Social Contract and the Criminal Justice System 01 30 2012 Social Contract Natural Freedom Civil Liberty o In state of nature human beings have complete freedom but guided by self interest o This natural freedom is dangerous anyone bigger and stronger can make me subject Morality and forced freedom o We give up natural freedom but have the expectation that o Gain civil liberty behavior now limited by reason and the others will too general will Morality o State cannot violate social contract because it owes its existence to the social contract o But individuals need law to remain loyal He will be forced to be free The social contract o Everyone sacrifices least possible portion of their freedom in exchange for safety and being able to live in peace o And the sum of all these portions is the right of the government to punish and all governmental power in general Enlightenment Power of reason Challenge Papal and Royal authorities Rule of man king vs rule of law Rule of law impose rationality and efficiency into laws of punishment We want justice We want to o Punish deviants to eliminate deviance o Protect our rights and freedoms Theoretically we adopt the social contract and apply rationality and our newly acquired morality Get justice o Not the arbitrary rule of the king but the rational rule of man Criminal justice system 1 2 police courts 3 Police corrections o responsible for detecting and apprehending suspects o police also have crime prevention role deterrence problem solving Courts o prosecution and sentencing o courts determine the guilt or the innocence of course of those accused of crimes o issue punishments for the guilty and release nicely the innocent Corrections o Administers the punishments meted out by the courts o Arguably and occasionally also attempts to prevent crime through rehabilitation In numbers Jail pop 780 581 Prison population 1 512 576 Probation pop 4 293 163 Parole pop 824 365 Changing practices Courts change in prison threshold Police change in arrest What does criminal justice system do 1 Prevents 2 Detects i ii formal detection informal detection 3 Apprehends i Clearance rates Murder 66 Robbery 28 Burglary 12 Motor Vehicle Theft 12 i attempts to stop future crime reduces factors that could lead to future crime 4 Provides Due Process i goal is to be fair not arbitrary and follow clear rules i The CJ system judges what is right and wrong 5 Judges 6 Deters 7 Incapacitates 8 Rehabilitates i General deterrence ii Specific deterrence i Lock the dangerous ones up so they cant offend ii Cant offend in public when you are in prison i Reduces recidivism or repeat offending by correcting the deviants 9 Retaliates retribution i Enacts revenge on offender b c the criminal action was appalling and simply deserving of punishment 10 Restores b Repairs the victim restore the harm done to the victim and or community Mixing 10 functions of CJS why do we punish o Deterrence o Rehabilitation o Incapacitation o Retribution The mix comes from our own belief systems o Thus the CJ system is deeply connected to Politics Social norms and events Economy Cultural values and beliefs Perceptions of fear and crime Beccaria 1764 and Criminal Justice Models 01 30 2012 Merging Ideas Human Nature man Equal protection law Social contract Utilitarianism of a minority group Beccaria 1764 o Social contract o Increases happiness reduces pain o Problems altruism try to make yourself happy at the expense Establish law monitor happiness People are naturally selfish o Utilitarianism o contractarian utilitarianism give up least poss Amount of natural freedom o brutal justice system in Italy corruption torture for confessions wide use of death penalty not rational and efficient need rational laws o punishment what is the purpose How should it be administered o Insistence Law must be certain and invariable definite and fixed Punishment must be certain and prompt Selected in proportion to the severity of the offense done disregarding intent or motive of offender Value of punishment rests in its inevitability not in its violence Criminal justice models in America o Criminal justice system is shaped by competing concerns over safety and individual rights and freedoms o Crime control model Assumption Freedom is vital Every effort must be made to repress crime b c order is fundamental to a free society Emphasis Speed and efficiency is apprehending and punishing a high proportion of offenders 100 CCM max efficiency do everything poss To make it more efficient to capture and punish key objective establish guilt of accused or discover truth fight crime protect citizens Due Process Model assumption freedom is vital every effort must be made to ensure fairness under the law ensure that decisions are made on reliable info and rights are not violated emphasizes rights of defendants and formal decision making procedures which are clear and well defined 100 DPM aim to put as many checks in place to balance authority of CJ officials and ensure rights and freedoms are protected constitutional rights aren t mere technicalities 5th amendment due process o criminality under crime control model offenders are responsible for their actions have free will pull themselves into a crime offenders violated social contract and therefore can be deprived of rights afforded to law abiding citizens not optimistic about viability of rehab o criminality under due process model criminal behavior is attributed to social or biological psychological factors people are pushed into offending by external factors model believes that offenders can be rehabilitated and returned into society o criminal justice goals crime control model provide quick and efficient justice deter crime protect citizens from crime incapacitate prevent crime by locking up offenders o criminal justice goals due process model protect individual from power of the state rehabilitate the convicted of crime o crime prevention critical to both models How would the CJS meet the goals of these 2 models o Crime Control Model Promote discretion and reduce bureaucratic red tape Efficiency is critical Make it easier for police to arrest criminals Reduce legal restrictions on proving guilt Have a lower burden of proof o Due Process Model Limit state power thru focus on protecting const rights Even guilty offenders are assured full protection of the of the accused law Ensure that all offenders receive the same treatment Not the same sentences just the same treatment and
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