The Criminal Justice System An Introduction

Focus Question Based on what you already know, what makes up the United States criminal justice system? The Police The Court System Corrections

Focus Question Knowing now what makes up our criminal justice system, what would you say the goals of our system are?

Goals of the US Criminal Justice System  Doing Justice  3 Principles  Offenders held accountable  Rights of the accused protected  Like offenses treated alike  Controlling Crime  Arresting, prosecuting, convicting, and punishing within framework of the law  Preventing Crime

The Criminal Justice SYSTEM  System: A complex whole consisting of interdependent parts whose actions are directed toward goals and are influenced by the environment within which they function.  Made up of several parts  Each action causes a reaction from the other parts

Criminal Justice AND Federalism  Federalism: system of government in which power is divided by federal and state governments  Federal  Not a part of the Constitution  US Gov’t is involved….how??  FBI, US District Courts, Federal Prisons  Crimes across state lines  Increase in federal involvement

Criminal Justice AND Federalism  States  Most criminal laws written by the state and enforced by the state  Many states refer to local agencies to fight crime  i.e. LPD, Lancaster County Sheriffs

Percentage of CJ Employees at each level, 2001

Characteristics of the Criminal Justice System  Four characteristics of the workings of our system:  1. Discretion (authority to make decisions w/o referencing rules)  Why? Can’t treat all situations the same & More effective than rigid rules  How…Police? Prosecutors? Judges? Corrections Officers?  2. Resource Dependence  Do not generate own resources, so must maintain quality relationships with political powers  3. Sequential Tasks  Highly interdependent  4. Filtering  A screening operation; process where officials screen out some cases while advancing other cases forward

Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies  Police: 4 major duties  Keeping the Peace  Protecting rights  Apprehending Violators and Combating Crime  Most often associated with Police  Preventing Crime  Educating public about threats  Providing Social Services  Traffic, emergency response, etc

Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies  Courts  Dual-court system: both federal and state courts  Causes inconsistency with how laws are interpreted  Reflects social and political differences of each region  Responsible for adjudication  Process of determining innocence or guilt

Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies  Corrections  Seven million American adults under supervision  Less than 30% of convicted offenders are in prison or jail