CJ 2019

First Edition

Chapter 1
Introduction to Criminal
Justice

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Government by the People (1 of 2)
• Most people do not need laws or criminal justice system to
know certain actions are wrong
– Also have sense of what is fair and just
• John Locke
– Human beings endowed with “natural rights”
– People surrender certain rights in order to receive
other benefits from government
– Power to be balanced

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Government by the People (2 of 2)
• When concepts of justice and fairness perceived to be
violated
– Protests and even violence can result
– Revolutionary War
 Founding fathers perceived unfairness
 Declared purpose to establish “more perfect union”
– Principles incorporated into Declaration of
Independence

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Order Maintenance versus Individual
Liberties (1 of 3)
• Society uses several means to balance conflicting rights
and social values
• Can be divided into two types of sanctions
– Informal sanctions
– Formal sanctions

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Order Maintenance versus Individual
Liberties (2 of 3)
• Informal sanctions
– Social norms enforced through social forces
 Primary social institutions
 Provide punishment when people violate norms
 Teach normative behavior
 Provide punishment when people violate social
norms
– Social norms defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Order Maintenance versus Individual
Liberties (3 of 3)
• Formal sanctions
– Such as laws found within the criminal justice system
– Can achieve balancing of rights and public safety
– Order maintenance defined
– In homogenous societies, less need for reliance on a
formal system of social control
• Social control systems operate most effectively
• Criminal justice system is a complex and extensive
network
– Can be contradictory, flawed, and biased
– Constantly changing
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Crime Control versus Due Process
(1 of 5)
• Due process rights
– Rights guaranteed to persons by Constitution
and its amendments
– Primary sources
• Substantive due process
– Refers to constitutionality of laws
• Procedural due process
– Process and procedure the government can use
to seek conviction for violation of laws

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Crime Control versus Due Process
(2 of 5)
• Due process rights granted to accused have varied
throughout history
• Protection of rights guaranteed by U.S. Constitution
extend to state and local criminal justice systems through
incorporation
– Has been done in piecemeal process
– Bill of Rights
 First ten amendments to U.S. Constitution
– Often incorporated through landmark decisions
 Define rights that courts must recognize

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Crime Control versus Due Process
(3 of 5)
• Not all rights have been incorporated
– Some were done recently
• There must be a balance between law and order and due
process rights
– Law without order is anarchy
– Order without law is tyranny
– Emphasis on public order or crime control versus
emphasis on due process rights resembles pendulum
 Swings back and forth between two values

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Crime Control versus Due Process
(4 of 5)
• Crime control model
– Emphasizes efficient and effective justice
• Due process model
– Emphasizes on ensuring that individuals are protected
from arbitrary and excessive abuse of power by
government
• U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren
(1953–1969)
– Created many new due process rights
– Referred to as a “liberal court”

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Crime Control versus Due Process
(5 of 5)
• U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts
(2005–)
– Has tended to be a conservative court
• One of primary roles of state and federal courts and laws
– Provide authoritative guidance as to proper balance
• Due process rights
– Protect accused against abuse of power
– Based on assumption that scales of justice must
restrict power of government

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System
• Concern over public’s ebbing faith in ability of government
to maintain public safety during 1960s
– President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed commission
of experts to examine system, describe criminal justice
process, and make improvement recommendations
• President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice1
– Conclusions of commission
– Also acknowledged the dual nature of system

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System: Agencies in the Criminal
Justice System
• Can be divided into:
– Law enforcement
– Prosecutors and the courts
– Probation and parole agencies
– Jails, prisons, and other correctional agencies
• Exist in local, state, and federal levels of government
– Each has own criminal justice agencies and process
• Separate but interconnected criminal justice system for
adults and juveniles and separate systems for Native
Americans and military
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System: Dual Criminal Justice
System (1 of 2)
• U.S. criminal justice system is distinct from centralized
systems of other nations
– Described as a dual system
• Dual system defined
• Great diversity exists between states and the federal
government
– Each agency hires its own employees, sets own
standards, defines job responsibilities and duties, pays
own employees
– Great diversity as result
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System: Dual Criminal Justice
System (2 of 2)
• Interrelationship of agencies at various levels sometimes
described in hierarchical relationship by comparing them
to three-layer cake
– Analogy suggests each entity is separate
– Better analogy to describe relationship is picket fence
model
– Defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Picket Fence Model

