Essentials of CJ. CH01 Flashcards
(39 cards)
Criminal Justice System:
Defined as the system of law enforcement, adjudication, and correction that is directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution & control of those charged with criminal offenses, this loosely organized collection of agencies is responsible for, among other matters, protecting the public, maintaining order, enforcing the law, identifying transgressors, bringing the guilty to justice and treating criminal behavior.
Criminal Justice Process
The decision-making points, from the initial investigation or arrest by police to the eventual release of the offender and his or her reentry into society; the various sequential criminal justice stages through which the offender passes.
In 1931, President Herbert Hoover appointed the ___, which is commonly known today as the Wickersham Commision.
National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement.
American Bar Foundation (ABF)
The ABF project discovered that the justice system contained many procedures that had been hidden from the public view.
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)
Funded by the federal government’s Safe Street Act, this agency provided technical assistance and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to local and state justice agencies between 1969 and 1982.
Evidence-Based Justice
Determining through the use of the scientific method whether criminal justice programs actually reduce crime rates and offender recidivism.
Target Audience
Programs must be reaching the right audience.
Randomized Experiments
Are conducted
Intervening Factors
Evidence-based programming must consider intervening factors that enhance or impede program success.
Measurement of success
Evidence-based programs must develop realistic measures of success.
Cost-Effectiveness
Programs may work, but the cost may be too high.
Social Control
The control of an individual’s behavior by social and institutional forces in society.
Contemporary criminal justice agencies are political entities whose structure and
function are lodged within the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the government. They typically can be divided into three main components:
Law Enforcement Agencies, which investigate crimes and apprehend suspects.
Court Agencies, in which charges are brought, indictments submitted, trials conducted, and sentences formulated.
Correctional Agencies, which are charged with monitoring, treating, and rehabilitating convicted offenders.
Police
Police departments are those public
agencies created to maintain order,
enforce the criminal law, provide
emergency services, keep traffic on
streets and highways moving freely,
and develop a sense of community
safety. Police officers work actively
with the community to prevent criminal behavior; they help divert members of special needs populations,
such as juveniles, alcoholics, and
drug addicts, from the criminal justice
system; they participate in specialized
units such as a drug prevention task
force or antirape unit; they cooperate
with public prosecutors to initiate
investigations into organized crime
and drug trafficking; they resolve
neighborhood and family conflicts;
and they provide emergency services,
such as preserving civil order during
strikes and political demonstrations.
Courts
The criminal courthouse is the scene
of the trial process. Here the criminal
responsibility of defendants accused of
violating the law is determined. Ideally,
the court is expected to convict and
sentence those found guilty of crimes,
while ensuring that the innocent are freed without any consequence or
burden. The court system is formally required to seek the truth, to obtain justice for the individual brought before its tribunals, and to maintain the integrity of the government’s rule of law. The
main actors in the court process are the judge, whose responsibilities include overseeing the legality of the trial process, and the prosecutor and the defense attorney, who are the opponents in what is known as the adversary system. These two parties oppose each other in a hotly disputed contest.
—the criminal trial—in accordance with
rules of law and procedure.
Corrections
In the broadest sense, correctional
agencies include community supervision or probation, various types of incarceration (including jails, houses of correction, and state prisons), and parole programs for both juvenile and adult offenders. These programs range from the lowest security, such as probation in the community with minimum supervision, to the highest security, such as 24-hour lockdown in an ultra-maximum-security prison.
Corrections ordinarily represent the
post adjudicatory care given to offenders when a sentence is imposed by the court and the offender is placed in the hands of the correctional agency.
Myth or Reality?
* “There is equal justice under the law, and everyone can expect to get their day in court.”
Myth:
In practice, few cases find their way to court, and most are settled informally with a plea bargain.
- Another way: In reality, few cases actually are processed through the entire formal justice system. Most are handled informally and with dispatch. The system of justice has been roundly criticized for its “criticized deals.”
In-presence requirements
With a few exceptions, in order to make an arrest in a misdemeanor, a police officer must have witnessed the crime personally.
A comprehensive view of the formal criminal process normally includes:
1) Initial contact
2) Investigation
3) Arrest
4) Custody
5) Charging
6) Preliminary hearing/grand jury
7) Arraignment
8) Bail/detention
9) Plea bargaining
10) Trail/adjudication
11) Sentencing/disposition
12) Appeal/postconviction remedies
13) Correctional treatment
14) Release
15) Post release
Initial Contact
An offender’s initial contact with the criminal justice system takes place as a result of a police action:
● Patrol officers observe a person acting suspiciously, conclude the suspect is
under the influence of drugs, and take her into custody.
● Police officers are contacted by a victim who reports a robbery; they respond by
going to the scene of the crime and apprehending a suspect.
● An informer tells police about some ongoing criminal activity in order to
receive favorable treatment.
● Responding to a request by the mayor or other political figure, the local department may initiate an investigation into an ongoing criminal enterprise such as
gambling, prostitution, or drug trafficking.
● A person walks into the police station and confesses to committing a crime—for
example, killing his wife after an altercation.
Investigation
The purpose of the criminal investigation is to gather sufficient evidence to identify a suspect and support a legal arrest.
Arrest
An arrest is considered legal when all of the following conditions exist:
(1) the police officer believes there is sufficient evidence, referred to as probable
cause, that a crime is being or has been committed, and the suspect is the person
who committed it; (2) the officer deprives the individual of freedom; and (3) the
suspect believes that he is now in the custody of the police and has lost his liberty.
The police officer is not required to use the word “arrest” or any similar term to
initiate an arrest, nor does the officer have to bring the suspect to the police station.
To make an arrest in a misdemeanor, the officer must have witnessed the crime
personally, a provision known as the in-presence requirement.
Custody
After an arrest and while the suspect is being detained, the police may
want to search for evidence, conduct an interrogation, or even encourage a confession. Witnesses may be brought to view the suspect in a lineup or in a one-on-one
confrontation
Charging
If the arresting officers or their superiors believe that sufficient evidence
exists to charge a person with a crime, the case will be turned over to the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s decision to charge the suspect with a specific criminal act involves many factors, including evidence sufficiency, crime seriousness,
case pressure, and political issues, as well as personal factors such as a prosecutor’s
own specific interests and biases.
