Chapter 1: An Introduction to Crime and the Criminal Justice System
What is the Criminal Justice System?
Criminal Justice System (CJS): Institutions, policies, and practices within the goal of social control and deterring crime through sanctions and rehabilitation
Composed of three components:
Law enforcement: Investigates crimes and apprehends individuals alleged to have committed crimes
Courts: Interpret and apply the law
Corrections: Incarceration in jails and prisons, in some cases consisting of supervision in the community, parole, or probation
Size of the system
Huge and very costly
Large proportions of juveniles and adults are under the control of CJS
More than 6.6 mil adults were being supervised in jails. Prisons, or on parole in 2016
Gender, race, and hispanic origins in the system
Men and POCs are imprisoned at higher rates
Personal characters of the offender and victim affect harshness of punishment → Minorities are treated worse
Men are imprisoned more than women
The cost of the CJS
In 2013, 2.4 mil ppl were employed at a cost of $212 billion
Each person in the US paid $670 in 2013 to support the CJS
Scarcity of resources and overcrowding have prompted discussion of alternatives → Moving away from “get tough” policies of earlier decades
How Does the System Work?
The road map
Crime becomes known to the police
Tho many go unreported
Police investigate, identify, and apprehend the offender
Info is gathered and presented to the prosecutor
Prosecutor files charges; plea bargain, trial, or nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi: Latin for “be unwilling to pursue,” this is commonly used by a prosecutor to willingly terminate legal proceedings before trial or before a verdict. This statement is often construed as an admission that charges cannot be proven
No charges filed → Accused is released
If charged, accused is informed of charges against him or her
May have determination of guilt/innocence depending on circumstances
May be assigned legal counsel
Judge may make a bail determination
Grand jury may be convened
Indictment
No Bill: A decision made by a grand jury that indicates that insufficient evidence is present to proceed with the case
Arrainment: Defendant appears before judge, where charges and rights are read
Defendent enters a plea: Guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere
Nolo contendere: A plead made by a defendant in which he or she neither admits nor disputes guilt; Commonly referred to as a “no-contest” plea
Trial: prosecution and defense present evidence and question witnesses
Sentence may be imposed immediately, or at a second hearing
Accused may appeal verdict for procedural or constitutional errors
Conclusion of trial: Conviction or acquittal
Sentencing decided by judge or jury (in some capital cases)
Punishment:
Jail: Sentence less than 1 year
Prison: Sentence longer than 1 year → Release often determined by parole board
Indeterminate sentence: sentence given to a defendant in the form of a range of years to be served (ex: 3 to 15 years)
Determinate sentence: sentence given to defendant that is a fixed number of years (ex: 3 years)
Alternatives to incarceration: House arrest, boot camps, intensive supervision, drug treatment, electronic monitoring
The Victim
Is missing from the classic road map of CJS
May require medical care, emotional and psychological support, and/or assistance with insurance agencies
Victim advocates: trained professionals who direct crime victims to emotional, psychological, or financial support
Cases take a while, so we prioritize supporting them
Crime and importance of Personal liberties
Meant to ensure the greatest good for the greatest number, legislation is required to prohibit certain behaviors (ensuring inalienable rights)
Inalienable rights: Rights that are universal and not contingent on laws or beliefs specific to a particular government or culture
Increased criminalization of behavior leads to loss of personal freedoms → Assumptions make an ass out of you and me
Judicial activism occurs when decisions are influenced by personal and political factors
Judicial activism: Refers to the deviation from literal meaning of the Constitution to take into account the present situation, including complex societal advances
Judicial activism vs Judicial restraint
Increased criminalization of behavior is linked to greater loss of personal freedoms
USA PATRIOT Act and USA Freedom Act exemplify this relationship
USA Patriot Act: Following 9/11, President George W. Bush signed a law to strengthen security measures designed to protect the US from future attack
USA Freedom Act: a 2015 law that came into effect the day after the USA Patriot Act expired, which restored many provisions of the PATRIOT act but limited the collection of telecommunication metadata of citizens by the National Security Agency
What is a Crime?
Crime: The breaking of a law which the CJS or some other governing authority prescribes punishment
Street Crimes: Involve a victim and offender in same place and time
Ex: Homicide, rape, assault, etc.
