Week 4 - Responding To Crime

What is the Purpose of the CJS?

To respond to behavior related to crime

• Ensure rights of victims and offenders

• Achievement of justice

• Protection of communities

Heavily idealized

Constitution Act, 1867

Established the idea of jurisdictions

• Categorized and outlined which governments have jurisdiction over criminal behaviors

• e.x. Federal governments responsible for establishing law, Provincial enacts law enforecment

Public Understanding of the CJS

Sees how the public is reliant on the CJS to responding on injustice

• CJS isn’t responsible for the entirety of crime - community involvement should prevent behavior

Two types of overreliances on crime

Consequences Overdependence

Consequences of Unmet Expectations

Consequences on Overdependence

Public dependence on CJS means

• It fails to involve itself in crime

• Fails to see what roles it can play

• Fails to see the limitations of CJS

Consequences of Unmet Expectations

Expectation that CJS can handle all crime = expectation not met

• Results in fear that leads to more crime control approaches

The two Crime Control Philosophy

Crime Control Model

Due Process Model

Crime Control Model

Protection of community > Presumption of Innocence

• Assumes most offenders are guilty

• Punishment is swift

Prioritizes Retribution and Deterrence

• Punishment comes right after wrongdoing

Retribution - Crime control

eye for an eye - revenge

• Punishments are guided by the idea of proportionality

• Punishment should be equal to the offence

Deterrence - Crime Control

Whatever the punishment, the offender will comply and do as told

• Focused on the individual - prevent recidivism

  • e.x. Follow conditions on probation, incarcerate them, or involve themselves in programs

Can be done to deter future offenders

• Focused on the public - make an example out of someone

Incapacitation - Crime Control

Remove an individual from society (lock them up)

• Also prevents recidivism, but doesn’t work as effective for repeat offenders

Question - Does the CJS’s Crime Control methods deter criminal behavior?

According to Ontario stats,

• Compared to community supervision, 6+ month jail sentences saw much higher recidivism levels

Sentences aren’t as efficient at preventing recidivism compared to due process approaches

Due Process

Presumption of innocence is held at a high regard

• Deep investigation to ensure guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt

• Tries to exemplify justice and equality for every party in the CJS

Examples include: Restitution, Rehabilitation, and Restorative Justice

Restitution - Due Process

The process of an offender “paying back” a victim

• Court may order it

• Once an offender “pays” their victim back, they can move on

Canadian Victims Bill of Right (2015)

• Gives victim right to influence the court into having restitution embedded in the sentence

• e.x. Restitution proportional to the income lost because of the case

  • CAN’T USE EMOTIONAL DAMAGE AS A CRUTCH!!!

Rehabilitation (Due Process)

Seeing the motivations of these behaviors, and to address underlying issues as well as promote the offender back into society

• Assumes crime is a result of external factors

Iron Law of Imprisonment - reintegrating prisoners back into society and ensuring their support to prevent recidivism

Goals:

• Integrate them back into society

• Transformation into functional members

• Focus on rebuilding offender skillsets

Neoliberal Context of Offender Rehabilitation

 Offenders are sought to be rehabilitated to fit the idea of a “good citizen”

Restorative Justice (Due Process)

A justice approach focusing on repairing harm caused by crime through dialogue and agreement between victims and offenders.

• How do we get all parties involved in healing?

Aims to address the needs of victims and reintegrate offenders into the community.

CRITIQUE: Only effective with certain types of offenders/offences

• Doesn’t count for murder or insane psycho criminals

Example: If someone vandalizes a property, restorative justice processes can involve the offender meeting with the owner, apologizing, and working to repair/pay for the damage rather than incarceration.

Retributive Justice Focuses on…

Establishing blame and guilt via fixed rules

• Punishment

• No forgiveness, focuses on law

Victim is often ignored, focuses on state and offender

Restorative Justice focuses on…

Problem solving and healing

• Forgiveness of offenders

• Involvement of the community

Victim is a key player, and laws are flexible

“Beyond a reasonable doubt” - CJS

Proving that a party is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt

• Explicit instructions given to jury to exercise their discretion

• Discretion should coincide with the case

Jury must not take prejudice into account

• Halo Effect  -”this person seems nice”

If the accused is “probably guilty” - innocent

• Hung Jury - where the jury vote is not unanimous

• Juries must be unanimous

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Doctrine that an accused is guilty until proven otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt

• Burden of proof rests on the prosecution

Sequencing - Organizing the CJS

People going through the CJS are dictated by a set pattern formed by law and policy

• Despite Due Process or Crime Control

• e.x. Procedural Law

If A happens, then B happens, then C

Filtering / Funneling - Organizing the CJS

As cases move through the CJS’s layers, charges are dropped, not enough evidence, and people being acquitted\

• First they go through policing during the initial arrest, then courts, then maybe make it to corrections

Think of the number of people charged vs. the number of people in federal prison

Often attributed to the idea that policing is the most funded aspect of the CJS

Task Environment

The cultural, geographic, and community settings where aspects of the CJS operate in

• e.x. Policing and Courts in the drug-ridden areas of Vancouver vs. Suburbs of Toronto

For instance, cases move quickly in urbanized communities with mental healthcourts compared to rural areas with no such courts

Chivalry in the CJS

how gender plays decision making

• e.x. a woman getting off scot free because of what she wore during a traffic stop

3 levels of crime in the Canadian CJS

Summary Offence

• Less severe punishments, up to 6 months, max fine of $5k

Hybrid Offence

• Can be prosecuted as summary or indictable

Indictable Offence

• Serious offences

Canadian Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)