Chapter 1 Crime and Justice in the US

Crime in the United States Crime is a top concern of the American public. Crimes presented by the media are usually more sensational than the crimes routinely committed.

Crime in the United States Most police calls involve responding to complaints of disturbances: Domestic quarrels Neighbor squabbles Gang altercations Loud music

Criminal Justice: An Institution of Social Control There are a variety of responses to crime in the United States, from punishment to prevention.

Criminal Justice: An Institution of Social Control Criminal justice is an institution of social control, as are: The family Schools Organized religion The media The law

institution of social control An organization that persuades people, through subtle and not-so-subtle means, to abide by the dominant values of society.

Criminal Justice: An Institution of Social Control Criminal justice differs because: It is concerned only with behavior that is actually criminal. It is society’s “last line of defense.”

Values in Criminal Justice Crime control model Most important function of criminal justice system is to punish and repress criminal conduct Law enforcement must control criminal activity Controlling crime is at least difficult, and probably impossible Assumes absolute efficiency in crime control is achieved only if power of state is absolute Examples of this approach: airport searches, hidden video cameras, officers searching your valuables or back pack in subway.

Values in Criminal Justice Cont. Due Process Model Protect rights of accused through legal constraints on police, courts and corrections It should be difficult to prove guilt

Criminal Justice: The System Criminal justice in the United States is administered by a loose confederation of more than 50,000 agencies of federal, state, and local governments. The police The courts Corrections The criminal justice system =

Criminal Justice: The System The criminal justice system operates differently in some jurisdictions, but there are also similarities. jurisdictions A politically defined geographical area.

Police The criminal justice response to crime begins when a crime is reported to the police, or when the police discover a crime has been committed.

Arrest Warrant On rare occasions, police may obtain an arrest warrant from a lower-court judge before making an arrest. arrest warrant A written order directing law enforcement officers to arrest a person.

Courts After a suspect has been arrested and booked, a prosecutor reviews the facts of the case and decides whether to charge the suspect with a crime. If no charges are filed, the suspect must be released.

Pretrial Stages About 90 percent of criminal defendants plead guilty to the charges against them, in an arrangement called plea bargaining.

plea bargaining The practice whereby a specific sentence is imposed if the accused pleads guilty to an agreed-upon charge or charges instead of going to trial.

A trial before a judge, without a jury. 10 percent of criminal cases go to trial. 5 percent of criminal cases are decided in a bench trial. bench trial A trial before a judge, without a jury.

Trial If the defendant is found guilty as charged The judge (and sometimes the jury) begins to consider a sentence. If the defendant is found not guilty The defendant is released.

Corrections Currently, five types of punishment are used in the United States: Fines Probation Intermediate punishments Imprisonment Death Judges must impose sentences according to statutory guidelines.

Corrections Defendants can appeal their convictions either on legal or constitutional grounds. Legal Grounds Defects in jury selection Improper admission of evidence at trial Mistaken interpretations of law Constitutional Grounds Illegal search and seizure Improper questioning by police Incompetent assistance from counsel

Next! Some Facts about the United States Criminal Justice System…

The Facts The United States has the highest reported incarceration rate in the world. While the United States currently incarcerates 750 inmates per 100,000 persons, the world average rate is 166 per 100,000 persons. Russia, the country with the second highest incarceration rate, imprisons 628 per 100,000 persons. Compared to its democratic, advanced market economy counterparts, the United States has more people in prison by several orders of magnitude. Although crime rates have decreased since 1990, the rate of imprisonment has continued to increase. The U.S. prison system has enormous economic costs associated with prison construction and operation, productivity losses, and wage effects. In 2006, states spent an estimated $2 billion on prison construction, three times the amount they were spending fifteen years earlier. The combined expenditures of local governments, state governments, and the federal government for law enforcement and corrections total over $200 billion annually. In addition to these costs, the incarceration rate has significant costs associated with the productivity of both prisoners and ex-offenders. The economic output of prisoners is mostly lost to society while they are imprisoned. Negative productivity effects continue after release. This wage penalty grows with time, as previous imprisonment can reduce the wage growth of young men by some 30 percent.

More facts… The Prison Population has grown by more than 370% since 1970. Between 1990-1999 245 Jails and prisons were built in rural and small town communities, with a new one opening somewhere every 15 days. There are more prisons in America than Wal-Mart's. There are more prisoners in America today than farmers.

Some more even… The prison system has a disproportionate impact on minority communities. African Americans, who are 12.4 percent of the population, are more than half of all prison inmates, compared to one-third twenty years ago. Although African-Americans constitute 14 percent of regular drug users, they are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses, and 56 percent of persons in state prisons for drug crimes. Black males have a 32% chance of serving time in prison at some point in their lives; Hispanic males have a 17% chance; white males have a 6% chance. One in eight (12%) black males aged 25-29 was in prison or jail in 2005 as were 1 in 26 (3.9%) Hispanic males and 1 in 59 (1.7%) white males in the same age group.

2004

Policy…. Much of the growth in the prison population is due to changing policy, not increased crime. Many criminal justice experts have found that the increase in the incarceration rate is the product of changes in penal policy and practice, not changes in crime rates. Changes in sentencing, both in terms of time served and the range of offenses meriting incarceration, underlie the growth in the prison population.

And some more… The composition of prison admissions has increasingly shifted toward less serious offenses, characterized by parole violations and drug offenses. According to one study, in 2005, four out of five drug arrests were for possession while one out of five were for drug sales. The crime history for three-quarters of drug offenders in state prisons involved non-violent or drug offenses. Prisons are housing many of the nation’s mentally ill. The number of mentally ill in prison is nearly five times the number in inpatient mental hospitals. Large numbers of mentally ill inmates, as well as inmates with HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis also raise serious questions regarding the costs and distribution of health care resources. America faces an epic problem of re-entry. The number of ex-offenders reentering their communities from state and federal prisons increased fourfold in the past two decades. On average, however, two out of every three released prisoners will be rearrested and one in two will return to prison within three years of release. Source: http://webb.senate.gov/pdf/prisonstwopager.html