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System: Checks and Balances (1 of 2)
• Criminal justice system reflects mistrust of strong
centralized government
• U.S. government created with numerous checks and
balances
– Control autonomy and void actions of other criminal
justice agencies

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Structure of the Criminal Justice
System: Checks and Balances (2 of 2)
• Five stages of criminal justice process
– Entry into system
– Prosecution and pretrial services
– Adjudication
– Sentencing and sanctions
– Corrections
• Agencies composing stages are semiautonomous
• Example of checks and balances is when accused person
is transferred from one stage to another

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Criminal Justice Process
• Despite differences between criminal justice systems of
various jurisdictions, there is commonality
– Governments must ensure that accused are treated in
accordance with rights and guidelines proscribed by
Constitution
• Prior to President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice study, there was little research as
to process of system1
– Produced flowchart of system
 Describes system as classical input–output model

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Flowchart of the Criminal Justice
Process

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Entry into the System (1 of 2)
• Criminal justice system only handles formal sanctions
– Usually requires violations of the law for adults
• Police are primary officials responsible for detecting crime
violators and bringing individuals into system
• Arrest of suspect may be spontaneous or be the result of
planning
– Arrest defined
– Arrest can be undone

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Entry into the System (2 of 2)
• When person is arrested, that individual is transported to
facility for booking
– Booking defined
– Purpose is not to establish guilt, but to:
 Establish identity of person
 Charge person with specific violation of criminal law
– Booking acts as transition point to determine whether
accused will be further processed by system

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Prosecution and Pretrial Services
• Government must decide whether evidence presented by
police is sufficient to pursue prosecution of alleged
offender
– Must also ensure rights are protected
• Decision to move the accused to prosecution often is
decided by collaboration
• Government official responsible for prosecuting the
defendant is known by different names
– Common titles
• Prosecutor’s office has complete autonomy

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
First Appearance
• If defendant is to be prosecuted, he or she will appear
before a lower-level judge
– Different titles used for these judges
– Magistrate judges defined
• The accused is advised of his or her legal rights
– Legal representation addressed
• Bail may be set
– Bail defined
– Decision can be revisited at several points in process
• Defendant pleads guilty or not guilty to charges

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Path to Indictment (1 of 2)
• Prosecutor must obtain indictment if prosecution of
defendant is to occur
– Indictment defined
 Authorizes court to issue arrest warrant and set
arraignment hearing
 Two ways to obtain indictment
• Preliminary hearing
– Defined
– Sometimes called probable cause hearing
– Each jurisdiction has own rules

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Path to Indictment (2 of 2)
• Grand jury
– Defined
– Rules differ by state
– Prosecutor presents evidence
– Does not determine guilt or innocence
– If successful, returns a true bill
 True bill defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Adjudication
• If defendant pleads not guilty at arraignment, trial date is
set
• If defendant pleads guilty, sentencing date is set
– No trial and the government is not required to prove
guilt beyond reasonable doubt
– Judge must affirm the defendant understands charges
and consequences of guilty plea
• Primary responsibility of judge during trial is to ensure
defendant receives fair trial

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Sentencing
• If defendant is found guilty, judge will decide on sentence
guided by law
– Assisted in determining sentence using presentence
investigation report (PS I)
 Report provided by probation officer
 Contents of PS I
• Sentence announced at sentencing hearing
– Both prosecutor and defense attorneys can challenge
sentence and information in PS I
• Sentencing procedure for capital offenses is different
• Defendant has right to appeal both conviction and
sentence
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Corrections
• Once sentenced, some offenders are transferred to
correctional facility
• Those given alternative sanctions that do not require
incarceration are placed under supervision of probation
officials

