911 Attack and its impact on Criminal Justice System

I. Introduction
There is a common notion that the only thing constant in the world is change. This is true. In most cases, particularly in the aspect of political, economic and cultural change, often, there is a trigger that starts the process of change, the needed justification. Change can take its course even if other people do not want it at first. This case is similar in the criminal justice system. Changes happen as a result of something that triggers the change, making change not just necessary but inevitable. One of the most significant events in the 21st century to impact the United States and some parts of the globe as well is the September 11, 2001 attack on several different US targets. This includes key buildings featuring suicide bombers aboard planes that it hijacked and commandeered to its doom. After the tragic terrorist act has happened, many knew that change is imperative, for them to be able to handle what is to happen next post 911. The criminal justice system guarantees the existence of a peaceful and secure society. Crimes are being forced to a minimum and are being deterred. This is the system that should be capable in handling criminals and their criminal actions even before they are successfully undertaken and even after the crime was committed. During the post 911 analysis, it proved to be lacking in some particular aspects. The criminal justice system, particularly the law enforcement arm and criminal justice system characteristics, is strongly affected by the set of changes that took place resulting directly from post 911 evaluation. This includes the taking effect of new laws, the new practices in law enforcement processes and other important aspects that redefined law enforcement and in United States post 911s criminal justice system. Such was the importance and significance of the impact of 911 in the criminal justice system in the United States. This paper will discuss the attack on America on September 11 or the 911 terrorism attack and how it has significantly affected and impacted the New Millennium Eras criminal justice system.

II. Discussion
A. The criminal justice system before 911
Before the September 11 terror assault, the United States criminal justice system has features that address the handling of terrorists and terrorism-related crimes and criminals. America has many different cases that it is in the process of hearing before the attack. There were also judgments passed in the past regarding other terrorism-related cases. Overall, Americas criminal justice system has not showed a gaping hole or a significant flaw in it. Of course, criticisms are always there. However, in comparison to other countries, the US has showed that its criminal justice system is well structured and was functioning efficiently. Of course, there were laws and other legislations put into action that affect the criminal justice system, but not something as drastic and as powerful as the impact that the 911 would bring to the US criminal justice system as an effect of the terrorist attack.

The 911 redefined the idea of security (Siegel, 2009, p. 173). With the changes in that concept came also the alteration in the criminal justice system. This was believed to have given more focus on terror and terrorism as a result of the 911 attack (Siegel, 2009, p. 173), especially with the realization that they are dealing with probably a new set of criminals with a new set of approach and course of action. It was unfortunate that development and the realization for change in the criminal justice system had to be sponsored by a successful mass murder of a terrorist or terrorist group.

B. Post 911 criminal justice system in the US
The changes in the criminal justice system was an effect mainly of the recommendations of the 911 Commission (Bolton, 2008, p. 279). The commission investigated the terrorist attack and was in charge for recommending the necessary actions to improve the US state of readiness and preparedness to protect its safety and the safety of its people. At the most basic sense, the criminal justice system post 911 was not the same as it was before. There are many reasons why. First, there were many different directives as well as laws and government actions put in place to make the country more capable in defending and handling the problem of terrorism. This strongly involved the criminal justice system. This is more of an internal and national political issue than it was a military issue that needed military solution. The military, nonetheless, had a significant part in post 911 US in relation to fighting, handling and addressing the problem of terrorism.

If there is one aspect of the criminal justice system that was strongly affected by the 911, it would be the police force. Many were blaming them for not effectively providing safety when it is needed for their failure in intelligence gathering that could have stopped the terrorist attack and a host of other things that reflect how vulnerable and weak the police force was and how the police force was burdened with the responsibility of shouldering the most impact in the post 911 when it comes to criminal justice system (Dempsey, Forst, 2009, p. 33). Paramount to the new issues facing the police in the 2000s was the tragic terrorist attacks against the United States of America on September 11, 2001 (Dempsey, Forst, 2009, p. 33). The agencies acting in the police and policing capacity as well as in law enforcement were strongly affected by 911. This was reflected by the massive re-organization, which became an imperative after the previous state of police and law enforcement proved incapable and insufficient in handling security threats like the terrorist attack similar to the 911, or even worse (Cole, Smith, 2006, p. 153). 9-11 has triggered an expansion and reorganization especially among federal law enforcement agencies (Cole, Smith, 2006, p. 153).

