ch 8: the conclusion

what are the similar issues that emerge across different components of the CJS?

-discretion

-impact of technology

-fiscal austerity

-criminal justice reform

how does discretion occur at the individual level and the organizational level within the CJS?

-CJS actors and citizens make individual decisions about crime and how to deal with suspects, defendants, and officers

-discretionary decisions made by the CJS at a jurisdictional level

how is discretionary decision making by CJS actors constrained?

formal methods: policies are in place to limit and guide how discretionary decisions are made

informal methods: decisions are also constrained and molded by local norms of appropriate behaviors for actors

how does technology impact policing?

use of body cams, using social media to prevent and solve crime.

how does technology impact courts and corrections?

courts: -video arraignment for preliminary hearings let defendants stay at home while appearing in court

-electronic notification for victims of system actions (SAVIN)

corrections: -use of GPS monitoring defendants

how do fiscal pressures affect the criminal justice system?

-reduced public services due to societal economic changes (COVID)

-privatization, such as the rise of private prisons to shift costs away from states

-outsourcing of core CJS services, including dispatch, crime scene security

criminal justice reform is a constant in the system and may result from what factors?

-individual events

-a problem receiving a lot of media attention

-large scale changes in criminal justice

what does it mean that the CJS is a processing system?

the system is a complex web of social interactions as it pursues many competing goals

what is a processing system?

a system with a set of interrelated organizations (police, courts, corrections)