...Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation Anthony Tomlin CJA/394 May 1, 2014 Professor Ken Jones Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation The American criminal justice system serves as a means for retribution and rehabilitation for criminals. In the early inception of the criminal justice system juries held the sentencing powers – convicting most criminals to death. Over the years sentencing powers shifted to judges. In this paper we will discuss the problems and changes in the criminal justice processes. The criminal justice system is not perfect but over the years there has been an continued improvement in the process. There are issues with the system that are being addressed such as prison overcrowding, three strikes rule, the disparity in sentencing for certain drug convictions, and the sentencing of minority groups. There are several future trends, such as training and educating law enforcement personnel, rehabilitating criminals, and law enforcement being proactive versus reactive. There are changes in the criminal justice system occurring and changes being lobbied by politicians. The future of criminal justice is constantly evolving with time but the full extent of how the changes will affect the system is not fully known. Some suggest laws of the past have been left behind by society and that change to the criminal justice system requires an overhaul to laws. Understand some of the crimes individuals commit warrant the sentencing received because...
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...Criminal Justice Process 1 Criminal Justice Process Betsabe Aguirre CRJ 100, Section 010016 Professor Nicholas Myles, J.D. October 12, 2010. Criminal Justice Process 2 Criminal Justice Process Imagine living in the US where crime is out of control. Where laws are broken and there is no punishment for our actions. It wouldn’t be a nice place to live. This is why we have the criminal justice process. The agencies of criminal justice must process the cases that come before them. They begin with an investigation of the reported crime. Placing crime under control is a complicated process requiring information and following many steps. It consists of Investigation and Arrest, Pretrial Activities, Adjudication, Sentencing, and Corrections. Investigation and Arrest The first step in the criminal justice process is investigation and arrest. When a crime has been committed the first thing law enforcement does is conduct an investigation. Evidence is gathered at the crime scene and a follow up investigation to try to put together the sequence of activities. Depending on the results they may choose to arrest an individual or individuals. If they make no arrest the process is complete. But if an arrest is made the suspect will be booked. When the suspect is being booked which means a procedure where pictures are taken, fingerprints are made, and personal information such as their name, address, date of birth, weight, and height is gathered and put into the system. Details...
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...|[pic] |Syllabus | | |College of Criminal Justice SSecurity Security | | |CJS/220 Version 4 | | |The Court System | Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course is an introduction and overview of the legal system, the participants, the courtroom process, and post-conviction process of the court system. It demonstrates the connections among participants and how they relate to each other. Additionally, the course covers the history of the court system and the different types of court at the state and federal levels. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the...
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...Criminal Justice Process for a Felony Criminal Law & Procedure CRJ 306 February 11, 2013 Felonies are one of the worse crimes a criminal can commit. The worse punishment for a felony is death. Felonies range from murder, rape, assault, battery, larceny, robbery, arson, and burglary (Wallace & Roberson, 2012). When a criminal commits a felony there are always victims. The sentencing of someone that commits a felony is a daunting process from the police investigating of the crime, to the court hearings when the judge or the jury decided if the criminal was guilty or not guilty, then the sentencing process must take place. The whole process is a long and time consuming process. When someone is caught committing a felony there is an investigation by local law enforcement. The local law enforcement will start an investigation on the crime and start collecting evidence for the criminal’s court trial. Depending on the crime the crime there may need to be a search warrant for the local police officers can search either the premises or the criminal’s person. If the investigating team from the local law enforcement needs a search warrant the lead law enforcement officer will need to provide a judge with solid probable cause for investigating the premises or the criminal’s person. There is a time limit after offense is committed. Most federal crimes have a statute of limitations of five years from the date of the offense. Our book indicates that in most...
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...Racial Disparity in Sentencing Racial disparity in sentencing in the criminal justice system is a problematic issue. Individuals often believe that racial disparity in sentencing does not exist; however, substantial proof in the criminal justice system proves otherwise. According to statistics of Marc Mauer, “unprecedented rise in the populations of prisons over the past three decades is a six fold increase, resulting in the incarceration of nearly two million Americans.” The breakdown of statistics is as follows: “One in every eight African-American male groups between 25-34 year old is a result of incarceration and 32% of African-American males born to society can expect to spend a term in a federal or state prison if the current racial disparity continues” (Mauer, 2004, p. 79). Four reasons of Racial Disparity The four reasons for the flourishing continuance of racial disparity in the criminal justice sentencing process are ineffective assistance of procedural bars, and council, jury selection and venue, prosecutorial discretion, and juror racism (Tabak, 1999, p. 6). Research documenting states like New York and California prosecutions have board spectrums concerning discretion seeking capital punishment; however, these four reasons apply to cases, which capital punishment is sought. “Capital punishment can be sought for intentional murders which individual may commit during the course of a felony and the intent to commit murder can be formed instantaneously before the...
