessive fines.”
Subsequently, Boston established America’s first full-time professional police force in 1838. New York City, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Chicago, and Baltimore were among the first cities to establish municipal police forces, and by the 1880s, every major city had one.
In 1908, the FBI was established to unify federal law enforcement. J. Edgar Hoover was made its director in 1924. He would occupy this position for over a half-century, until his death in 1972. Prohibition, which made it illegal to sell, transport, or possess alcohol in 1919, sparked a crime wave in the 1920s. The police forces were overwhelmed during this period, and more law enforcement agencies were established.
Today, most federal law enforcement agencies in the United States are divided between two expansive departments. The FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Prisons, and the Office of the Inspector General are all part of the Department of Justice. The Secret Service, Coast Guard, TSA, ICE, and Customs and Border Protection are all under the Department of Homeland Security’s control. These agencies are in addition to the 18,000 local and state police units that patrol America’s cities, rural areas, and highways.
