CCJS Reading Notes

01/31/2016

CHAPTER 1
Goals of the Criminal Justice System
Doing Justice
Controlling Crime
Preventing Crime
Crimes
mala in se
o Offenses that are wrong in themselves (murder and rape)
mala prohibita
o offenses prohibited by law but not necessarily wrong in
themselves (gambling, prostitution, drug use)
Doing Justice
Forms the basis for the rules, procedures, and institutions of the
criminal justice system
Upholding the rights of individuals as well as punishing those who
violate the law.
Controlling Crime
Arresting, prosecuting, convicting, and punishing those who disobey
the law
Efforts to control crime must be carried out within the framework of
the law.
Preventing Crime
Deterrent effect of the actions of police, courts, and corrections.
Punishes those who violate the law but also provides examples that
will likely keep others from committing wrongful acts.
Citizens rely on police to stop criminals

o They can lock their homes and cars, install alarm systems,
refrain from walking in dangerous area.
Advancing Goals: Evidence Based Practices
Legislators often enacts laws based on their beliefs about the nature
of a problem and the responses that will be effective in addressing
the problem
Evidence based practices: policies developed through guidance from
research studies that demonstrate which approaches are most
useful and cost-effective for advancing desired goals
o They should be widely used because research indicates that
they positively alter human behavior
o Legislators may resist adopting them because they may
conflict with their own beliefs
Criminal Justice in a Federal System
Criminal justice is based off of Federalism: power is divided
between a central (national) government and a regional (state)
governments.
o No single level of government is solely responsible for the
administration of criminal justice
FBI a national law enforcement agency
o Can pursue criminal investigations across state borders better
than any state agency
Federal criminal cases are tried in US district courts, which are
federal courts, and there are federal prisons throughout the nation
Most criminal justice activity occurs at the state level, and the
crimes are defined by state laws rather than federal law.
Federal law
o Prioritized Antiterrorism investigations especially after 9/11,
bank robberies, drug trafficking.
Expansion of federal government
o Created Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Border security, intelligence, emergency-response
angencies
o Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Protecting travelers and interstate commerce by
screening passengers and their luggag
Budget problems forced criminal justice agencies at all levels to
reduce law enforcement activities, release offenders early from
prison etc.

o These issues have greatest impact at the local level, not

enough police officers on duty to respond
Criminal Justice as a Social System
Subsystems of the criminal justice system-police, prosecutors,
offices, courts, corrections- has its own goals but they are also
interdependent
Exchange: the mutual transfer of resources among individual
actors, each of whom has goals that she or he cannot accomplish
alone.
o Exchange relationships:
Plea bargain: the defense attorney and the prosecutor
reach an agreement: the defendant agrees to plead
guilty in exchange for a reduction of charges or for a
lighter sentence. As a result the prosecutor gains a
quick, sure conviction, and the defendant achieves a
shorter sentence.
Characteristics of the Criminal Justice System
4 major characteristics:
Discretion
Resource dependence
Sequential tasks
Filtering
Discretion
The authority to make decisions without reference to specific rules
of facts, using instead ones own judgment; allows for
individualization and informality in the administration of justice.
o police officers decide how to handle a crime situation
o Judges decide how long a sentence will be
Arguments to justify discretion
o Its needed because the system lacks the resources to treat
every case the same way
o Many officials believe that discretion permits them to achieve
greater justice that rigid rules would produce.
Resource Dependence
Criminal justice agencies depend on other agencies for fundingpolitical decision makers such as legislators, mayors.

Sequential Tasks
Decisions are made in a specific sequence.
The accumulated decisions of police, prosecutors, and courts
determine the number of offenders sent to corrections agencies
Filtering
Filtering process a screening operation, a process by which criminal
justice officials screen out some cases while advancing others to the
next level of decision making
Only a portion of the cases that enter the system result in
conviction and punishment
Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies
Police refers to many agencies at each level of government
Police Agencies have four major duties
o Keeping the Peace: protection of right and persons in
situations ranging from street brawls to domestic quarrels
o Apprehending Violators and Combating Crime
o Preventing Crime: Educating the public about threat of a
crime, reducing the # of situations in which crimes are likely
to be committed, they can lower the rate of crime
o Providing Social Services: recover stolen property, direct
traffic, give emergency medical aid etc.
Courts
US has a dual court system, that consists of a separate judicial
system for each state in addition to a national system
Supreme court will only hear cases involving federal law or
constitutional rights
State Supreme Courts: final authority for cases that solely concern
issues of state law
Laws may be interpreted differently in various states despite being
worded similarly
Courts are responsible for Adjudication: determining whether or not
a defendant is guilty.
o They must use fair procedures and impose sentences that are
appropriate fir the behavior being punished.
Corrections:

Daily, 7 million American adults are under the supervision of state

and federal corrections systems
Prisons, jails. Probation, parole, intermediate sanctions: public,
nonprofit and for-profit agencies carry out these programs.
The Flow of Decision Making in the Criminal Justice System
Involves a series of decisions by police officers, prosecutors, judges,
probation officers, wardens, and parole board members.
At each stage in the process, they decide whether a case will move
on to the next stage or be dropped from the system
Steps in the Decision-Making Process
13 steps that cover the stages of law enforcement, adjudication,
and corrections
o Investigation: when the police believe the crime has been
committed
o Arrest: If the police find enough evidence that a particular
person has committed a crime, an arrest is made. An arrest
involves physically taking a person into custody pending a
court proceeding. Some arrests can be made on the basis of a
warrant court order issued by a judge authorizing police to
take certain actions
o Booking: A record is made of the arrest
o Charging: prosecuting attorneys must determine whether
there is reasonable cause to believe that an offense was
committed and that the suspect committed the offense
o Initial Appearance: suspect brought before a judge. Decides if
they can post bail and be held for further criminal processing
o Preliminary hearing/Grand Jury: The preliminary hearing
allows a judge to decide that a crime has been committed and
that the accused person committed it. If no probable cause,
the case is dismissed. If there is evidence, then the accused is
bound over for arraignment on an information a document
charging a person with a specific crime. In the federal system,
prosecutor appears before a grand jury, which decides if there
is evidence to file an indictment true bill charging the
suspect with a specific crime.
o Indictment/Information: the prosecutor prepares the formal
charging document and presents it to the court
o Arraignment: accused person appears in court to hear the
indictment or information read by a judge and to enter a plea
(guilty or not guilty).
o Trial: for the small percentage of defendants who plead not
guilty.

o Sentencing
o Appeal
o Corrections
o Release
The Criminal Justice Wedding Cake
Different layers show how different cases receive different kinds of
treatment in the justice process. Cases are not treated equally
Layer 1: celebrated cases that are highly unusual, receive much
public attention, result in a jury trial, often drag on through many
appeals
Layer 2 consists of felonies (serious crimes usually carrying a
penalty of death or of incarceration for more than one year). Violent
crimes committed by persons with long criminal records against
victims unknown to them.
Layer 3 also has felonies, but the crimes are seen as less important
than those in Layer 2. The offender may have no record and the
victim may have had a prior relationship with the accused. The
main goal is to dispose of such cases quickly.
Layer 4 is made up of misdemeanors (offenses less serious than
felonies and unusually punishable by incarceration or no more than
one year in jail). 90% of all cases fall in this category. (shoplifting,
public drunkenness, traffic violations). Handled by the lower courts.
Crime Control Vs Due Process
Crime Control Model Order as a value
Freedom is so important that every effort must be made to repress
crime. It emphasizes efficiency, speed, finality and the capacity to
apprehend, try, convict, and dispose of a high proportion of
offenders
Efficient processing of cases in order to repress crime
Due Process Model Law as a value
Every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justice decisions
are based on reliable information. It emphasizes the adversarial
process, the rights of defendants, and formal decision-making
procedures.
Careful, reliable decisions and the protection of rights
Crime and Justice in a Multicultural Society
African Americans, Hispanics , and other minorities are subjected to
the criminal justice system at much higher rates than are the White
Majority
Disparity: a difference between groups

Discrimination: differential treatment of individuals or groups

because of race, ethnicity, gender rather than their behavior or
qualifications
Explaining Disparities
People of Color Commit more crimes
The criminal justice system is racially biased
America is a racially biased society
Evidence exists concerning differential treatment of various racial
groups by criminal justice officials in some contexts