Download List the stages of case processing that characterize the American

1. List the stages of case processing that characterize the American system of criminal justice.
Describe in detail each stage.
 Investigation and arrest-Once a crime is discovered, evidence is gathered and the scene
when possible and a follow-up investigation attempt to reconstruct the sequence of
activities. The arrest is the apprehension of a suspect after a warrant is issued.
 Warrant- An arrest warrant is a document issued by a judge that provides the legal basis
for an apprehension by the police.
 Booking-The process following an arrest where pictures are taken, fingerprints are
made, and personal information such as address, date of birth, height, and weight are
gathered.
 Pretrial Activities-These describe the activities before a suspect who has been arrested
is actually given his or her day in court.
 First Appearance-An event that occurs within hours of arrest at which suspects are
brought before a judicial officer for an initial appearance. The suspect learns the charges
against them, their rights, and are sometimes provided the opportunity for bail.
 Bail-The money or property pledged to the court of actually deposited with the court to
effect the release of a person from legal custody.
 Preliminary Hearing-A proceeding before a judicial officer in which three matters must
be decided: (1)Whether a crime was committed(2)whether the crime committed
occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court(3)whether there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the defendant committed the crime.
 Probable Cause-A set of facts and circumstances that would induce a reasonably
intelligent and prudent person to believe that a particular other person has committed a
specific crime.
 Information or Indictment-An information is a formal written accusation filed on the
basis of the outcome of the preliminary hearing. An indictment is a formal, written
accusation submitted to the court by a grand jury alleging that a specified person has
committed a specified offense, usually a felony.
 Grand Jury-A group or jurors who have been selected according to law and have been
sworn to hear the evidence and to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to
bring the accused person to trial, to investigate criminal activity generally, or to
investigate the conduct of a public agency or official.
 Arraignment-The first appearance of the defendant before the court that has the
authority to conduct a trial. A hearing before the court having jurisdiction in a criminal
case in which the identity of the defendant is established, the defendant is informed of
the charge and of his or her rights, and the defendant is required to enter a plea.
 Adjudication-Cases that never come to trial. These are often “pleaded out” or dismissed
for a variety of reasons.
 Sentencing-The form of punishment given to a defendant after being convicted of a
crime.
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Consecutive sentence-One or two more sentences imposed at the same time, after
conviction for more than one offense, and served in sequence with the other sentence.
Concurrent sentence-One or two more sentences imposed at the same time, after
conviction for more than one offense, and served at the same time.
Corrections-A system made up of prison officials, probation, and parole officers which a
convicted person is subject to dealing with.
Probation and Parole-A system in which a person must deal with after being convicted
of a crime and or serve a prison sentence. This system involves checking in, paying fines,
and performing community service.
What is meant by “due process of law”? Where in the American legal system are
guarantees of due process found?
Due process (due process of law) is a right guaranteed by
the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments requiring that all criminal justice case processing
be conducted with fairness and equity. This right followed the principle that each and every one
of a person’s legal rights, not just a select few, must be respected by the government.
Individuals are given the ability to challenge and enforce their rights against what they believe
to be alleged violations by the government. These can be found in the fifth, sixth, and
fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution. Due process of Law guarantees
fairness in all aspects of the legal process. The Bill of Rights is what the first ten amendments
to the United States constitution is referred to.
There are two models of the criminal justice system. What are they, and how do they
differ? Which model do you think is more useful? Which is more accurate? Why?
The crime control model and the due process model are the two models of the criminal justice
system. Those two models are the Crime Control model and the Due Process Model and they
differ greatly. In the Crime Control model, the swift and efficient arrest and conviction of
criminal offenders is favored. The Crime Control model is extremely no nonsense and by the
book. It sees no color, religion, or race- it only sees swift and fair justice. The Due Process model
emphasizes individual rights and allows the accused to question and challenge all aspects of the
justice process including conviction and sentences. There is no guarantee that the sentence will
be shortened or the sentence will be reduced but the accused does have the right to appeal and
challenge. The Due Process Model has a system of checks and balances as well as those to
regulate and insure that due process is really done. The Crime control model is more useful
because it cleans up communities and keeps criminals off the streets. The Due Process Model is
more accurate because it ensures fairness across the board.
What is justice? What aspects of justice does this chapter discuss?
Justice can be
loosely defined as the concept of moral righteousness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural
law, equity, and fairness. Justice is blind, fair and swift. This chapter discusses the process of
criminal justice from a person being accused and arrested all the way to the trial and conviction.
This chapter eventually moved on to discuss the acts of conviction as well as sentencing. At the
end of the chapter, there was the introduction to the prison, probation, and parole systems.
Also discussed in this chapter is the due process aspects of justice as well as a comparison and
contrast of the two models of justice, the crime control model and the due process model. From
the beginning of the chapter to the end of the chapter, a step by step process as well as rights
and amendments were discussed. Also included was an accused person’s rights to challenge and
appeal.
2. What are the main components of the criminal justice system? How do they
interrelate? Police, court, and corrections are the main components of the criminal justice
system. Although they are quite different, they interrelate and interact in several different ways.
Police catch offenders and conduct investigations. Once just cause is determined to be present,
the police interact with the court system to obtain arrest warrants. The police then arrest and
apprehend the suspect who then undergoes pre-trial activities through the court system. The
police and the court system work together throughout the trial process in recounting stories,
presenting evidence, and presenting facts. After the police have fulfilled their obligations to the
courts, the courts then go on to try, convict and sentence the convicted criminal. Once they are
sentence and tried, the court system partially turns the offender over to the corrections system,
The correction system works along with the court system through the convicted person’s appeal
process and sometimes even the reform process after the convicted criminal pays their debt to
society by serving sentences, paying restitution and fines, and completing imposed community
service obligations. Once they become the sole responsibility of the corrections system, they
either serve sentences, receive suspended or shortened sentences, and oftentimes are assigned
to a parole or probation officer before, after, or during a sentence.
Crime statistics can tell us very much about the crime picture in America. Crime statistics tell us
who is committing crimes, the type of crimes that are being committed, and the areas of the
country that they are being committed in. Crime statistics also tell us who crimes are being
committed against (who are the victims). Crime statistics are becoming more and more detailed,
in fact, they are becoming detailed enough for crime prevention studies to be conducted.
Current crime statistics tell us that many of America’s crimes are being committed by males
between the ages of 1 9 and 21 who belong to an ethnic or minority group. Some of the more
detailed crime statistics go on to tell us the backgrounds of these offenders with facts such as
the percentage that were raised in the inner city and even single parent families. By closely
studying crime statistics, we can move on to better methods of crime prevention and criminal
reformation.
Why is it important to examine the crime picture with information from both the UCR
and the NCVS? How will the two sources differ in their crime facts?
It is very important
to examine both sources, mainly because the information from the two tend to differ vastly. As
with two separate sources or data base of any kind, one seems to be more biased and contains
slanted information while one is factual, concise, and involves facts and numbers rather than
opinions. The UCR tends to concentrate mainly on criminal statistics, patterns, and other data
such as repeat offenders, crime similarities, and even unsolved crimes. The UCR involves
demographics of penal populations as well as arrest statistics for different age, sex, racial, and
ethnic groups. The data in the UCR may seem biased to the average person. The NCVS
concentrates solely on crime and crime related data. All facts and statistics about crime can be
found in this database and very little concentration is paid to anything besides the nature of the
crimes, when and where they were committed, as well as the age, location, and sex of the
offender.