One of the impacts of the September 11 attack on the present day criminal justice system is that several different aspects of the criminal justice system, particularly law enforcement process such as investigation, interrogation and information gathering, seem to be veering away from the original concept from which the criminal justice scheme was created in the first place (CQ Researcher, 2009, p. 355). After the 911 attacks, aggressive interrogation of suspects became key - and highly controversial - part of anti terrorism strategy (CQ Researcher, 2009, p. 355). The criminal justice system was put in place. There is a process in how the society handles criminals and those who are implicated in crimes. Post 911 era features the criminal justice system practices that seem to be not limited on handling criminals alone, instead treating many people like the criminals that they are not through the serious infringement upon basic civil rights of the individual.

The need to avenge what happened and to vindicate themselves, not to mention the need for the public to restore its faith in the law enforcement agencies and units, have prompted the creation of sets of actions that make these agencies overzealous. In most cases, over the top critics are arguing against the new set of practices in law enforcement which are considering as acts infringing basic civil human rights. They point out that even though actions and changes are necessary including the criminal justice system changes. Some of the approved changes were nonetheless unacceptable, even with what the country has experienced. It was not the right and correct change. Because of that, it appears to be nothing more than a mistake (Gaines, Miller, 2008, p. 21). Even though many Americans recognize that the government must take strong steps to protect the United States from terrorist attacks, the Patriot Act has been intensely criticized for going too far in infringing on individual civil rights (Gaines, Miller, 2008, p. 21).

If in the past the criminal justice system waits for an individual to be fully recognized by the society as a criminal before the criminal justice system is put in play, today, it appears that people are being treated as criminals first unless they are proven innocent. This means their most basic civil rights are violated first in the process. Professional analysts and critics of the socio-civic and socio political conditions in the US post 911 explain through books and published articles about how the incident has somewhat gave the authorities their much needed moral justification and validation for them to undertake actions that infringe upon the basic civil rights of the individual. In a sense, the 911 attack has the US citizens turning on each other - cops and law enforcement agencies are using methods that the civilian society is condemning, which creates friction between the two groups.

The hunt for criminals and possible terrorists are more intense than before. At times this has resulted to unnecessary harassment of civilians who are, by law, still innocent and not guilty and should not be treated as criminals. Inside jails and prisons, individuals who are incarcerated and convicted for terrorism and terrorism-related crimes are being re-visited and re-interrogated by federal agents and cops. In US courts, there is a revival and renewed interest in the prosecution of terrorism and terrorism related cases. In the early years of the post 911 era, it is difficult to imagine or expect if the courts were less and less sympathetic to defendants in terrorism and terrorism related cases. This is something that could have not happened and something that could have not characterize the criminal justice system if it wasnt for the 911 attack.

What the 911 attack revealed is the vulnerability of the United States when it comes to the security of the country from within, which means cops and police officers and law enforcement units including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and even the Central Intelligence Agency. The changes that happened and affected these aspects of security impacted the criminal justice system. The changes included the process by which criminals and prospective criminals should be treated by the law enforcement agencies and agents post 911. One of the notable developments that affect the criminal justice system is the Patriot Act (Bennett, Hess, 2006, p. 597). The intent of the Patriot Act when it was passed in 2001 as an immediate response to the 911 attacks (Bennett, Hess, 2006, p. 597). This act empowers law enforcement agencies and units in an unprecedented level of access. Whatever reservations the politicians are holding in the past prompted them to hold off law enforcement agencies in the past was dissolved and destroyed by 911.

Another important transformation in the criminal justice system in lieu of the 911 is the battle in the cyber world and the emergence of cyber crimes and how cyber crimes are considered as related to acts of terrorism in many different ways. Terrorist organizations have increasingly used technology to facilitate their criminal acts and hide their communications from law enforcement (Etzioni, Marsh, 2003, p. 6). In the past, the law and the law enforcement units and agencies are focused on the real world only. With the cyber era impacting a significant part of the social life, the scope and work of the criminal justice system now finds itself adjusting and extending itself to cover this new aspect of social life were crime, criminals and criminal planning and logistics are significantly hinged. Intelligence has been taken from the Internet. The technology offered by the ever growing computer world has enabled those who can use and manipulate the technology to possess powers and abilities that can be harmful to the people and detrimental to the states welfare.

The criminal justice system and the law enforcement agencies made sure that this is not a one-way weapon that only the criminals and terrorist can use. Federal government personnel made sure that they also used cyber space to their own advantage, investigating and analyzing the many information and nooks and crannies inside the cyber space where criminals as well as terrorists are hiding. From the cases of hacking to full blown information theft, the cyber space hosts a wide array of possible criminal actions and opportunities for those with criminal intent. This makes the criminal justice system adjust to this new development.

