Crime and The Criminal Justice System

Goals of the Criminal Justice System

Doing Justice:  treating people fairly and ensuring their rights while still upholding the law

Controlling Crime:  crime is controlled by prosecuting, arresting, and convicting those who break the law.

Preventing Crime:   Deterrent effect of the actions of police, courts, and

Corrections

Advancing Goals of Crim. Justice

Evidence based practices

Policies developed thru research that demonstrates the most useful and cost-effective approach

Federalism

Division of power. Vast majority of crimes are defined by state rather than federal laws

Expansion of the Federal Gov’t

DHS

Department of Homeland Security

Consolidation of border security, intelligence, emergency-response agencies.

TSA

created within DHS to assume responsibility for protecting travelers and interstate commerce by screening passengers and their luggage at airports throughout the country.

Characteristics of the Criminal Justice System

Discretion: authority to make decisions using one’s own judgment

**Resource Dependence:**dependent on other agencies for funding (politicians, legislators, voters, media)

Sequential Tasks:  decisions occur in a specific, sequential order

Filtering: screening process that exits people out of the system

Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies

3 major components:

1. Police

   1. Four Major duties

      1. Keeping the peace

      2. Apprehending violators and combating crime

      3. Preventing crime

      4. Providing social services

2. Courts

   1. Dual court system consists of state and federal

   2. Responsibilities:

      1. Adjudication

      2. Ensuring fair procedures

      3. Imposition of appropriate sentences

3. Corrections

   1. Prisons, jails, probation, and parole

FLOW OF DECISION MAKING IN THE

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

• Police

• Investigation

• Arrest

• Booking

• Prosecution

• Charging

• Initial appearance

•Preliminary hearing/Grand jury

• Indictment/Information

• Courts

• Arraignment

• Trial

• Sentencing

• Appeal

• Corrections

• Jail/prison

• Release

Wedding Cake model:

Layer 1: celebrated, highly unusual cases that receive much public attention

Layer 2: Felonies considered serious by officials

Layer 3: Felonies less important than those in Layer 2

Layer 4: Misdemeanors; about 90% of all cases

Crime Control Model: every effort to repress crime. Efficiency, speed, finality, nearly all cases end in a plea bargain. Controlling crime.

Due Process Model: freedom is most important. Prove cases to protect citizens from wrongful convictions. Stresses adversarial process, rights of defendants, and formal decision-making procedures

Crime and Justice in a Multicultural Society

Disparity & Discrimination

Black and hispanic males incarcerated at higher rates than white counterparts and given sentences 20x longer.

The existence, nature, and extent of disparities can vary from community to community. Thus, racial discrimination may be limited to specific types of cases, circumstances, and defendants

Explaining Disparities: people of color commit more crimes; criminal justice system is racially biased resulting in much harsher treatment of minorities, criminal justice system expresses the racial bias found in society as a whole.