1. Government & Politics in the United States Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

2. Introduction Police, Courts, and Corrections operate at three levels of government: federal, state, and local For these systems to operate, monetary funding is necessary States and localities have traditionally been responsible for operating the majority of the criminal justice system The federal government, once a minor player in criminal justice, has been gradually expanding its influence in American criminal justice Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

3. Percentage Distribution of Expenditures for Justice System (2009) Activity Percent distribution Federal Government State Governments Local Governments Total justice system expenditures Direct expenditures18.231.350.5 Police protection Direct expenditures22.61067.4 Judicial and legal operations Direct expenditures2238.139.8 Corrections Direct expenditures8.958.632.5 Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

4. Beginning of Criminal Justice in United States British settlers to the American colonies brought the common law Common law is a legal system rooted in judicial precedent rather than legislative dictate Judges make rulings that become precedent, precedent eventually establishes law Common law based upon stare decisis – “let the decision stand” Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

5. States’ Rights and State Autonomy As American colonies became American states under the rule of a new nation (the United States), common law began to disappear Legal codes established by various states replaced the common law Individual states were left large amounts of autonomy Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis referred to states as “laboratories of democracy” State autonomy is not without limits Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

6. Federalism in the United States United States is a republic – citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf Federalism – sharing of power between federal and state governments After American Revolution, many different people disagreed on how best to govern the new nation, main point of agreement was a strong central government was undesirable Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

7. Articles of Confederation First government in the United States Established a loose confederation of states with a weak central government All power was essentially reserved to legislative branch of government Federal government only had power to declare war or negotiate peace treaties Federal government could not raise taxes, coin money, and were limited in powers necessary to maintain a nation Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

8. United States Constitution Established in 1788 and replaces Articles of Confederation Constitution provided for a stronger federal government, but still left a great deal of autonomy to the states Written approximately 230 years ago, many people debate the meaning of the Constitution in modern America Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

9. Interpreting the Constitution Strict constructionists – people who believe that the Constitution should be literally interpreted as the Founding Fathers intended Living constitutionalists – people who believe the Constitution is a living document and should be interpreted in terms of what is necessary for contemporary society Both arguments have merit Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

10. Constitution and Criminal Justice Only crime mentioned in the Constitution is treason Until 1913, federal government had no income tax, primary funding of federal government was through taxes of individual goods President Washington led 12,000 militia troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, one of the first federal policing actions Until 1900s, most federal government policing was to enforce taxes or patrol borders Copyright © 2015 Carolina Academic Press. All rights reserved.

11. The full set of PowerPoint slides is available upon adoption. Email bhall@cap-press.com for more information.