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exit, Recidivism, and Multiple
Dimensionality of the Criminal
Justice System
• There are numerous options as to how a person exits the
criminal justice system
– Some occur shortly after entrance
– Others occur only at end of due process model
• Few people who enter by arrest are processed through
the entire criminal justice system
– Since 1990, the percentage of defendants released
pretrial has remained relatively stable at about 60%1
– About 43% of felony defendants who enter the system
have at least one prior felony conviction2
Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Changing Criminal Justice
System (1 of 2)
• Criminal justice system reflects complex interaction of
various entities and forces
• Sometimes the changes are deliberate
– Others have unintentional influences
• All have had major impacts on the criminal justice system,
resulting in transformative change
• Five meta-influences have shaped the criminal justice
system since the mid-twentieth century
– Meta-influence defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Changing Criminal Justice
System (2 of 2)
• The five meta-influences are:
– The Civil Rights Movement
– Protests and civil disobedience resulting from U.S.
involvement in the Vietnam War
– Public’s concern over rising crime rates and violence
– War against terrorism beginning with the 2001 attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
– Rise of public concern regarding racial bias and
discrimination in the criminal justice system

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Civil Rights Movement (1 of 4)
• In a sense, the roots of parts of the system founded in
racial discrimination
• Colonial times
– Slave patrols
 Defined
 Central component of the system of southern
colonies and states
• Passage of Thirteenth Amendment
– Abolished slavery
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Civil Rights Movement (2 of 4)
• Protests and demonstrations leading up to the passage of
Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Marked by extensive and widespread violence
• Criminal justice system was at the center of conflict as
segregation laws were enforced by law enforcement and
courts
• Discrimination reflected in so-called Jim Crow Laws (Black
Codes)
– Defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Civil Rights Movement (3 of 4)
• Employment in criminal justice system is not open to
minorities and females until the passage of 1972 Equal
Employment Opportunity Act
• Civil rights movement divided into two separate
approaches
– Those who advocated violence and separation of race
– Those who advocated nonviolent civil disobedience
and integration of races
 Civil disobedience defined

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Civil Rights Movement (4 of 4)
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
– Strategy of nonviolence captured national attention in
December 1955 with 381-day Montgomery bus
boycott of public transportation
 Event triggered by arrest and conviction of Rosa
Parks for violating segregation laws
– Nonviolent approach often resulted in retaliatory acts
of violence and extensive destruction of property
• Civil rights movement and violence on both sides that
characterized the movement exposed inequities and
discrimination

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Protests and the Vietnam War (1 of 2)
• U.S. involvement in Vietnam War produced great
acrimony in society
– Conflict characterized by violent demonstrations
• Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to 1975
– U.S. government considered it a war against spread of
communism
 Based on domino theory
– Domino theory defined
 Estimated number of soldiers and civilians killed

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Protests and the Vietnam War (2 of 2)
• There was great debate as to the legitimacy of U.S.
military involvement
– Involvement continued to escalate
– War officially ended in 1975
• During U.S. involvement with war, antiwar protestors
staged numerous and sometimes violent demonstrations
• Often violent encounters resulted in public perception of
law enforcement officers as being brutal and disrespectful
of Constitution
– Rift had great political influence

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The War on Crime (1 of 5)
• 1960s and 1970s were periods of great social upheaval,
antiwar protests, civil rights demonstrations, and rising
crime rates
• According to a 1965 Gallup Poll, Americans viewed crime
as the most serious problem in the country1
– In 1968, 31% of survey respondents said they were
afraid to walk in their own neighborhoods at night, and
by end of 1972, number had risen to 42%
 Many citizens thought police contributed to
problem2

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The War on Crime (2 of 5)
• Criminal justice system perceived as falling apart—failing
• War on Crime
– Declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 25,
1965
 Created series of commissions to study crime and
justice and recommend reforms
– Findings
– Congress passed legislation to provide substantial
resources to various criminal justice system agencies

