Copyright 2011 Pearson Education Inc Upper Saddle River

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Chapter 14: Criminal Justice Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Creation of the Law n Clear expectations of behavior essential for a functioning society • All societies have created laws n Purpose of a legal code is universal: • To define illegal actions and outline penalties for those acts Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Consensus and Conflict Models n Two primary models describing how laws are created: • Consensus Model of Law n Suggests laws arise because people see a behavior they do not like and agree to make it illegal • Conflict Model of Law n Proposes that powerful people write laws and do so to protect their own interests n Conflict approach suggests that disparity in justice is linked to a perpetrator’s wealth or position in society Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Punishment n Shaming: • A deliberate effort to attach a negative meaning to a behavior n John Braithwaite • Shame can either stigmatize or reintegrate n Stigmatized Shame • A permanent label given to an offender • Increases the likelihood of reoffending because guilty person is labeled forever n Reintegrative Shaming • Allows offender to reconnect to society after punishment without further stigma Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Criminal justice system relies on deterrence • Prevents person from doing something out of fear of the consequences n Two types of deterrence • Specific deterrence n Seeks to prevent a particular offender from committing that crime again • General deterrence n Seeks to prevent others from committing crimes by making an example of a particular offender Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

The U. S. Criminal Justice System n Three branches of the criminal justice system • Police, courts, and corrections n Certain individuals within each branch differ in opinions and exercise individual measures of discretion • Leads to social problems: n Racial profiling n Unequal sentencing n Increased costs for the community Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Police n n More than 18, 000 law enforcement agencies in the United States More than 800, 000 full-time sworn law enforcement officers Officer’s job best described as “hour upon hour of boredom, interrupted by moments of sheer terror” Studies show that police directly protect society less than 1% of the time Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n n Studies of increased police numbers show very little impact on crime rates Techniques such as target hardening • Making an objective less attractive to a possible criminal n More likely to have positive effects on crime rates n Police officers have initial discretion • Ability to make decisions on whether or not a crime has occurred n Often used when they frequent “hot-spots” • Areas regularly patrolled because they believe they will find criminal activity there • Usually these neighborhoods are poor areas Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n n This kind of discretion perpetuates inequality in the system Racial Profiling: • Occurs when police target certain groups based on race n Increases odds that minority criminals will get caught and makes it less likely that white criminals will be brought to justice Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Courts n Judge • Elected or appointed public official who presides over a court of law n Court system consists of two opposing camps • Prosecutors and defendants • Judge’s role is to ensure that proceedings are held in accordance with the legal system n Exercise discretion over what should and should not be admitted into the case n May have power over the outcome, depending on the state and situation Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Prosecuting Attorney • Official duty is to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the state or the plaintiffs • Often elected or works for an elected district attorney • In court system, no one has more discretion than prosecuting attorney • After arrest district attorney’s office decides what official charges are • They have power to accept plea bargains n Out-of-court agreements between prosecutor and defense attorney that involve concessions by prosecution to obtain a guilty plea Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Defense Counsel • Attorneys hired or appointed by the court to provide legal defense for accused • Right to a defense attorney is part of suspect’s Miranda rights and guaranteed by the court • Great disparity among types of defense counsels n Private attorneys who specialize in criminal law and provide good results are costly n Public defenders paid to provide defense services to indigent people tend to have large caseloads • Conviction rates, including plea bargains, higher for public defenders versus private attorneys n Poor with public defenders more likely to be convicted than the rich who can afford private attorneys Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Sentencing n n Judge or jury can take circumstance into account when sentencing Aggravating circumstances • Describe crime in which gravity is greater than that of the average instance of the offense n Mitigating circumstances • Circumstances surrounding commission of a crime that may reduce blameworthiness of defendant Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n n Models of sentencing Indeterminate Sentencing • Model of criminal punishment that allows judge and corrections system discretion in length of the sentence n Structured Sentencing • Legislative system of a state enacts constraints on judicial discretion in regards to determining criminal sentences Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Proportionality sentencing principle • States that the severity of sanctions should bear a direct relationship to the seriousness of the crime • Offender given fixed-term sentence that may be reduced by good time n Time deducted from prison sentence for good behavior • Gain time n Time deducted for participation in special programs Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n “Truth in Sentencing” • laws aimed at abolishing or limiting parole so that inmates serve a set majority of their sentences n Mandatory sentencing • Most rigid of the sentencing models • Structured sentencing strategy that allows for no discretion on the part of the judge n State and federal governments have become more restrictive and harsher with sentencing over time Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n U. S. prison system has grown • Individuals serve longer sentences and have little chance of getting out early for good behavior n n Mandatory sentencing regulations such as Three Strikes law raise serious questions about fairness of justice system Continues to be a racial and social class element to sentencing • 100: 1 ratio n Federal law requires mandatory five-year sentence for crimes involving 500 grams of powder cocaine or 5 grams of crack Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

