CRIM 2652 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Abundant Number, Moral Panic, Due Process
14 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Criminal Justice Lecture 1
September 18, 2014
Intro-Themes of Course
• It is very easy to violate the criminal law
• Committing a crime does not mean youre a criminal
• Crimes we think about are ones that are moral offenses and ones that are
popularized by the media
• Criminal justice system works on crimes that we do not really think of as
crimes
• Over-criminalization (hyper criminalization)- jurisdiction, state etc. creating
an excessive number of offenses to hyper regulate peoples behaviour
• Is it counter intuitive for citizens to obey an enormous complex number of
laws
• Violates the fundamental principle of the rule of law
• Principle of fair notice, one ought not to be punished for something they do
not know is punishable; they should be given note of it ex. A pedo released on
probation, he violated his condition and got arrested again
• Principle of do process- It is very easy to defend themselves against the case
that the state has against them
• There is no kill date on a crime
• This is a fight between the state that has lots of back up and an individual
that does not have back up
• 9/10 times we like that the state has all that once sided power, it usually
means that the bad guys dont have a chance
• But what happens when theyre wrong and someone innocent is going
through the process of a bad guy, how do we know if they have it right?
• On one hand we like that the state has lots of power but at the same time we
do not have control over the system to verify that they got it right
• The way that we find out about the actions of the police and the crown is
when the investigation is over and it is time for the trial.
• By that time the state has already made its case
• Crown and police work closely together, because crown says were not
bringing charge if there is not enough evidence because they want to make
sure they will win
• By the time you get to the trial the decision is already made because they
wouldnt come if they dont have a strong case
• This explains why lots of people do plea bargaining
• This is because the crown always has more power, most citizens like that
because we make certain assumptions over criminals that this power is being
used against
• If were somehow criminals then how meaningful is the word
• Giving laws fancy names and campaign their bills
• There is no recognition of rehabilitation
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Criminal law carries sanctions with it therefore it is corrosive
• We should test the legitimacy of the grounds that we let the state be
corrosive
• Crime is socially constructed, one needs to be careful of the word
constructionism
• Law itself is the process of social, political and historical work
• 9/10 times criminals come out of prison and most of the time are not
prepared to come out
• The law is the constraint, lawyers and judges dont get to follow morals etc
they get to follow the law and the facts not right and wrong
• Social scientist lets you ask questions about the right and wrong
• If you let criminals out of prison, they WILL reoffend
• 1. Whats in a name? To name a thing is to give it value
• 2.Course objectives and outlines.
• 3. Brief Introduction to Course themes.
• 4.conflicts and Consensus Perspective.
• Until 1961 aboriginals werent allowed to hire lawyers for their land cases
etc. This is because they did not have citizenship status
The Politics of Naming: Whats in a Name?
- Criminal
o The picture which is given is the picture of the crook without a
conscience, without a culture, who is just a criminal, nothing else but a
criminal.
- Crime
o Acts are not, they become. So also with crime. Crime does not exist.
Crime is related. First there are acts. Then follows a long process of
giving meaning to these acts. (Nils Cristie, 1998:121)
- Corrections
o The concealment of the intentional delivery of pain
Course Objectives
• 1. Introduce the nuts and bolts of the different components of the
criminal justice system
• 2. Explore a variety of past and present criminal justice practices,
issues and debates
• 3. Understand criminal justice as SOCIO-HISTORICAL phenomenon;
changes over time and place
• 4. Highlight the operation of criminal justice in the field; bring the
community to the classroom
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
This is because they did not have citizenship status they get to follow the law and the facts not right and wrong: social scientist lets you ask questions about the right and wrong. If you let criminals out of prison, they will reoffend: 2. course objectives and outlines, 3. Brief introduction to course themes: 4. conflicts and consensus perspective, the law is the constraint, lawyers and judges don(cid:495)t get to follow morals etc, 1. Crime does not exist. giving meaning to these acts. (cid:499) (nils cristie, 1998:121: the concealment of the (cid:494)intentional delivery of pain(cid:495) Crime (cid:494)corrections(cid:495) conscience, without a culture, who is just a criminal, nothing else but a. Introduce the nuts and bolts of the different components of the criminal justice system: 2. Explore a variety of past and present criminal justice practices, issues and debates: 3. Understand criminal justice as socio-historical phenomenon; changes over time and place: 4.
