1. The Criminal Justice System
Chapter 12

2. Learning Objectives
12.1 Describe the different classifications of criminal offenses Analyze issues of the death penalty in Texas Explain the role of Texas’s jail and prison system in handling corrections and rehabilitations Compare the juvenile justice system to the adult correctional system Evaluate the fairness of Texas’s justice system.
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3. Elements of the Criminal Justice System
Criminal Justice Law
Texas Criminal Justice System: system of law enforcement – apprehension, defense, prosecution, sentencing, and punishment
Texas Penal Code: provides laws, penalties, and correctional measures
Graded penalties: Felonies:1st, 2nd, 3rd,4th(State Jail);
Three classes of misdemeanors: A, B, & C
Enhanced punishment: additional penalties – organized/hate crimes, & repeat offenders
Capital felony: punishable by death or life imprisonment
criminal justice system: The system of law enforcement that is involved in apprehension, defense, prosecution, sentencing, and punishment of those suspected or convicted of committing a crime.
Texas Penal Code: Set of codes that provide the laws, penalties, and correctional measures for crime in Texas
graded penalties: Depending on the nature of the crime, felonies are graded as first degree, second degree, third degree, and state jail; misdemeanors are graded as A, B, and C.
enhanced punishment: Additional penalties or prison time for those who engage in organized crime or hate crimes, and repeat offenders.
capital felony: A crime punishable by death or life imprisonment.
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4. Elements of the Criminal Justice System
Criminal Justice Policy
Drug crimes
Most arrests: possession of controlled substance
Response: incarceration
Counties with 550,000 must establish drug court
Hate crimes: Criminal acts against another person motivated by bias or prejudice against a group of which the victim belongs
James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act (2001)
District attorneys decide
Learning Check 12.1
What types of crimes may receive “enhanced punishment” and what does that mean?
True or False: Most low-level drug offenders have complicating issues such as homelessness and poverty.
plea bargain
A deal between the prosecutor and the defendant in a criminal case in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a specific charge and in return will get certain concessions from the prosecutor.
Hate Crimes: criminal acts against another person motivated by bias or prejudice against a group of which the victim belongs
Learning Check
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5. The Death Penalty: Many Forms
Reinstitution of the Death Penalty
Before 1923: executions by hanging
After 1923: electrocution
Court challenges: no executions between
1972: Furman v. Georgia Supreme court ruled: death penalty was racially biased
1973: Texas rewrote laws: 1st - lethal injection
Past three decades: Texas executed more capital felons than any other state
1973: Texas rewrote the laws to meet the US Supreme Court’s standardization and fairness: first execution under the law was 1982
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6. The Death Penalty Reviewing the Death Penalty
Texas rejects idea of moratorium i.e. delay or suspension
One supporting factor: deterrence
Too long between sentencing and execution
Average time on death row: 11 years
Learning Check 12.2
Which Supreme Court case deemed the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972?
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, what is the average time spent on death row before execution?
moratorium: The delay or suspension of an activity or law. A moratorium may be imposed when something is seen as needing improvement.
Learning Check
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7. Correction and Rehabilitation
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Providing Public Safety
Increased use of probation and job training
Imprisonment rates have declined
Problem maintaining workforce
Lack of air conditioning in facilities
Administrative segregation – solitary confinement for violent or disruptive behavior
Administrative segregation: Commonly referred to as solitary confinement, this practice isolates an inmate in a separate cell as punishment, typically for violent or disruptive behavior.
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8. Facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (2013)
Figure 12.1
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Critical Thinking Question: How does having a state jail or prison facility in or near a community affect the community?
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9. Correction and Rehabilitation
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Promoting Positive Behavioral Change
Discipline and education
Combat recidivism: recurring criminal behavior after release from a prior offense
Every prisoner must be given a job
More than half enrolled in vocational and academic classes (Windham School District)
administrative segregation Commonly referred to as solitary confinement, this practice isolates an inmate in a separate cell as punishment, typically for violent or disruptive behavior.
Recidivism: Criminal behavior that results in incarceration after a person has been released from confinement for a prior offense
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10. Characteristics of Texas’s Prison Population (2012)
Table 12.2
Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Fiscal Year 2012 Statistical Report,
state.tx.us/documents/Statistical_Report_FY2012.pdf.
Critical Thinking Question: How might studying the characteristics of the prison population influence lawmakers’ criminal justice policies?
