Essay On The Criminal Justice Process

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The criminal justice process is a process is a continuum of steps that function as a whole to move a criminal from arrest to his/her punishment (if they are found guilty). The criminal justice process begins with the criminal committing a criminal act, such as holding up a liquor store. The next step in the process is a criminal investigation, in this case, a criminal investigation might include watching the footage from the liquor store's surveillance cameras to identify a suspect. From there, the next step in the criminal justice process is arrest. In my example, this would include tracking down the suspect identified by the surveillance footage and apprehending the suspect. After being arrested, a preliminary hearing would take place. The…show more content…
The key difference between these two models is that the crime control model is much more harsh and unrelenting; it emphasizes controlling crime via punishing suspects while the due process model emphasizes careful examination to ensure less innocent people are unjustly convicted. The crime control model places an emphasis on "placing as few restrictions as possible on the ability of law enforcement officers to make discretionary decisions in apprehending criminals"(Gaines). Under this model, courts would be more willing to convict offenders, even with an absence of compelling evidence. For example, a court would be more willing to accept a police officer's account of a homicide without careful cross-examination under the crime control model in order to repress crime. In contrast, the due process model emphasizes "protecting the rights of the accused through formal, legal restraints on the police, courts, and corrections" (Gaines). Under the due process model, the same case would face would be put under a microscope and carefully examined; every piece of evidence, every witness testimony would be scrutinized in order to ensure a fair trial is delivered. The due process is more beneficial to the criminal justice system because it protects everyone's rights equally by regulating the police and courts. The due process model is what separates

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