What is Criminal Justice?

1. 1 What is Criminal Justice?

2. A Brief History of Crime in America • 1850-1880 • Civil War, widespread immigration, crime epidemic • 1920-1933 • Prohibition, organized crime • 1960-1970 • The civil rights movement continued on next slide

3. A Brief History of Crime in America • 1980s • Sale and use of illicit drugs, President Reagan declared a "war on drugs • 1990s • "Get tough on crime" era • 2001 • USA PATRIOT Act increases investigatory authority of federal, state, and local police agencies continued on next slide

4. A Brief History of Crime in America • 2011 • FBI most-wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden killed by U.S. special operations forces in Pakistan • 2012-2014 • Epidemic of mass shootings and random violence sweeps public venues across the U.S.

5. FIGURE 1–2 The Theme of This BookNote: Balancing the concern for individual rights with the need for public order through the administration of criminal justice is the theme of this book.

6. Individual Rights vs. Public Order Individual-Rights Advocates Public-Order Advocates Believe that under certain circumstances involving a criminal threat to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights • Seek to protect personal freedoms within the process of criminal justice

7. Individual Rights vs. Public Order • 1960s and 1970s • Known as the civil rights era • Strong emphasis on individual rights • Guarantee the rights of defendants and attempt to understand the causes of crime and violence

8. Individual Rights vs. Public Order • Today, we have a shift away from the offender as victim and now see the offender as a dangerous social predator.

9. Criminal Justice and Basic Fairness • Justice • The principle of fairness; the ideal of moral equity • Social justice • Linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong continued on next slide

10. Criminal Justice and Basic Fairness • Civil justice • A component of social justice concerned with fairness in relationships between citizens, government agencies, and businesses in private matters • Criminal justice • The aspects of social justice that concern violations of the criminal law

11. FIGURE 1–3 The Core Components of the American Criminal Justice System and Their Functions

12. Criminal Justice System Structure Consensus Model Conflict Model Components of the justice system function to serve their own interests; justice results from conflict rather than cooperation • Various parts of the justice system work together to achieve the social product of justice

13. Stages of Case Processing • Investigation • Evidence collected, reconstruction of criminal event • Warrant • Writ issued by judge directing officer to perform an act and protects officer from damages continued on next slide

14. Stages of Case Processing • Arrest • Act of taking an adult or juvenile into custody • Booking • Taking pictures, fingerprints, personal information from suspect continued on next slide

15. Stages of Case Processing • First Appearance • Formally notified of the charges, advised of their rights, given the opportunity to retain a lawyer or have one appointed to represent them • Preliminary Hearing • Occurs before a judicial officer; allows the defense to assess the strength of the prosecution's case continued on next slide

16. Stages of Case Processing • Information/ Indictment • A formal written accusation submitted to a court by a prosecutor, alleging that the specified person(s) has committed (a) specified offense(s) continued on next slide

17. Stages of Case Processing • Arraignment • Hearing before the court having jurisdiction in a criminal case in which: • The identity of the defendant is established • Said defendant is informed of the charges against him/her • The defendant is informed of his/her rights and requested to enter a plea continued on next slide

18. Stages of Case Processing • Adjudication • Examination of the issues of fact and law for the purpose of reaching a judgment of conviction or acquittal • Sentencing • A number of difference sentencing options exist, from fines to the death penalty continued on next slide

19. Stages of Case Processing • Corrections • The sentence is carried out • Reentry • Following corrections, an offender may be returned to the community.

20. The Ultimate Goal: Crime Control through Due Process • Crime-control model • Emphasizes the efficient arrest and convictions of offenders • Due process model • Emphasizes individual rights at all stages of the justice system processing • These are often assumed to be opposing goals.

21. Due Process and Individual Rights • Due process • Right guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution • Bill of Rights • Standard was set in the 1960s by the Warren Court.

22. The Role of the Courts in Defining Rights • Rights are open to interpretation. • U.S. Supreme Court • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) • Sixth Amendment guarantee of a right to counsel • Including court-appointed counsel for those unable to afford a lawyer

23. The Ultimate Goal: Crime Control through Due Process • Crime control through due process • A system of social control that is fair to those it processes • Law enforcement infused with the recognition of individual rights

24. The Ultimate Goal: Crime Control through Due Process • Social control • The use of sanctions and rewards within a group to influence and shape the behavior of individual members of that group

25. Evidence-Based Practice in Criminal Justice • Refers to crime-fighting strategies that have been scientifically tested • Based on social science research • A major element in the increasing professionalization of criminal justice • Strong demand for the application of evidence-based practices throughout criminal justice

26. The Start of Academic Criminal Justice • Began in the late 1920s • Early criminal justice education was practice oriented. • Primarily focused on the application of general management principles to the administration of police agencies • Organizational effectiveness

27. The Start of Academic Criminal Justice • By the 1960s, students began to apply the techniques of social science research. • Criminology • Sociology • Psychology • Political science

28. Multiculturalism and Diversity in Criminal Justice • Multiculturalism • The existence within one society of diverse groups that maintain unique cultural identities while frequently accepting and participating in the larger society's legal and political systems