The Corrections System n Probation • Sentence given in lieu of prison and requires conditions that must be met by the offender • Research supports increasing use of probation n Probationers have lower rates of re-offense compared to those sent to prison n Parole • Correctional strategy that releases inmates from prison early but supervises them in community • Similar to probation conditions • Violating conditions of parole can result in prison as well Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Prison n Last resort in criminal justice system • Offender incarcerated for a period of time as punishment for crime n 2007 • More than 7. 3 million Americans were under some form of correctional supervision n Today’s prison inmates • 64% belong to racial or ethnic minorities • 57% are younger than 35 years old • 21% serving time for a drug offense Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional Surveys • One of every 15 people in US will be incarcerated in his or her lifetime • Blacks 3 times more likely to be imprisoned than Hispanics and 5 times more likely than whites • Nearly nine out of ten inmates are male n Rate of female inmates increasing • Southern states have higher incarceration rates n They have more crime n They sentence offenders to prison more often and with longer sentences Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n n Idea that incarceration naturally decreases crime difficult to support with criminological data Jeffrey Reiman • As crime rates increase, politicians use “toughon-crime” strategies to entice voters • Such policies have problems being funded n Incarceration turns offenders from taxpayers into tax drains Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Recidivism n n More than 50% of all inmates return to prison within 3 years of their release Recidivism • Tendency former inmates to return to prison n During current period of “get tough” policies • Recidivism rates have gotten worse Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Costs of Incarceration n States report a set cost per inmate • Reported numbers often underestimate cost of incarceration n n Hidden costs associated with incarceration make determining actual numbers difficult Social costs almost never factored into prison budget because other government departments pay for them • Taxpayers foot the bill either way Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Sociologists James Austin and John Irwin • Determined it actually costs $30, 000/year to incarcerate a single inmate n Significantly higher than what most states report • 2008 - Federal government reported paying almost $26, 000 per inmate in federal facilities • Community corrections center costs were estimated at nearly $24, 000 per inmate n Neither figure includes “social costs” Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Conflict Theorist Philosophies of Criminal Sentencing n n n Conflict theorists focus on issues of inequality and power relationships Laws not written with interest of society in mind, but with interest of wealthy Considering income and incarceration are linked, seems as though system benefits rich Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n System of bail • People not yet convicted of crimes are arrested and held in jail unless they can “make bail” • Process involves putting up money for release • Person does not show up for trial, the bail is forfeited • Not everyone can afford amount of money being asked n Thousands of people remain in jail while awaiting trial n Receiving punishment before being convicted • Wealth affords good lawyers and bail money • Poverty affords public defenders and plea bargains n Clearly harms the poor at greater rates than it does the rich Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n In criminal justice system, power exercised under certain sentencing philosophies • Philosophy of retribution n Calls for punishment predicated upon need for revenge n Power of state used to punish offender • Philosophy of just deserts n Criminal offenders deserve punishment they receive at hands of the law n Punishments should be appropriate to type and severity of crime committed • Both philosophies contend primary goal of criminal justice system is to exert power over offenders and punish them for their crimes n Inequality of punishment falls firmly on the indigent Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Functionalist Philosophies of Criminal Sentencing n n Functionalists see the world as interconnected Propose incapacitation • Use of imprisonment or other means to reduce likelihood offender will be capable of committing future offenses • Sending a person to prison, society ensures that the only possible people they can hurt are other inmates • Suggest incapacitation will naturally decrease crime rates because inmates will be off streets n Sentences relying on this theory are usually harsh and lengthy Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Symbolic Interactionist Philosophies of Criminal Sentencing n n n Interactionists suggest the power of a symbol is linked to its meaning Prison not for punishment, but for correcting antisocial behavior Rehabilitation • Attempt to reform offender • Ultimate goal of any correction method should be to turn offender into productive, contributing member of society Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Restorative justice • Model of punishment that strives to restore bond between perpetrator and society • Perpetrators might pay restitution to their victims n Work in community as way to reconnect with public Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Can Society Punish Too Much? n n Increase of violence and rape within prisons shows a problem in society Incredible costs associated with rising incarceration rates • Currently imprisoning people 6 times greater than Canada and 13 times greater than Japan Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Finland • Fences with razor wire rejected in favor of cameras and electronic networks • Inmates live in areas that look like college dorms • Guards are unarmed and do not wear uniforms n Interact with inmates in effort to get to know them as fellow citizens • Results n Finnish rate of incarceration is 0. 05% in comparison to United States’ 0. 7% n Crime and recidivism rates are both lower Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Mandatory Minimums n Mandatory minimums • Force judges to hand out fixed sentences for specific crimes • Eliminating possibility of using mitigating circumstances to decrease a sentence • Increase length of time people serve in prison n Result in overcrowding, health care issues, and greater expense • Some states built nursing homes within prison walls to care for increasingly aging inmate population too weak to care for themselves but cannot be released due to these laws Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Rand Corporation • Mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders not efficient use of tax dollars, compared to drug treatment Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

The Death Penalty n Reserve death penalty (capital punishment) for offenders who commit most serious crimes • Murder or treason n n United States is only modern, industrialized democracy on Earth still using this form of punishment Many states now include rape or sexual assault of a minor (under 14 years of age) Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n n n Thirty-eight states have death penalty sentences Three states abolished practice Supporters argue it is ultimate deterrent • States with penalty actually have higher rates of murder than states without it n n Recent DNA testing revealed unjust conviction of several deceased prisoners Cost of prosecuting and executing offenders higher than lifetime incarceration costs Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Continued n Opponents also criticize biased applications • Levine and Montgomery n When victim was white, black offenders twice as likely to receive death sentence as white offenders n Blacks convicted of killing whites four times more likely to receive death sentence than blacks whose victims were of same race Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. , Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.