Often perpetrated by people known by the victim
Property Crimes: Crime against property
More common than street
Burglary, larceny (property theft), and motor vehicle theft
Victimless Crimes: Involve illegal behavior that does not affect another person
Ex: Sex work, drug use, and gambling
Are they really victimless? → Affect the people around them
White Collar Crimes: Committed by occupational, corporate, or government professionals
Not victimless
Ex: Bribery, fraud, price fixing, insider trading, Ponzi schemes, etc
Affect more people than street and property crime combined
Losses may be as high as $250 billion annually
Ex: Enron, Bernie Madoff
Definition of white collar crime varies
Cybercrime: Committed using a computer or computer networks
Ex: Network infiltrations, viruses, etc
Terrorism: The completed or threatened use of coercion and/or violence against a population of people with the goal of changing political, religious, or ideological positions
Domestic terrorism vs. International terrorism
Domestic Ex: Boston marathon attack, Timothy McVeigh
International Ex: 9/11, ISIS
Crime definitions change over time
Crimes are classified as:
Mala in se: Behavior that is immoral and inherently wrong by nature → Murder, robbery, etc.
Mala prohibita: Behavior that is prohibited by law
Which categories the crimes fall under may change over time → Decriminalization
Decriminalization: The act of ending or reducing criminal penalties associated with some behaviors
Justifiable homicide: The lawful killing of another person → Self defense, etc
“Make my day” laws
Defending others, state sanctioned executions
Castle doctrine: A legal doctrine that states that homeowners are no longer required to retreat if threatened by intruders; In some states, it extends beyond homes
Louisiana → Cars
To be justified, offender must pose an imminent threat to the life or well-being of others
Adultery: Sex by a married person with someone other than his or her spouse
Specific laws differ by state, as does the level of criminality associated with it
Decriminalized over time
Driving Under the Influence
Increased criminalization → Community organizations like MADD (Mothers against drunk driving)
Rape
Mala in se crime
Broadening of legal definition → Originally only penis in vagina, has since included any object in anus or mouth
Distinctions from “sexual assault” and “sexual abuse”
Sexual Assault: A variety of acts that are sexual in nature, including unwanted touching, kissing, rubbing, groping, or forcing the victim to touch the perpetrator in sexual ways
Sexual Abuse: Used to describe sexual violence committed against children; Can include actions such as forced touching, requiring the child to sexually touch the perpetrator, or forcing him or her to watch sexual activity
Ex: Brock Turner → Originally tried for two counts of rape, but had to change bc california only classified rape as penis in vagina, so instead his charge was changed to abuse b/c he used his fingers; Only served 3 months of his 6 month sentence; Changed California’s statutory definition of rape to align with FBI definition
Purpose and Perspectives
Crime control: Offenders should be shrewdly and harshly punished to prevent crime
Favors law enforcement, long sentences, and mandatory punishment
Research shows this is ineffective → No efficient or economically sound
Role of the system is punitive
Rehabilitation: CJS should care for and treat people who cannot take care of themselves
Crime is a result of blocked opportunities
Education, training, and social skills should be provided
Due Process: CJS must ensure all accused of crimes are treated fairly and equally
Based on the US Constitution
Restorative Justice: CJS should repair the harm caused by criminal behavior
Focuses on cooperation between victims, offenders, and members of the community (Ex: Restitution, community service, repairing damaged property)
Highest rate of victim satisfaction and offender accountability
Nonintervention: CJS should be involved as minimally as possible
CJS stigmatizes offenders
Advocates decriminalization or legalization of nonserious, victimless crimes
Public Policy
Consensus Model: Everyone works together to achieve justice
General agreement about what behaviors are harmful to the majority of the public
Based on John Locke
Criminal law serves as a social control function
Conflict model: Highlights the adversarial nature of the system; Components of the system work in competition to produce a fair outcome or justice
Reflects struggle between haves and have nots
Based on work of Karl Marx
Those with power define what is criminal → Criminal laws serve as a way to control the powerless
Crime and Media
Framing: The packaging of criminal events in the media into tidy presentations that make sharing the information easy
Faulty Criminal Justice Frame: Suggests that crime occurs because of a death of law and order in the country and that criminal offend because they feel they can get away with it
Blocked Opportunities frame: Crime results from lack of legal opportunities among offenders
Social breakdown frame: crime is an obvious result of a breakdown in family and community
Racist system frame: The problem is not the crime, but rather that CJS, law enforcement, courts, and corrections are depicted as racist agents of oppression
Violent media frame: Crime is a direct result of the violence present in television, movies, video games, and music
Infotainment: The marketing of a highly edited and distorted combination of entertainment and information purported to be truthful and comprehensive
Highly edited and distorted
Purports to be truthful and comprehensive
Results in widespread false beliefs about crime
Ex: Strangers commit most crime, only guilty people confess to crime
Narrow Casting: Presents a narrow view of info to the media to small homogeneous audiences
The fewer media outlets there are, the more perspectives each outlet has to offer on crime to appeal to more viewing audiences
Today, each media channel occupies its own niche to provide a small audience with narrow, often distorted views of reality
Criminal Justice vs Criminology
Criminal Justice: The system itself → Law enforcement, courts, and corrections
Criminology: The study of the nature, extent, causes of criminal offending, and criminal victimization