Paper 1

Introduction to Criminal Justice

Mrs. Christine Paolillo

December 4, 2022

Based on my personal life experience the right to peacefully protest is not something allowable

only in the United States, but almost in every other country that functions through democracy

ideals. It is true that during the course of 2020/2021 the corona virus played a key role in

creating civil unrest worldwide, which highly increased the number of deaths and crimes

committed by people. Individuals in different countries like China, Russia, France or Albania

stood up to their preconceived rights and arranged big protests. While many protests have

globally taken place, big debates have been created related to the violent protests. A protest is a

demonstration to influence public opinion, voice displeasure, draw attention to injustice, or share

information about something happening around you (Betts, B.A). So basically, when a

considerable part of the society has objections against the government or if they consider the

government’s leadership as wrong, they gather together to protest and express the displeasures

that they have. If different laws placed by the government negatively influence the lives of

people, their jobs, wages, overall prices of goods and services or different requirements to be

accepted in universities or employment organizations, they protest to demonstrate that they

disapprove and require new changes. All of these can be strong enough reasons to force a good

part of the society to organize protests if they consider the decisions of the government to be

unfair and one-sided. It is important to understand that the protests are always easily allowed by

the government in charge of the state only if they are peaceful. This means that violent protests,

which would lead to personal and property damage cannot be allowed and the police would be
forced to intervene in order to stop the violence. A protest becomes a riot when one or more

people in a group engage in criminal activity, including purposely damaging property or causing

physical harm to another person (NewsNation). A protest can be described as a peaceful

gathering of people to ensure their rights, but it can also be described as a riot if the protest ends

into violence and use of force. The protests and riots are crucial to understand delicate issues that

are currently happening in the United States, because they demonstrate the disappointment and

irritation of the society towards the state’s police departments and criminal justice system.

Specifically big protests and riots have been arranged by people to object the police brutality,

which has been a worrying problem in the U.S for Americans of all races for many years. In the

Unites States massive protests occur in relation to even more complicated issues, which is about

the race and color of many people. George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked

the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement

(Silverstein, 2021). Nowadays the Black Lives Matter is one of the biggest movements and

protests in the U.S. as well as internationally, in which the black people massively protest to

have equal rights and freely live. These events are crucial to understand, because they present to

the people an ugly reality, which is that the police does not function fairly, but acts illegally and

does not respect the rights of simple individuals. The example of George Floyd shows how the

police in the Unites States uses force to make people to obey the laws by thinking that force is

the right way to bring peace and order among the society. However, this way of thinking led to

the biggest racial justice protests, which regarded the police as insufficient of respecting human

rights. The violence that many police officers have used towards the civilians has been regarded

as excessive and unnecessary and has triggered people’s anger. Eventually the protests organized

have been turned into riots as many individuals have not been able to control their feelings, but
instead have chosen to be aggressive. These protests and riots have not only been against the

police, but they have also blamed the criminal justice system of the U.S as incapable enough to

demonstrate legitimacy and equally apply the laws upon all people. Unconstitutional

overcriminalization could never have become the menace it is today if all criminal charges were

adjudicated using the constitutionally prescribed mechanism of a jury trial (Neily, 2020). These

people have regarded the current criminal justice system as ineffective and have asked the

government for new changes in order for their individual rights to be ensured. Not only that the

police has used violence and has even killed many people in an unnecessary way, but the

criminal justice system has abused the laws by punishing every individual for their wrongdoings,

which at the end of the day has led to the disappointment of people. This disappointment towards

the criminal justice system and the police has caused protests all over the unites states and

unfortunately many of these protests have been turned into riots due to the use of violence by the

protesters. If the police showed more dignity and fairness in dealing with their difficulties by

trying to cooperate with the offenders and if the criminal justice would have been more tolerant

and equal to all people despite their race or color, the protests and riots would not have been

arranged. It is definitely true that the police has a very difficult job because many individuals

may be very troublesome, but still no police officers has the right to take a life and kill and the

criminal justice system would have been more efficient if every individual had a fair jury trial.

Work cited:

Betts, J. B. A. (n.d.). What Is a Protest? Understanding the Types & Reasons. YourDictionary.

Retrieved December 4, 2022, https://examples.yourdictionary.com/what-is-protest-
understanding-types-reasons
Neily, C. (2020, June 7). America’s Criminal Justice System Is Rotten to the Core. Cato.org.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.cato.org/blog/americas-criminal-justice-
system-rotten-core 

Silverstein, J. (2021, June 4). The global impact of George Floyd: How Black Lives Matter
protests shaped movements around the world. CBS News. Retrieved December 4, 2022,
from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-floyd-black-lives-matter-impact/

Staff, N. N. (2020, August 27). The difference between a protest and a riot. NewsNation.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.newsnationnow.com/race-in-america/the-
difference-between-a-protest-and-a-riot/