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The War on Crime (3 of 5)
• Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968
– Provided resources to local and state governments to
assist in adoption of reforms
– Created the Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration (L E AA)
 Acted as conduit for transfer of federal funds to
state and local law enforcement agencies
– Requirements to receive funds
 Goal of L E A A was to promote and adopt standards
set by National Commission on Criminal Justice
Standards and Goals

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The War on Crime (4 of 5)
• National Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and
Goals
– One goal was to increase professionalism and ethical
behavior of criminal justice personnel, particularly law
enforcement officers
 One primary strategy to achieve goal was to raise
level of education of criminal justic personnel
– Law Enforcement Educational Program (LEE P)
• Created to achieve this goal
• Offered loans and grants to personnel to
pursue higher education

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The War on Crime (5 of 5)
• LEE P left tremendous legacy
– Resulted in significant increase in educational levels of
law enforcement officers
– Helped develop criminal justice as an academic
discipline
• Another legacy of this era was movement toward mass
incarceration
– Spurred on by concern over rising crime rates and
violence, the public embraced crime-control model
– Resulted in doubling of prison population and harsher
sentences handed down

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Rise of Concern over Homeland
Security (1 of 2)
• Prior to 2001, there was no Department of Homeland
Security
– Threat of attack by international terrorists on U.S. soil
was not a concern
• Following attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush
declared war on terrorism
– Impact has transformed criminal justice system
– Resulted in creation of DH S, new legislation
expanding powers of federal government, and
suspension of due process rights for accused
terrorists labeled enemy combatants

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Rise of Concern over Homeland
Security (2 of 2)
• Enemy combatants
– Defined
– If labeled upon sole authority of the president, the
accused loses all due process rights normally afforded
to people accused of a crime
– President Barack Obama extended original executive
order to include power to execute accused enemy
combatants, including U.S. citizens, without trial, due
process, or disclosure of standards used to justify
execution

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Public Concern regarding Bias and
Discrimination in the Criminal
Justice System (C J S) (1 of 2)
• Evolution of criminal justice system to provide fair and impartial
justice for all is the underlying theme of criminal justice system
• Significant progress has been made toward achieving this goal,
but great challenges still remain
• Intersectionality
– Defined
– Has become an issue of concern with regard to
discrimination
– Manner by which these factors overlap in criminal justice
process is a complex area of study

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Public Concern regarding Bias and
Discrimination in the Criminal
Justice System (C J S) (2 of 2)
• Public concerns over racial bias and discrimination in criminal
justice system have again arisen to nationwide concern
– Rising incarceration rates
– Police shootings
• Due process rights protect accused against abuse by system at
expense of swift and sure justice for victims
– Central premise of due process rights is presumption of
innocence
 Presumption of innocence defined
 Impact of this presumption

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
What Is Criminal Justice? (1 of 3)
• Study of criminal behavior dates to earliest origins of
civilization
– Not until mid-twentieth century that a word was coined
to describe endeavor
• Raffaele Garofalo
– Coined term criminologia in 1855
 Study of crime
– Term used in 1887 by Paul Topinard
 To refer to any scientific concern with the
phenomenon of crime

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
What Is Criminal Justice? (2 of 3)
• Study of crime as an academic discipline emerged in
United States in twentieth century
– Rooted in academic discipline of sociology
 Edwin Sutherland
– Provided definition of criminology still widely
used today
– Criminology defined
– End purpose of criminology
• Criminal justice has evolved into distinctly different
discipline from criminology

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
What Is Criminal Justice? (3 of 3)
• Discipline of criminal justice emerged in 1960s and
matured in 1980s
– Many early academic programs housed in sociology
departments
• Criminal justice defined
• Objective of study of criminal justice
– Study of law for attorneys is distinctly different
• Today, field of criminal justice includes many related fields
– New fields have created new opportunities

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is

provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their
courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of
any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will
destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work
and materials from it should never be made available to students
except by instructors using the accompanying text in their
classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these
restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and
the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials.

Copyright © 2020, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved