CJ ST 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Monolithic System, Social Fact, Impulsivity
11 Oct 2016
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CJ ST 240 Notes
• 10-15 million arrests each year
• 10 million in justice system today
• 20-25 million crimes each year
The American Criminal Justice System
• Not a monolithic system per se instead the aggregate of overlapping (local, state, federal)
agencies
• Decentralized, lacks coherence, and demonstrates great variation across jurisdictions
• Police are the most visible and important agents in the criminal justice process
• Police overwhelmingly react or respond to crime after its commission, they do not always
preclude or prevent it
• People often get away with crime
• Police are specialized experts; policing is a job. Both of these points are profound and have
deep implications for what we generally think about police and criminal justice
• Legal factors: Evidence, having a warrant, etc.
• Extra-legal factors: Personality, tattoos, piercings, gender, etc.
• Probable cause = What are evidence, common sense, experience, reporting
witnesses/parties, logic, etc. telling us? This person probably did it
• The courts determine how well the police did their job
• The state’s job is to prosecute criminals and protect society
• The defense’s job is to throw constitutional hurdles and disrupt the ability of the state to
meet its burden of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt)
• The process is adversarial, not the truth seeking
• Defendants are found guilty or not guilty which is different than guilty/innocent. Ask O.J.
Simpson
• Primarily for fiscal reasons, the guilty experience innumerable chances with intermediate
sanctions before going to prison
• Prison is the literal and symbolic end of the justice system
Pg. 41 of Criminal Justice book
FALCON (Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally)
Balancing crime control and due process
• People have grappled with the practical philosophical issues related to justice (Ex. good
and evil, rightful and wrongful conduct) throughout human history
• Our timeless and perhaps innate interest in justice necessitates a balance between the
rights and dignity of individuals and the coexistent powers of government (Ex. How
powerful should the state be vs. how many rights we should have)
• Systems of justice have evolved from informal to formal, personal/private to
impersonal/bureaucratic, and brutal to tempered
• The pursuit of justice historically resulted in abuses of power, discrimination against
classes of people, and resulted in subsequent reform
• Holding cases in court NOT in the town in which the incident happened is best because it
makes the case less personal
• Two archetypal perspectives on criminal justice are the Crime Control Model (emphasis on
combating crime) and Due Process Model (emphasis on preserving individual rights)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Cj st 240 notes agencies preclude or prevent it. Not a monolithic system per se instead the aggregate of overlapping (local, state, federal) Police are specialized experts; policing is a job. Both of these points are profound and have deep implications for what we generally think about police and criminal justice. Decentralized, lacks coherence, and demonstrates great variation across jurisdictions. Police are the most visible and important agents in the criminal justice process. Police overwhelmingly react or respond to crime after its commission, they do not always: 10-15 million arrests each year, 10 million in justice system today, 20-25 million crimes each year. Balancing crime control and due process: our timeless and perhaps innate interest in justice necessitates a balance between the rights and dignity of individuals and the coexistent powers of government (ex. How powerful should the state be vs. how many rights we should have) The courts determine how well the police did their job.
