By understanding the laws and their purposes, students can gain a general knowledge of law. Law is said to “regulate relationships between people and also between parties, such as the government, agencies, and individuals.” (Criminal Justice Today) Laws are made up of statutory and case laws. The difference between statutory and case law are that statutory law is “law on the books” (Criminal Justice Today) and case law is “law that results from judicial decisions.” (Criminal Justice Today). The law on books in criminal law is called the Penal Code. There are however, some laws that are not in the books and that come from customs and traditions called common laws.
Criminal Justice System Paper Your Name CJA/204 April 6, 2014 Rudy Pichardo Criminal Justice System Paper When I think about the criminal justice system I think about corruption, the falsely accused, inmates who aren’t given the proper sentence, and how awful it is for the people. In this paper I’m hoping to give a better understanding of the criminal justice system by identifying the goals of the criminal justice system, describing the components and the criminal process of the criminal justice system and some of the other components in the system. The criminal justice system is built on a few important principles; Presumption of innocence, due process, independent judiciary, openness and accessibility of court and equality before law. (Merriam Webster: An Encyclopedia Britannica Company, 2014) defines crime as an illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government. Meaning, if you break the law of which has been given you will be punished.
The criminal justice system is broken down into jurisdictions ,these jurisdictions, with considerations, are created by certain factors such as the city, county, state, federal or ,tribal government or military installation. Every jurisdiction has their own set of rules and regulations for their particular criminal justice system. When looking at the criminal justice system, there are some components that need to be considered, such as our local law enforcement. The local law enforcements assists in investigating crimes, arresting a suspect, taking them to jail to await trial, and proceeding with the proper criminal justice procedures. Although every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law is a crime.
The criminal justice system in the United States has traditionally operated under two fundamentally different theories. One theory is the Crime Control Model. This theory is characterized by the idea that criminals should be aggressively pursued and crimes aggressively punished. The other theory is the Due Process Model. This theory is characterized by the idea that the rights of the accused need to be carefully protected in any criminal justice investigation.
get better grades Law enforcement is the first part of what makes up our criminal justice system. The criminal justice system has three main components including police, courts, and corrections. Police have an unending battle against crime, drugs, and other forms of social dysfunction. The police main duty is to protect the public; however the relationship between law enforcement and the public community is sometimes troubled. Some of the duties of law enforcement are to investigate law violations, gather evidence, make arrests, solve crimes, and then assist with the successful prosecution of suspects.
Criminal Law “Criminal Law “, according to the Free Dictionary , is known as a body of rules and statutes that defines conduct prohibited by the government because it threatens and harms public safety and welfare and that establishes punishment to be imposed for the commission of such acts (1). Substantive criminal law is often referred to criminal law; many of these laws implement the punishment for the crimes that are committed. “Crimes are generally referred to as offenses against the state” (Quiz law 1). The state has the burden to prove there is reasonable doubt of guilt in committing the crime, more less intent. In the criminal law arena, generally there are arrests made, this when there is a defendant and a victim being displayed to a jury, most of the time.
Conflict theory in criminal justice is that the law is used to maintain the power of the dominate group in society and to control the behavior of the individuals who threaten that power (Walker, Cassia, & Miriam, 2012, p. 22).” Conflict theorists believe that laws were designed so the punishments were harsher for typical crimes committed by the lower class. An example of this is street crimes, even minor financial ones are routinely punished quite severely, while large scale financial and business crimes are treated much more leniently. Theft of a television might receive a longer sentence than stealing millions through illegal business practices. Another example when it pertains to juveniles comes from “William Chambliss, in a classic essay “The Saints and the Roughnecks,” which compared the outcomes for two groups of adolescent misbehavers. The first, a lower class group of boys, was hounded by the local police and labeled by teachers as delinquents and future criminals, while the upper-middle class boys were equally deviant, but their actions were written off as youthful indiscretions and learning experiences (Greek, 2005).” “The consensus model assumes that as people gather together to form a society, its members will naturally come
Differential association “Sutherland introduced the concept of differential association, which he developed into a theory to explain the process by which an individual engages in criminal behaviour” (http://www.oup.com/ us/pdf/reid/Reid_ Chapter6.pdf) which is the first of Akers key elements is differential association. This refers to ones exposure to, and interactions with, others. The impact of this exposure may vary according to the rate of recurrence, how long the exposure and the intensity of this exposure, to others. Definitions The second of Akers key elements is definitions. This element refers to attitudes or level of approval individuals hold regarding morals and laws in general as well as specific deviant behaviours.
There are many theories relating to deviance and crime with each theory illustrating a different aspect of the procedure by which people break rules and are classed as deviants or criminals. (New texts pg 138) which highlights the problems in defining crime or deviance. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRIME AND DEVIANCE Many believe crime and deviance has developed on separate tracks over the years as criminologist serve only for legality, crime and crime-related phenomena. The study of deviance however serves for a wider range of behaviours that are not necessarily illegal for example suicide, alcoholism, homosexuality, mentally disordered behaviours. (Bader et al) The main difference between crime and deviance is deviant behaviour is when a social norm has been broken whereas a crime is where a formal and social norm is broken.
Arresting offenders is a way that police enforce the law. Offenders found breaking the law such as vandalizing property, harming someone or themselves or disobeying or violating an officer will be arrested. Preserving the peace and preventing crime is an officer’s main concern. Reduction of crime enables the community to feel more secure along with the fact of knowing that there are people out there who live to enforce the law a