The Criminal Justice System

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Chapter 14
The Criminal Justice System
2
Origins of the Criminal Justice System

• Wickersham Commission
• Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and the
  Administration of Justice, 1967
• Law Enforcement Assistance Administration

3
Origins of the Criminal Justice System

• Weblink
• www.abf-sociolegal.org/

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What is the Criminal Justice System?

• Definition refers to the agencies of government
  charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime,
  and correcting criminal conduct.
• More than 55,000 public agencies employ 2 million
  people
• 17,000 law enforcement agencies and nearly 17,000
  courts
• More than 8,000 prosecutorial agencies and about
  6,000 correctional institutions
• More than 3,500 probation and parole departments
• Almost 7 million are under the control of the
  correctional system with 2 million people in
  jails and prisons

5
The Process of Justice

• Assembly line process (Herbert Packer)
• Initial contact (with police)
• Investigation (to identify the perpetrator)
• Arrest (taken into custody)
• Custody (booking and interrogation)
• Complaint/Charging (prosecutor)
• Preliminary hearing/Grand jury (determine
  probable cause/indictment)
• Arraignment (reading of charges/bail and trial
  date set)
• Bail or detention (money or recognizance bonds)
• Plea bargaining (deal struck to avoid trial)
• Adjudication (trial)
• Disposition (sentencing)
• Postconviction remedies (appeals)
• Correctional treatment (probation/incarceration)
• Release (parole/end of sentence)
• Postrelease/Aftercare (return to community)

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The Process of Justice

• The criminal justice system acts like a funnel
• Cases are dismissed at various stages
• Relatively few cases make it through the funnel
• Impact of celebrity cases
• Bargain justice is estimated to occur in 90
  percent of all criminal cases

7
Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law

• State and federal courts are supervised by the
  law of criminal procedure
• Procedural laws define rights of criminal
  defendants and control the actions of agencies
• Bill of Rights (applied at both state and federal
  levels)
• Exclusionary rule protects defendants from
  illegal searches and seizures (not admitting
  illegally seized evidence)

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Concepts of Justice

• Crime Control Model
• Protect the public and deter criminal behavior
• Punishment designed to fit the crime
• Building more prisons and using the death penalty
• Rooted in choice theory
• Became a dominant force in American justice in
  the 1960s and 1970s

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Concepts of Justice

• Justice Model
• Futile to rehabilitate criminals because
  treatment programs are ineffective
• Determinate sentencing is needed for fairness
• Parole should be abolished

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Concepts of Justice

• Due Process Model
• Individualized justice, treatment, and
  rehabilitation of offenders
• Civil rights of accused should be protected
• Competent defense counsel, jury trials, and
  procedural safeguards
• The desire to protect the public has overshadowed
  concerns for the rights of criminal defendants

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Concepts of Justice

• Rehabilitation Model
• Criminals can change into productive citizens
  with the right care and treatment
• Criminals are victims of social injustice,
  poverty, and racism
• Dealing effectively with crime requires attacking
  its root causes
• Programs that teach interpersonal skills and
  behavior modification techniques have produced
  positive results

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Concepts of Justice

• Nonintervention Model
• Limiting government intrusion into lives of minor
  offenders
• Deinstitutionalize nonserious offenders
• Diverting law violators out of the formal justice
  system
• Critics charge there is little evidence that
  diverting offenders reduces recidivism

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Concepts of Justice

• Restorative Justice Model
• Promotes a peaceful and just society
• Religious influences of Quakers and Zen
• Guided by 1) community ownership of conflict,
  material, 2) symbolic reparation for crime
  victims, and 3) social reintegration of the
  offender
• Mediation and conflict resolution programs

14
Concepts of Justice Today

• Crime control and justice models have captured
  the support of legislators and the public
• Elliot Currie claims the punitive
  incarceration-based models are doomed to fail
• The cost of justice skyrockets and the criminal
  justice system becomes overcrowded