CHAPTER 1

 Crime:  Act that violates criminal law  Punishable by criminal sanctions What is Crime?

 Not such an easy task to determine what is criminal behavior  Different countries have different ideas of criminal behavior  There are two common models of how society decides which acts are criminal Determining Criminal Behavior

 Consensus Model:  Society, though diverse, shares the same moral value system  Assumes that a diverse group of people can have similar morals  Morals are principles of right and wrong  Criminal acts conflict with these values and beliefs  Are deemed harmful to society  Conflict Model:  Exists because some people believe moral attitudes are not constant  Content of criminal law is determined by the groups that hold political power in a community  These groups impose their values on the rest of the community Determining Criminal Behavior

 Using consensus and conflict models we can construct a useful definition of crime:  Punishable under criminal law as defined by the majority or a powerful minority  Considered an offense against society as a whole and prosecuted by public officials  Punished by statutorily determined sanctions such as fines, loss of liberty or life  There is a difference between crime and deviance  Deviance is behavior that is considered to go against the norms established by society; not necessarily criminal An Integrated Definition of Crime

 Are there any criminal statutes in your community that prohibit behavior that you do not believe is deviant?  Are there any deviant acts committed in your community that you believe should be criminalized? Discussion Question #1

 An interlocking network of:  Law enforcement agencies  Courts  Corrections institutions  Designed to enforce criminal laws  Protect society from criminal behavior The Criminal Justice System

 To protect society from potential future crimes of the most dangerous offenders  To determine when an offense has been committed and provide the appropriate punishment  To rehabilitate those who have been punished so that it is safe to return them to the community  To support crime victims and return them to their pre-crime status The Purpose of the Criminal Justice System

 Important to understand the concept of Federalism:  Form of government in which a written constitution provides for a division of powers between a central government and several regional governments  Three Main Institutions:  Law enforcement  Courts  Corrections Structure of the Criminal Justice System

 Local law enforcement  Split between counties and municipalities  Discussed in detail in chapters 4, 5, and 6  State  Includes “state police” and “highway patrols”  State law enforcement officers can also include fire marshals  Federal  Operates throughout the U.S.  Often work in cooperation with local and state counterparts Law Enforcement

Employees of Criminal Justice

 Dual Court System  Federal  Must be charged with a federal crime  State  50 different state court systems and the District of Columbia  Charged with a violation of state law The Courts

 The criminal court has a workgroup  Judges  Prosecutors  Defense Attorneys  Responsible for determining the innocence or guilt of a suspect  Covered in detail in chapters 7, 8, and 9 The Courts

 What are the advantages of moving to a unified court system and eliminating the dual court system?  What are the disadvantages of a unified court system in the United States? Discussion Question #2

 Only convicted offenders will be relegated to the correctional system in the jurisdiction they are convicted (state or federal); covered in detail in chapters 10, 11, and 12  Probation  Serves sentence in community under supervision of a probation officer  The most common correctional treatment  Incarceration  Jails hold those convicted of minor crimes with short sentences  Prisons hold those convicted of more serious crimes  Community-based corrections  Examples: Halfway houses, residential centers, work- release programs Corrections

 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1967)  An orderly progression of events through a process  A sports team composed of an indeterminable number of decisions, relationships, conflicts, and adjustments  Herbert Packer compared the idealized criminal justice process to an assembly line The Criminal Justice Process

 Formal  Series of routinized operations  Goal of moving defendant from one point to another  Decisions made within the rigid confines of formal rules and laws  Unrealistic – lacking resources to handle every case formally  Informal  Decisions based on personal judgment produces an informal criminal justice system  Do not operate within the rigid confines of formal rules and laws Formal v. Informal Criminal Justice

 Informal criminal justice relies on discretion  Discretion is the authority to choose between and among alternative courses of action  Based on individual judgment and conscience Formal v. Informal Criminal Justice

Discretion in the Criminal Justice System

 Ask students to role play and discuss the following situations that lend themselves to discretion  You are on routine patrol and you pursue a car that is traveling 80mph that runs through a red light. You pull the car over and discover that the driver is your boyfriend/girlfriend’s mother. What do you do?  You are a police detective who has just arrested a person for aggravated domestic violence. You see your partner punching the suspect in the face when the suspect is handcuffed and in the back of a patrol car. What do you do? Discussion Question #3

 The moral principles that guide individual perceptions of “right” and “wrong"  Closely related to the concept of justice  Influences discretionary decisions made by criminal justice actors Ethics and Justice

 Ethics and the Law  Because ethical standards are not written into criminal statutes individuals often have to “fill in” the blank  See “Discretion in Action” section on page 17  Ethics and Critical Thinking  Critical thinking involves developing analytical skills and reasoning to address ethical challenges inherent in the criminal justice system Ethics and Justice

 Two models of Criminal Justice  Crime Control  Deter crime by arresting and incarcerating criminals as quickly and efficiently as possible  Due Process  Protect the individual charged with a crime against the immense and sometimes possibly unjust power of the state Criminal Justice Today

 Ask students to do some research on the criminal justice system in their city….  Which model of criminal justice (crime control or due process) do they believe is utilized today in their communities?  Have them explain with specific cases Discussion Question #4

 Crime and Law Enforcement: The Bottom Line  Smarter Policing  Proactive  Hot Spot  Identifying Criminals  Biometrics  Continuing Challenges for Law Enforcement  Street Gangs  Gun Use and Crime  Illegal Drugs Problem  Drug Use in the United States Criminal Justice Today

 Homeland Security and Domestic Terrorism  Counterterrorism and Civil Liberties  The Patriot Act  Homeland Security and Civil Liberties  Domestic Terrorism Criminal Justice Today

 The Emergence of Victims’ Rights  Advocacy for Crime Victims  Legislative Efforts  Inmate Population Trends  Changing Incarceration Policies  Recidivism  Declining Use of the Death Penalty  Capital crime  Incarceration and Race  The Social Media Revolution  Social Media and Law Enforcement  The Dark Side of Social Media Criminal Justice Today