1. Crime and Justice in the United States Chapter One After completing this chapter, you should be able to: Describe how the type of crime routinely presented by the media compares with crime routinely committed. Identify institutions of social control and explain what makes criminal justice an institution of social control. Summarize how the criminal justice system responds to crime. Explain why criminal justice in the United States is sometimes considered a non-system. Point out major differences between Packer’s crime control and due process models. Describe the cost of criminal justice in the United States and compare those cost among federal, state, and local governments.

2. Crime in the United States Everyday we are confronted with reports of crime … In newspapers, magazines, radio and TV news. We also see crime in popular fictional and reality based TV shows. Crime is also a favorite subject of movies and novels.

3. “If it bleeds, it leads.” We should keep in mind, however, that the crimes presented by the media are usually more sensational than the crimes routinely committed. A study by researchers at 8 universities found that crime stories dominate local news shows, particularly those involving blood and mayhem which accounted for 30% of the broadcast. One researcher speculated that excessive media coverage of crime “has a numbing effect on the public.” Do you agree?

4. Sensational versus Reality Sensational crime news stories so not provide a very accurate image of the types of crime by which the average citizen is victimized. Nor do such stories accurately depict the kinds of crime to which the police respond on a daily basis. What do you think are the typical types of crime that Wake County police officers respond to on a daily basis.

5. Criticisms of the Media Critics argue that news media have a dual obligation to (1)Present news that reflects a more balanced picture of the overall crime problem and (2)Reduce their presentation of sensational crimes. How much do you think the public conception of crime is influenced by the media?

6. Institutions of Social Control In the United States, there are a variety of responses to crime. What are some of the various responses you can think of when a teen is caught breaking into school? Like the family, schools, organized religion, the media, and the law, criminal justice is an institution of social control. An organization that persuades people, through subtle and not-so-subtle means, to abide by the dominant values of society.

7. How does the criminal justice system differ? As an institution of social control, criminal justice differs from the others in two important ways. The role of criminal justice is restricted officially to persuading people to abide by a limited range of values [those whose violation constitutes a crime]. Criminal Justice is generally society’s “last line of defense” against people who refuse to abide by the dominant social values and commit crimes.

8. Criminal Justice: The System Criminal Justice in the United States is administered by a loose confederation of more than 50,000 agencies at the state, local, and federal level. Those agencies consist of police, courts, and corrections. Example: Holly Springs PDHighway PatrolFBI

9. Criminal Justice – The Process Although there are differences in the ways the criminal justice system operates in different jurisdictions (politically defined geographic area), there are also similarities. The criminal justice response to crime begins when a crime is reported.

11. Does the criminal justice system “work” in the United States? Why or why not? What improvements can be made to the criminal justice system?

12. Criminal Justice Non-System The depiction of the criminal justice as a system may be inappropriate and misleading for two reasons: (1)There is no single criminal justice system in the United States. There is a loose confederation of many independent criminal justice agencies at all levels of government. (2)Because there is considerable conflict and confusion between agencies of criminal justice, a more accurate description may be a non-system. In other words – rather than operating as a system, agencies of criminal justice in the United States generally operate independently of each other; each agency causing problems for the others.

13. Criminal Justice Models Herbert Packer, a Stanford University law professor, constructed two models, the crime control model and the due process model, to represent the two competing systems of values operating within criminal justice. The tension between the two accounts for the conflict and disharmony that now is observable in the criminal justice system.

14. Crime Control Model The following assertions are the key concerns of the crime control model: The repression of crime should be the most important function of criminal justice because order is a necessary condition for a free society. Criminal justice should concentrate on vindicating victims' rights rather than on protecting defendants' rights. Police powers should be expanded to make it easier to investigate, arrest, search, seize, and convict. Legal technicalities that handcuff the police should be eliminated. The criminal justice process should operate like an assembly-line conveyor belt, moving cases swiftly along toward their disposition. If the police make an arrest and a prosecutor files criminal charges, the accused should be presumed guilty because the fact-finding of police and prosecutors is highly reliable. The main objective of the criminal justice process should be to discover the truth or to establish the factual guilt of the accused. Control of criminal behavior is the most important function of criminal justice.

15. Due Process Model Packer's due process model is a counterproposal to the crime control model. It consists of these arguments: The most important function of criminal justice should be to provide due process, or fundamental fairness under the law. Criminal justice should concentrate on defendants' rights, not victims' rights, because the Bill of Rights expressly provides for the protection of defendants' rights. Police powers should be limited to prevent official oppression of the individual. Constitutional rights aren't mere technicalities; criminal justice authorities should be held accountable to rules, procedures, and guidelines to ensure fairness and consistency in the justice process. The criminal justice process should look like an obstacle course, consisting of a series of impediments that take the form of procedural safeguards that serve as much to protect the factually innocent as to convict the factually guilty. The government shouldn't hold a person guilty solely on the basis of the facts; a person should be found guilty only if the government follows legal procedures in its fact-finding. Principal goal of criminal justice is at least as much to protect the innocent as it is to convict the guilty.

16. Evaluating the Models To declare that one of these models is superior to the other requires one to make a value judgment. The crime control model reflects conservative values, while the due process model reflects liberal values. Political climate determines which model shapes criminal justice policy at a specific time. During the politically liberal 1960s, the principles and policies of due process predominated in criminal justice. From the mid 1970s to the early twenty-first century, conservatism has held sway as the dominant political philosophy, and conservatives have formulated criminal justice policies in the image of the crime control model.

17. Cost of the Criminal Justice System Each year in the United States an enormous amount of money is spent on criminal justice. In 2002, local, state, and federal governments spent a total of $180 billion on civil and criminal justice. – About $600 for every resident of the United States.

18. Criminal Justice is primarily a state and local function, but the federal government uses its expenditures strategically to influence criminal justice policy at the other levels of government.

19. Despite the billions of dollars spent on criminal justice, as a percentage of all government expenditures, the amount spent on criminal justice represents only a tiny fraction.

20. The general trend in public opinion polls have shown that more than half of all Americans believe that too little money is spent on crime control. Very few people think that too much is being spent.