A reflective and knowledgeable dialogue is intended to be stimulated among students on what has gone wrong and what has gone right with criminal justice. The reader should be able to think about what’s right with the system and to evaluate beliefs about which ideas, programs, policies, and models should drive the criminal justice system. A critique of the criminal justice system is organized into seven chapters covering the disciplines of police, courts, corrections (i.e., punishment and prisons), and juvenile justice. After a summary of the salient themes and concepts found to be helpful in understanding recent developments in public policy and crime control, the second chapter reviews law enforcement initiatives and reforms, as well as breaks down the “thin blue line” metaphor of policing. While examining the impact of sentencing reform on the system Chapter 3 summarizes some of the sentencing philosophies, goals, and models considering the politicization of the courts. Chapter 4 discusses the consequences of recent sentencing reforms and the shifting philosophies of what to do with offenders. In further illustrating what’s wrong with the system, Chapter 5 reviews the legislative changes in juvenile justice and examines the trends and implications of how the images and definitions of adolescent offenders are being reconstructed in contemporary society. Chapter 6 follows with an examination of four issues: overcrowding in prisons; recent Supreme Court decisions on sentencing and their effect on prison populations; prisoner reentry; and collaborative efforts among criminal justice professionals and the community. The seventh and final chapter offers questions and reflections about alternative models of justice. It reviews some public policy ideas and challenges the reader to examine the criminal justice system from an evaluative perspective. Indexes