Criminal Justice System

In chapter one of the criminal justice system it covers the three goals of the system and the characteristics of the criminal system, how people can be filtered out of the system and the different responsibilities of federal and state criminal justice operations, the main criminal justice agencies and understanding the steps in the decision making process for a criminal case, the criminal justice wedding cake with the due process and crime control models, and the possible causes of racial disparities in the criminal justice. The system has three main goals and it is doing justice, controlling crime, and preventing crime. Doing justice is to form the basis for the rules, procedures, and institutions of and for the criminal system. Controlling crime involves the arresting, prosecuting, and punishing those who is commit offenses. Preventing crime needs the efforts of a citizen as well as criminal justice system officials. The three main subsystems of the criminal justice system are police, courts, and corrections. The characteristic of the system are discretion, resource dependence, sequential tasks, and filtering. Discretion is the officials have the authority to make decisions without reference to specific rules or facts. Resource dependence is when agencies of the criminal system do not generate their own resources and depend on other agencies for resources. Sequential tasks are when the decisions in the system are made in a specific sequence and it is the key to the exchange relationships among the justice system’s decision makers. Filtering process is when a process by which criminal justice officials screen out some cases while advancing others to the next level of decision making. Someone get filtered out by booking or even initial appearance and others too. Both of the national and state systems of the criminal justice enforce laws, try cases, and punish offenders. Federal officials enforce the laws that are defined by the congress and most criminal laws and cases are under the authority of the state’s criminal justice systems. The criminal justice system has the 13 steps that cover the stages of the law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections. The process of cases in the system involves with a series of decisions made by police officers, prosecutors, judges, probation officers, wardens, and parole board members. The wedding cake model is to show that all cases are treated equally. The four layers are celebrated cases, serious felonies, lesser felonies, and the misdemeanors. The crime control model and the due process model are two different ways of looking at the goals and procedures of the criminal justice system. The due process model focuses on careful, reliable decisions and the protection of the rights while on the other hand of the crime control model emphasizes efficient processing of cases in order to repress crime. The racial and ethnic minorities are subjected to the criminal justice system at much higher rates than are