Chapter 1
Crime and Criminal Justice
Crime is not a recent phenomenon

Crime has evolved with the nation:

The Civil War produced widespread business crime.

From 1900 to 1935 the nation experienced sustained increases in
criminal activity dominated by Depression-era criminals.
Crime Commission Recommendations

To deal more effectively with crime and criminals, the Criminal
Justice system needs more:

Time

Money

People
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)

Gave $7.7 billion to states to deal with crime

Contributed to increased numbers of people working in criminal
justice

Helped invent what is known as criminal justice
The Criminal Justice System: Size and Expense

55,000 different public agencies

$150 billion annual budget

2 million employees

20,000 police agencies

17,000 courts
Exhibit 1.1 Components of the Criminal Justice System
The Criminal Justice System: Size and Expense

8,000 prosecutorial agencies

6,000 correctional institutions

3,500 probation and parole departments

15 million arrests per year

Correctional population of more than 5 million
Role of the Police

Maintain order

Enforce criminal & traffic law

Provide emergency service

Create a sense of community safety
Role of the Courts

To seek truth & obtain justice

To adjudicate & sentence

Consists of

lower courts

superior courts

appellate courts
Prosecution and Defense

Opponents in an adversarial system

Prosecutor represents the people

Defense represents the accused
The Prosecutor

Represents the government

Usually a local attorney with
jurisdiction limited to county or state

Either elected or appointed position

Presents the state’s case from
defendant’s arrest through conviction
and sentencing

Screens cases to eliminate the
obviously innocent or those lacking evidence
The Defense Attorney
Role involves two major functions:

Protecting the constitutional rights of the
accused

Presenting the best possible legal defense for
the defendant
Role of Corrections

Community supervision

Probation

Confinement

Parole
Figure 1.4 The Criminal Justice Funnel
Exhibit 1.4 The Interrelationship of the Criminal
Justice System and the Criminal Justice Process
Figure 1.3 The Critical Stages of the Justice Process
Realities of Crime

All crimes are not treated the same by the criminal justice system.

All criminals are not treated the same by the criminal justice system.

Much of the public has a distorted understanding about criminal
justice processes.
Figure 1.5 The Criminal Justice “Wedding Cake”
Perspectives on Justice

A perspective is a “view point” about a given subject. It normally
reveals one’s understanding about the relationship among various
aspects of a subject, both to each other and to the topic as a whole.
A perspective about the causes of crime, the nature of criminals, the
functions of government, and the rights of victims is one of the
foundations on which public policy is based.
Figure 1.6 Perspectives on Justice:
Key Concerns and Concepts
Crime Control Perspective

Proper role of criminal justice is to prevent crime through judicious
use of sanctions.

If criminal justice operated effectively, criminals would be deterred.

The system could punish in such a way to make all believe that
“crime doesn’t pay.”

Focus of justice should be on the victim.

Crime control measures should be sure & swift.
Effects of the Crime Control Perspective

Mandatory sentencing

“Three strikes and you’re out”

Preventative detention

Abolition of parole
Rehabilitative Perspective

The justice system should be a means of caring for and treating
people who cannot manage themselves.

Crime is an expression of frustration and anger created by social
inequality.

Crime can be controlled by giving people the means to improve their
lives through conventional endeavors.
Rehabilitative Perspective

In contrast to the Crime Control Perspective, focus is on the offender.

Societal conditions will breed new criminals.

Pay now by treatment or later by more prisons.
Effects of the Due Process Perspective

Exclusionary rule

Right to attorney at all stages of the process

Due process rights given to juveniles

Granting prison inmates fundamental legal entitlements
Nonintervention Perspective

Limit the involvement of the criminal justice system with defendants
whenever possible.

Long-term effects of involvement are harmful to the individual.
Nonintervention Perspective and Net Widening

Nonintervention Strategies:

Decriminalization of “victimless crimes”

Deinstitutionalization of nonviolent offenders

Pretrial Diversion for first time offenders
Justice Perspective

Combines:

Liberal Perspective


Fairness, equality, and strict control of discretion
Conservative Perspective

Crime control
How Does the Justice Perspective Limit Discretion?

One of the major goals is to reduce sentencing disparity

Advocates determinant sentencing

Advocates use of sentencing guidelines

Advocates abolition of parole
Restorative Justice Perspective

The true purpose of the criminal justice system is to promote a
peaceful and just society.

The justice system should aim for peacemaking, not punishment.
Figure 1.7 Strategies for Controlling Drugs
Restorative Justice Strategies

Mediation and conflict resolution

Financial and community restitution programs
Nonintervention Strategies – Legalization of Drugs


Arguments for legalization

Prohibition failed

More die from legal drugs

When drugs were legal, many managed to lead normal lives
The Netherlands is relatively crime-free

Arguments against legalization

If it worked, it would only be short-term

Long-term result would be more users

Current users could increase intake

Legalizing won’t stop the problems, e.g., DWI
Due Process Perspective

Combines elements of the liberals’ concern for the individual with the
concept of legal fairness guaranteed by the Constitution

Provides fair and equitable treatment to those accused of crime

Advocates strict monitoring of discretion by justice officials to ensure
no one suffers racial, religious or ethnic discrimination