Dealing with Lawbreakers
Medieval Criminal Justice
• Trial by ordeal
• Severe public punishment/executions
A Reform Movement
• The Enlightenment
• Depart from “supernatural” theory
• Assumptions about human nature
Classical Response to Crime
• On Crimes and Punishment, Beccaria (1764)
• Underlying theory
Principles of Deterrence
• Certainty
• Swiftness
• Severity
Empirical Research
on Deterrence
• There is moderate support for the effect of
certainty, little to none for severity
Specific v. General
Deterrence
• Specific Deterrence
• General Deterrence
Formal v. Informal Punishment
• Informal = unofficial punishment
• Informal enhances formal sanctions
Goals of Punishment
• Deterrence
• Rehabilitation
• Incapacitation
• Retribution
The “System” of Criminal Justice
An Ideal Model
Crime
Police
Prosecutor
Court
Corrections
The Ideal Courtroom
• Adversarial System
• The facts of each case are heard
• Witnesses are called
• Justice prevails
Courtroom Reality
• The Courtroom Workgroup
• Punishment based on the “going rate”
State Felony Convictions
by Guilty Plea (No Trial)
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
VIOLENT
PROPERTY
DRUG
ALL CRIMES
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1998
Sentencing: Three Focal Concerns
• Offender’s blameworthiness
• Protection of the community
• Practical concerns
Prison
• Prison (currently ~ 1/2 million inmates)
– Recidivism
– Expensive
• Current conditions
–
–
–
–
Overcrowding
Few rehabilitative services
Aging prison population
Security is main concern
Community-Based Corrections
• Less costly than prison
• If revoked -> prison (technical violations)
• Probation involves the most offenders
(about 2 million)
Criminal Justice Funnel
1,000 felony crimes
370 reported to police
63% not reported
80% not arrested
42 prosecuted
2% not convicted
41 convicted in court
32% no prison/jail
28 imprisoned
2-3% of felony crimes
result in imprisonment