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...Victimization in the Criminal Justice System Ian Gallagher CJA/534 May 18, 2015 Lora Terrill Victimization in the Criminal Justice System In ancient times, victims of crimes, and their kin, were responsible for the sentencing and implementation of the offender. This trend did not reappear, in a more lawful form, in modern criminal justice systems until the 1970’s. Recent years have seen growth and attention in victim’s rights and advocacy, but many claim the system is still flawed (Schmalleger & Hall, 2010). This paper will examine how victimization affects each party: the prosecution, the defense , the offender, and the victim in the final stages of sentencing and imposing of sanctions. It will also discuss the sentencing and sanction goals from each perspective. Finally, this student’s victim’s rights ideas will be offered. Prosecution The prosecution has the difficult task of finding the truth even when it is messy and unpleasant. Once a conviction occurs, it then has the burden of seeking sentencing justice, following sentencing guidelines, considering alternative sanctions, and taking the victim’s wishes into consideration. Taking care to note all of these factors, prosecutors must look at the five common goals of a sentence: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, restoration, and incapacitation (Schmalleger & Hall, 2014). Under current guidelines, prosecutors have tremendous power in setting the tone for sentencing and can easily increase and decrease the sentences...
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...Victim and Crime Evaluation Larry Fulse CJA /354 May 5, 2014 Joeseph Caulfield The Criminal Justice system today is our scale of judgment. It plays a major part in how we live and how we continue to live among all the dangers, evil and corruption that surrounds us. Without it there wouldn`t be the fine line of right and wrong, there wouldn`t be justice. Those that are considered victims in our criminal justice would turn and become the aggressors and the criminals if we didn`t have a Legal System, and we would live in a world of chaos. Many individuals each have a role to play in our Criminal Justice System; there are the criminal and the victims who create the unfortunate events to which justice has to be served and then there are the defense attorneys and the prosecutors who do their best to upload the justice system and make sure that justice is served. What are the goals of sentencing associated? A defense attorney is a hired contractor, charged with representing individuals or entities in criminal or civil matter. People and organization facing criminal charges or being sued civilly hire a defense attorney to ensure their legal rights are properly protected and guide them through the legal counsel, is ethically and professionally required to watch over only the interest of his clients, within the boundaries of the law. He is legally and morally considered an “officer of the court,” and is required to refrain from lying or misrepresenting the facts of the...
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...have been numerous evaluations carried out on the use of the VIS and VPS within the criminal justice process and the extent to which it serves to satisfy the victims’ experiences. An Evaluation of the Pilot Victim Statement Schemes in Scotland commissioned by the Scottish executive was carried out in 2007. Six different aspects of the Scheme was investigated which included the response rates of victims, their views on the pilot schemes, the criminal justice professionals’ views on the pilot schemes, the content of victim statements, the impact of the victim statement scheme on workload and court processes and the outcome of cases in which a victim statement was made. The research found that 61% of respondents felt better after making the statement even though more than half had no idea whether their statement was considered in court. Very few respondents made suggestions relating to the victim statement scheme itself and instead felt the desire to put their point of view across more generally. Another Research review requested by the Commissioner for Victim and Witnesses in England and Wales in 2011evaluated empirical research into the use of victim statements. The report was split into two parts where the first part contained general information about the scope of the VPS scheme in England and Wales while part 2 reviews empirical research into the use of victim statements at sentencing. The review found that there a common finding amongst several studies that victims...
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...Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Brent Weaver Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice, CJA/423 Torria Richardson 5-30-11 Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Society has shown racial diversity among communities. Racial disparity can be found in the criminal justice system. A system designed to be fair and equal to individuals is not existent. Racial diversity can be found at the time of arrest to the time of sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the diversity in sentencing. Case studies will be discussed throughout this paper. Leaders of criminal justice are not exempt of racial diversity. Racial diversity has changed over the years, but racial diversity remains strong in sentencing minorities. Diversity is not biased of offenses. Racial diversity can be seen in the smallest of charges, such as a traffic stop to the most serious sentence of the death penalty. Most of the sentences are because profiling an individual of minority. African Americans are likely to be the targeted racial group. Hispanic individuals are likely to be another racial group profiled for harsher sentencing. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system should always be considered a violation of ideas of the forefather’s of this nation as equal treatment under the laws of the United States Constitution. Many reasons for racial disparity can be identified in the sentencing process. The sentencing process is a difficult process, and adding racial bias may create a...
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...meaning lack of similarity and or inequality. Even though, in the criminal justice sytsem these words have diffenet meanings. These two terms have been evaluated within the criminal justice system, the dicrimination and disparity of ethic and racial groups have been recognized for a long time by some. At sometime or other disparity maybe the result of discrimination within the justice system in some situations. Disparity refers to the inequality in all aspects within the criminal justice system, for certain groups of individuals it conists og arrest to sentencing; this nearly will always refer back to ethic and racial disparity. Racial disparity is present within the criminal justice system as the porportion of an ethic or racial group is within the control of the system are greater than the the porportion of such groups within the general population ( The Sentencing Project,2008). Even though, it may not always be a relation to intentional discrimination racial disparity has been definately established within our justice system. Discrimination is defined as a distinction based on personal characteristics of an individual resulting in some degree of disadvantage to the indiviudual ( Law Encyclopedia, 2011). In order for us to better understand the similarities and differences between these two terms researchers have recently created the discrimination/disparity continuum in regards to the criminal justice system processes. Five elements consist on this spectrum, ranging...