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11. The Darrington Unit Seminary Fall 2013 Class
Critical Thinking Question: Should an inmate receive a reduced sentence for completing a rehabilitation program?
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12. Correction and Rehabilitation
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Reintegrating Offenders:
Reentry and Integration Division: equip prisoners with the skills to succeed upon release
Criminal Justice Assistance Division: responsible for convicted criminals who serve all or part of their sentence in the community
Parole Division
Successful reintegration complicated
Texas is suing the EEOC to protect state hiring laws and policies.
Re-Entry and Integration Division: equip prisoners with the skills to succeed upon release
Criminal Justice Assistance Division and Parole Division: responsible for convicted criminals who serve all or part of their sentence in the community
Successful reintegration complicated: convicted felons lose many civic rights including jury service, the right to administer estates and impediments to employment
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13. Correction and Rehabilitation
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Assisting Victims
Victim Services Division
Victim impact statements
Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund
Up to $50,000
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14. Correction and Rehabilitation
Local Government Jails
Found in all but 19 counties
350 municipal jails
Private Prisons: State/local govts. contract private companies to construct and operate prisons
More than any other state
Private contractors also provide substance abuse programs/halfway houses
Learning Check 12.3
What are the two primary means of combating recidivism?
How has the change in the state’s prison population affected private prisons?
Private Prisons: state and local governments contract private companies to construct and operate prisons
Private contractors also provide Substance abuse programs/halfway houses
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15. State and Local Agencies
Juvenile Justice
State and Local Agencies
“Delinquent children”: Texas youth between ages 10 and 17
“Status offenders” - offense that would not be a crime if committed by an adult: e.g. running away from home
Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Learning Check
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16. Juvenile Justice Procedures
Detained in separate facilities from adult offenders
Counseling and probation
Residential treatment and commitment
Adjudication hearings: a trial in juvenile court
Considering raising age of adulthood: one of the 8 states that direct 17 year olds to adult criminal justice system; many have argued that adulthood should be 18 as in other 40 states
Juvenile Justice
Learning Check 12.4
What agency oversees Texas’s juvenile justice system
True or False: Young Texans at least 6 years of age but younger than 19 are treated as “delinquent children” when they commit offenses that would be classified as felonies or misdemeanors if committed by adults.
Adjudication hearing: A trial in a juvenile court
Considering raising age of adulthood: Texas – one of the 8 states that direct 17 year olds into adult criminal justice system. Many have argued that adulthood should start at 18, considered adult age in 40 states.
Learning Check
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17. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
Overcrowding and Mental Illness in Prison
Harris County jail third largest in country in relation to overcrowdedness
Many have mental illness
Harris County jails - frequently at or near capacity, ranges between 8,500 and 9,500
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18. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
Technology
The Prison Show – enables family members & friends to call in to interact with inmates
Facebook and online blogs: inmates have access to Facebook – created by family or friends
DNA database – used to identify suspects and exonerate the innocent
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19. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
Exoneration Issues
Texas compensates wrongfully incarcerated
$80,000 for each year wrongly imprisoned
Tuition for college or training
Lifetime annuity
Assistance in accessing social services
Health insurance
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20. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
Racial Bias in the Criminal Justice System
Target minority groups
Annual racial profiling reports
Latinos moving toward becoming majority of population
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21. Problems and Reforms: Implications for Public Policy
Misconduct by District Attorneys
Code of Criminal Procedure
Focus on justice
91 criminal cases ( ) prosecutor committed misconduct – Texas Tribune
Hiding evidence
Improper arguments to jury
Case of Anthony Graves: DA obtained false statement to send Graves to death row
Case of Michael Morton: DA failed to disclose exculpatory (favorable to the defendant) evidence
Learning Check 12.5
Most individuals who have been exonerated were sent to prison based on what type of evidence?
True or False: The Code of Criminal Procedure requires district attorneys to give primary importance to convicting a criminal defendant.
Case of Anthony Graves: DA obtained false statements from witnesses to send Graves to the death row
Case of Michael Morton: DA’s failure to disclose exculpatory evidence
Learning Check
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22. Tracking Truants Click picture to view video
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23. Video Discussion Questions
A judge sentenced this student to wear a tracking device. Is truancy a matter for the courts?
How is truancy handled in your community? Is this method more effective?
Which type of court did this student likely appear in?
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