Criminal Justice Today

Crime: 1. Violates criminal law. 2. Is punishable by criminal sanctions.

 Describe the two most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal.

Consensus Model:  Society, though diverse, shares the same moral value system.  Crimes violate this value system and are deemed harmful to society. Conflict Model:  Society is diverse and constantly engaged in a power struggle.  Dominant groups in society codify their values into law.

 Define crime and identify the different types of crime.

An Integrated Definition: Punishable under criminal law as defined by a society. Considered an offense against society as a whole, and prosecuted by public officials. Punished by statutorily determined sanctions that bring about the loss of personal freedom.

Violent Crime: ◦ Murder ◦ Sexual assault/rape ◦ Assault/battery ◦ Robbery Property Crime: ◦ Burglary ◦ Larceny/theft ◦ Motor vehicle theft ◦ Arson

Public Order Crimes: Behavior that has been labeled criminal because it is contrary to shared social values, customs and norms (e.g. public drunkenness). White Collar Crimes: Illegal acts committed by an individual or business entity using some non-violent means to obtain a personal or business advantage (e.g. embezzlement).

High Tech Crime: Organized Crime: Crimes directly related to the increased use of computers and technology by society. Illegal crimes by illegal organizations, geared towards satisfying the public’s need for illegal goods and services.

Goals of the Criminal Justice System:  To control crime  To prevent crime  To provide and maintain justice

 Federalism is a form of government in which a written constitution provides for a division of powers between a central government and several regional governments.  Ideals of federalism can be seen in the local, state, and federal levels of law enforcement.

 Outline the three levels of law enforcement.

 Local and County Law Enforcement ◦ Responsible for the “nuts and bolts” of law enforcement.  State Law Enforcement ◦ Generally, there are both “state police” and “highway patrols.”  Federal Law Enforcement ◦ Operates throughout the U.S.

 List the essential elements of the corrections system.

 Probation  Jails  Prisons  Community-based corrections

 Criminal justice as a “system” – an orderly progression of events through a process comprised of agencies working together.  Herbert Packer compared the idealized criminal justice process to an assembly line.

 Each step in the assembly line, which comprises the formal criminal justice system, is the result of a series of decisions that must be made by those who work in the CJS.  When members of the criminal justice system exercise discretion, this produces an informal criminal justice system.

 Describe the layers of the “wedding cake” model.

 Contrast the crime control and due process models.

Crime Control Model: A model of criminal justice that places primary emphasis on the rights of society to be protected from crime and violent offenders. Due Process Model: A model of the criminal justice system that places primary emphasis on the rights of the individual to be protected from the power of government.

 Crime the Bottom Line ◦ The Impact of Law Enforcement ◦ The Scourge of Street Gangs ◦ Gun Sales and Gun Control ◦ The Illegal Drugs Problem ◦ White Collar Crime

 Crime and Punishment ◦ The Growing Prison Population ◦ The Economics of Incarceration  Homeland Security and the Threat of Terrorism ◦ The Patriot Act  Technology: Fighting and Fueling Crime