CJ101: Ch.14

Describe the possible future of law enforcement if the crime control model dominates and the possible future if the due process model dominates.

If law enforcement in the future increasingly reflects the principles and policies of the crime control model, then Americans might expect fewer limitations on how the police attempt to combat crime. However, if there is a shift to the principles and policies of the due process model, Americans should expect existing limitations on how the police combat crime to remain intact or even to be expanded.

Describe the possible future of the administration of justice if the crime control model dominates and the possible future if the due process model dominates.

If the crime control model dominates the administration of justice in the future, then the right to legal counsel at critical pretrial and posttrial stages may be scaled back significantly, the preliminary hearing may be abolished, and the use of pretrial detention may be expanded; there may be fewer criminal trials and more plea bargaining, and appeals may be strongly discouraged and limited. If the due process model dominates, then the current right to counsel at a variety of critical stages in the process is likely to be maintained or, perhaps, extended somewhat (e.g., to appeals beyond the first one); the grand jury may be eliminated; plea bargaining probably will be discouraged, and the number of criminal cases that go to trial is therefore likely to increase substantially; and there probably will be no limitations on the right to appeal.

Identify perhaps the most divisive issue that will confront correctional policy makers in the future.

Perhaps the most divisive issue that will confront correctional policy makers in the future is whether increasingly scarce resources will be devoted more to punishment (to achieve the goals of retribution and incapacitation) or to rehabilitation (to achieve the goals of specific deterrence and successful reintegration or reentry).

Describe the possible future of corrections.

The future of corrections will depend on whether the “new penology” or “smart justice” movement prevails. Either way, future expenditures of tax dollars on corrections by governments at all levels likely will be made grudgingly after much wrangling and debate. Every attempt will be made to carry out corrections functions as inexpensively as possible. Because the vast majority of correctional clientele will be members of the underclass, as is the case today, there will be little public resistance to low-cost management strategies. Indeed, corrections in the future is likely to take on “a kind of waste management function,” especially if the “new penology” dominates corrections.

List some of the cost-reduction strategies likely to be advocated in corrections in the future

Among the cost-reduction strategies likely to be advocated in corrections in the future are various alternatives to incarceration. However, cost savings from those alternatives may be illusory. Another cost-reduction strategy likely to receive increasing support in the future is the privatization of corrections. A third cost-reduction strategy, and potentially the most effective one, is the use of new technology.

List specific reforms of the “smart justice” movement and identify its overarching goal.

Specific reforms of the “smart justice” movement include (1) ending the War on Marijuana, (2) eliminating so-called “tough-on-crime” laws, (3) incentivizing smart practices and eradicating the waste and abuse caused by private corporate profiteers, (4) abolishing “debtors’ prisons,” and (5) promoting alternatives to incarceration for special populations, such as the mentally ill and drug-law violators. The overarching goal of the “smart justice” movement is ending mass incarceration.

Describe some of the challenges faced by criminal justice in the Age of Terrorism

A major challenge for criminal justice is to fight the war on terrorism without threatening the very rights and freedoms that the war on terrorism is trying to preserve. Another challenge is to create the institutions, such as the DHS, to fight the war on terrorism. The FBI has the challenge of shifting its priorities from being a federal police agency to being an intelligence and counterterrorism agency. Local law enforcement agencies have the challenge of preventing terrorist acts and responding to them when they occur, without engaging in racial or ethnic profiling.