Another important aspect of the changes in the criminal justice system is the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was believed to be responsible in updating the law to reflect new technologies and new threats (Hess, Orthmann, 2008, p. 392). This is another way of saying that the criminal justice system is seen as a new threat in a new form and is trying to accommodate it through this new law, and that the identification of this new threat was a result of the 911. This made authorities realize that the cyber space is a potential weapon that can be used to create security problems that can be as dangerous and lethal as any bomb can do (i.e. electrical shutdown, financial crash, etc). The Patriot Acts covering of the cyber world and the cyber crime signals the new realm which the law enforcement agencies are expected to be very adept in. This cannot be used as something that can threaten the security of the country.

Post 911 featured law enforcement units and personnel being trained and re-trained for handling incidences of terrorism and the many different possible situations and scenarios that this problem present to operatives. This is something that they previously did not train for considering the fact that terrorists hardly operate and successfully detonate inside the US. Now that they have proven they can, the law enforcement units should also prove that they are capable, ready and able to handle the different stages of the threat of terrorism - from stopping a terrorist act, to apprehending the terrorist to processing the terrorist for trial and handling the terrorists incarceration.

An addition to the personnel and the set of agencies operating under the criminal justice system is the Department of Homeland Security or simply DHS, described as the criminal justices response to terrorism (Siegel, 2009, p. 173). The creation of this agency is a significant change and development in the criminal justice system. This creates a whole new set of entity that has a whole new set of capabilities and roles and tasks that the American people must learn to live with. This is similar to how they tried to live with the presence of cops when police was institutionalized, and how they tried to live with the FBI and the CIA before.

The creation of the DHS is an action taken to respond to the threat seen by the United States as exemplified by 911 attack. This creates a whole new echelon of power and authority and gives more people more power to police, arrest, assess and investigate people suspected of a particular crime that jeopardizes the safety of the US. As the criminal justice system is all about maintaining a peaceful and crime-free society, the addition of the DHS is believed to be a step that can allow US to achieve that goal better (Hess, Orthmann, 2008, p. 392). The DHS impacted the criminal justice system in many ways, starting from the re-organization of the departments of the federal government (Hess, Orthmann, 2008, p. 392). This is not to mention the changes in inter-agency actions in the future and the accepted protocol for this particular situation now that there is another entity in the form of DHS.

C. Criticisms and analysis of the changes
Change is good, but the question is this  were the changes proving to be good The answer to this query is varied. Even with the fact that it was nearly 10 years since 911, there still isnt sufficient time and data to ascertain for sure if the changes were the right course of action to take or not. A serious change in the criminal justice system is that it may lose its exercise and observance of the absence of bias and prejudice and its actions - from law enforcement to court decisions to practices inside jails and prisons on terrorists and terrorism-related individuals incarcerated there. In other case, this is a blatant attack on the United States itself. Terrorist attacks happening in the past outside of the US is often taken by the people as an act towards a selected or particular group of individuals, like the army and the soldiers on the ground for example. Even when the Americans sympathize with the family of the dead, it seems insufficient for criminal justice system practices and the people inside it to be affected personally and result to bias.

When the US is attacked, it seems that the US as a whole is about to retaliate with everything it has. That does not mean military power but also in other aspects, in particular how they would treat and handle the cases involving terrorism. The sense of loss and grief that Americans felt post 911 is very powerful that it is not easy to surmise. People can still perform their duties without bias towards those they consider as part of system that made this attack and this amount of loss in human lives, possible. By the time the 911 attack was undertaken, the US and its criminal justice system agencies are actively working on terrorism related cases - among law enforcement units, among courts and judges and in prisons and jails.

The gravity of the loss and the impact on the American psyche can easily prompt the creation of moral justifications for a set of actions geared at not merely punishing but getting back at the perceived enemies of the state. It cant be helped if this is tainted with the ethical questions. While it appears that the US has not resorted to a frenzied witch hunt, the changes in the criminal justice system nonetheless has created problems after it was put in action.

III. Conclusion
The attack on the US on September 11 was as much a monstrous act as it was a wake up call. The US appeared to have been lax and supposed that no one was daring enough to undertake such an action versus the US, but they were mistaken and the result was the loss of lives of many people. This also resulted in the US re-evaluation of how they see safety for the public and the creation of a new set of safety procedures and measures for the people. The security measures implemented after 911 reflect changes in the perception of terrorist threats (Friedman, Mitchell, 2003, p. 14). This change and development strongly affected the criminal justice system, in particular the police force and law enforcement agencies which were tasked primarily with the job of protecting the people inside the US.

Other aspects of the change and development also have effect on the rest of the criminal justice system. The Patriot Act and the war on terrorism, the focus on the cyber world and the cyber crimes, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, and other things are changes and developments that impact significantly the criminal justice system and changed it permanently. This highlights one of the development and changes in the criminal justice system in this particular era.

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