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... CJS 200 Foundations of the Criminal Justice System Course Start Date: 08/01/2011 Group ID: AAGR0Z9835 Facilitator: Lee Rankin Copyright Copyright © 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix® editorial standards and practices. ------------------------------------------------- Course Description This course is an introductory overview of the organization and jurisdictions of local, state, and federal law enforcement, judicial and corrections agencies, and processes involved in the criminal justice systems. It examines the historical aspects of the police, the courts, and the correctional system, as well as the philosophy. Additionally, career opportunities and qualifying requirements, terminology, and constitutional limitations of the system will also be covered. ------------------------------------------------- Course Topics and Objectives Week One: The Criminal Justice System 1 * Define crime and...
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...PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONVERSATION Paper delivered at Conference on “The Limits of the Criminal Law” at Leiden University, January 23, 2008 and subsequently published in Cupido (ed), Limits of Criminal Law (Nijmegen, 2008).[1] Tom O’Malley Senior Lecturer in Law National University of Ireland Galway First, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the students of Leiden Law School for having organised this conference. Thanks to their vision and energy, representatives from several European countries have gathered in this historic venue to discuss some key aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure. More often than not, we think of European law solely in terms of European Union law, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or both. Needless to say, the study of European law even in this limited sense is of the highest importance given its impact on our national legal systems and our daily lives. However, growing levels of legal and political integration now demand that we broaden our vision of European law to encompass the domestic legal systems of individual European states. Some work has already begun in this regard,[2] but it is only on rare occasions such as this that we can engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas and information on areas of common concern. Criminal justice is a most appropriate and worthy topic with which to begin. In times past, sentencing would not have featured very prominently...
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...The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on the Criminal Justice System Public Safety Capstone Project Our criminal justice system has an obligation to impose fair sentences. The United States Sentencing Commission is the result of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 that had laws created to ensure that sentencing was fair from state to state, and a judge provided proof of that sentencing was indeed black and white. To eliminate the possibility of being unjust, the government became involved in creating guidelines on the punishment that was rendered based on the type or types of crimes an individual committed. Sentencing guidelines were imposed to set the terms that would fit the crime some of the sentencing may be a payment of a fine, community service, incarceration, the death penalty, and or probation and parole. Throughout the years there has been a concentrated effort to standardize the sentencing especially in felony offenses, and to diminish judicial discretion in sentencing. Due to this there is a perception by lawmakers and the public that arbitrary or discriminatory practice with fair and just sentencing in certain cases and or crimes. “The Federal Government and 16 States have implemented presumptive or voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines. Each of these states has established guidelines for different purposes and most of them were asked to meet multiple goals, including punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation...
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...Victims and Crime Evaluation Omar Diaz CJA354 March 17, 2015 Mr. Dale Jenereaux Victims and Crime Evaluation Victims of crimes often suffer from various aspects of the criminal acts that were committed against them. The criminal justice system can also contribute to victimization against victims. Lipmann (2010) noted, victims also suffer post crime or secondary victimization. This includes but it not limited to loss of wages, medical expenses, property loss, disability and/or the need to relocate due to safety issues and/or inhabitable living quarters after the crime (Lippman, 2010). Over the year’s inauguration of victim’s rights and victim’s assistance, victims can often relive the horrible experiences that they went through by either having to testify in court or something as simple as nightmares. This is commonly known as pain and suffering. In the adversarial criminal justice system, the prosecution develops a case against the defendant by usually working with the local district attorney’s office. The evidence presented in a case inevitably involves the victim through law enforcement investigations, the identification of the defendant, medical examinations and victim reports. Both the prosecution and the defense have certain obligations to the victim. Each party within the criminal justice system can contribute to victimization. The defense has the responsibility to prove that their client was innocence and did not commit the crime. This can portray that the victim...
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...Female Offenders: is Chivalry Dead? Intro: In the last two decades, there has been a definite shift in the leniency of sentencing female offenders in the criminal justice system. It has been suggested the shift turning to harsher, more severe punishments is due to more female practitioners in the criminal justice system which subsequently reduced the chivalry hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the literature and empirical research regarding past and present studies of female offenders, the chivalry hypothesis, the differences in male and female convictions, and to answer the enduring question: Is chivalry dead? While this paper does not incorporate all of the literature available, it does offer a good snap shot of many pertinent studies conducted regarding these topics and the issues pertaining to them. Female Offenders Then and Now Over the years, the empirical evidence supporting the position that women offenders are treated less harshly than their male counterparts has been at best inconsistent. (Burnett, 1994: Coombs, 1995: Denno, 1994: Johnson & Nagel, 1994: Klein & Kress, 2014). The writers of these studies used a variety of theses to explain the leniency. Some suggested women are treated with chivalry and thus given lighter sentences for similar offenses created by men. While others suggested the leniency was due to the majority of females in the court system are first time offenders. In 1994, Kathleen Davy published Gender...
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