The Criminal Justice System

Goals Federalism System perspective Characteristics Operations Flow of decision making Crime and Justice in a Multicultural Society

Goals of the Criminal Justice System

Doing Justice Controlling Crime

Preventing Crime

Doing Justice
Accountability for offenses Protect rights Equality under the law Discretion

Controlling Crime
Apprehension Prosecution Punishment Within the bounds of the law

Preventing Crime
Police presence Punishment as deterrent Problems with citizen invoked crime prevention

Federalism
A system of government in which power is divided between a central (national) government and regional (state) governments.

Dual Justice Systems

State systems handle alleged violations of state law. The federal system handles alleged violations of federal law.

Federal State and Local Comparisons I

Federal State and Local Comparisons II

Criminal Justice as a System

System Perspective
Interdependent subsystems Exchange relationships Example: plea bargains

Characteristics of the Criminal Justice System

Discretion Resource Dependence Sequential Tasks Filtering

Discretion
Arrest or let go? Long or short sentence? Prosecute or dismiss?

Resource Dependence
Politicians Public Media

Sequential Tasks

Criminal Justice Funnel

Of 1,000 crimes that are committed

Only 5 juveniles and 18 adults are incarcerated

Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies

The Criminal Justice System

Police

Courts

Corrections

POLICE
Keep the peace Combat crime Prevent crime Provide social services

COURTS
Dual Court System US and State Variance among states Adjudication Sentencing

CORRECTIONS
Only about 1/3 incarcerated Community supervision Federal, State, and local Privatization trend

Flow of Decision Making in the Criminal Justice System

Steps in the Decision Making Process The Criminal Justice Wedding Cake Crime Control versus Due Process

Criminal Justice Wedding Cake: Layer 1

Celebrated perpetrators Celebrated victims Type the media loves Cases that make Supreme Court precedents
1

Criminal Justice Wedding Cake: Layer 2

Serious felonies by experienced offenders Violent crimes Property crimes with high $ value Get full attention of the CJ system

Criminal Justice Wedding Cake: Layer 3

First time offender less serious offenses which may be felonies Less serious personal injury or low $ value Dealt with less seriously, maybe probation

Criminal Justice Wedding Cake: Layer 4

Most misdemeanors Handled in assembly-line fashion Typical penalty is a small fine Having to go to court may be the real punishment 4

Competing Models

Racial Disparities in CJ System

Potential Explanations

Explanations for Incarceration Rates for Blacks and Whites

Black Incarceration (DV) Arrest rates Poverty Unemployment Executive Party (R) Legislature (%R) Black Politicians % State Courts (Liberal) Citizen opinion Sentencing Guidelines Prison Capacity Litigation White Incarceration (DV) Arrest rates Poverty Unemployment Executive Party (R) Legislature (%R) Black Politicians % State Courts (Liberal) Citizen opinion Sentencing Guidelines Prison Capacity Litigation

Incarceration Rates By Race

1600
State Prisoners per 100,000 population

9
Black Rate / White Rate

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

8
Black Rate / White Rate

7 6
Black Imprisonment Rate

5 4 3

White Imprisonment Rate

2 1

75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

Year

Effect of Partisanship on Black Incarceration Conditioned on Black State Population

Quick Quiz to Test Attention

1) ___ is the authority to make decisions by using ones own judgment and conscience which provides the basis for individualization and informality in the administration of justice. Discretion 2) ___ is a document charging an individual with a specific crime prepared by a prosecuting attorney and presented to a court at a preliminary hearing. Information 3) ___ is a characteristic of the criminal justice system that leads criminal justice officials to be responsive to elected officials and legislative bodies. Resource dependence 4) ___ consists of separate judicial structures for states and for the national government. Dual court system 5) ___ is a characteristic of the organization of law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies in the United States. Decentralization