Criminal Justice Models

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Criminal Justice Models Paper Judy Sandridge CJS/220 May 25, 2012 Estanislao Rosas Criminal Justice Models Paper The criminal justice process is complex varies from state to state. Three models of the criminal justice process are the funnel, wedding and net. I will compare these three models of the criminal justice process and give my opinion on which model I think best describes the criminal justice system as it is today. The first model is the funnel model. This model looks at how decisions are made at each level in the criminal justice process and sort out those people and cases that it feels should not go through the entire process from those that should. This process is used as a means of limiting the number cases to a small percentage of cases that have to be resolved by trial advocacy and incarceration. The process limits the amount of offenders in court and incarcerated at any given time. The benefit of this model is it prevents the criminal justice system from becoming backed up. A common misconception of the funnel process is that it lets criminals off, however, this is not true, most cases are often dismissed or pleas are bargained for due to lack of evidence. Next I will discuss the wedding cake model; it is referred to as a wedding cake because with this model criminal justice officials decide how to deal with cases according to their informal discretionary definition of "seriousness." This model was developed by Samuel Walker, a scholar who analyzed the judicial system. This model divides the criminal justice system up into four different categories: celebrated cases, serious felonies, lesser felonies and misdemeanors. This model looks at the seriousness of the charge, past criminal record of the offender, relationship of the victim to the offender and strength of the

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