The document discusses crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. It notes that crime is a top public concern but most police calls involve minor disturbances. The criminal justice system aims to respond to and prevent crime through institutions like law enforcement, courts, and corrections. However, the system operates differently across jurisdictions and agencies often work independently instead of as a coordinated "system." It is an enormous but costly institution.

1. Crime and Justice
in the US

2. Crime in the United States
• Crime is a top concern of the American
public.
• Crimes presented by the media are usually
more sensational than the crimes routinely
committed.

3. Crime in the United States
Most police calls involve responding to
complaints of disturbances:
• Domestic quarrels
• Neighbor squabbles
• Gang altercations
• Loud music

4. Criminal Justice:
An Institution of Social
Control
There are a variety of responses to crime in
the United States, from punishment to
prevention.

5. Criminal Justice:
An Institution of Social
Control
Criminal justice is an institution of social
control, as are:
– The family
– Schools
– Organized religion
– The media
– The law

6. institution of social control
An organization that persuades people, through
subtle and not-so-subtle means, to abide by the
dominant values of society.

7. Criminal Justice:
An Institution of Social
Control
Criminal justice differs because:
– It is concerned only with behavior that
is actually criminal.
– It is society’s “last line of defense.”

8. Criminal Justice:
The System
Criminal justice in the United States is
administered by a loose confederation of more
than 50,000 agencies of federal, state, and
local governments.
• The police
The criminal
• The courts = justice system
• Correction
s

9. Criminal Justice:
The System
The criminal justice system operates
differently in some jurisdictions, but there
are also similarities.
jurisdictions
A politically defined geographical area.

10. Police
The criminal justice response to crime begins
when a crime is reported to the police, or
when the police discover a crime has been
committed.

11. Arrest Warrant
On rare occasions, police may obtain an
arrest warrant from a lower-court judge
before making an arrest.
arrest warrant
A written order directing law enforcement
officers to arrest a person.

12. Courts
• After a suspect has been arrested and
booked, a prosecutor reviews the facts of
the case and decides whether to charge the
suspect with a crime.
• If no charges are filed, the suspect must be
released.

13. Pretrial Stages
About 90 percent of criminal defendants plead
guilty to the charges against them, in an
arrangement called plea bargaining.

14. plea bargaining
The practice whereby a specific sentence is
imposed if the accused pleads guilty to an
agreed-upon charge or charges instead of going
to trial.

15. Trial
10 percent of criminal cases go to trial.
5 percent of criminal cases are decided in a bench
trial.
bench trial
A trial before a judge, without a jury.

16. Trial
• If the defendant is • The judge (and
found guilty as sometimes the jury)
charged begins to consider a
sentence.
If the defendant is found The defendant is released.
not guilty

17. Corrections
Currently, five types of punishment are used
in the United States:
–Fines
–Probation
–Intermediate punishments
–Imprisonment
–Death
Judges must impose sentences according to
statutory guidelines.

18. Corrections
Defendants can appeal their convictions either
on legal or constitutional grounds.
Legal Grounds Constitutional Grounds
• Defects in jury selection • Illegal search and seizure
• Improper admission of • Improper questioning by
evidence at trial police
• Mistaken interpretations • Incompetent assistance
of law from counsel

19. Criminal Justice:
The Nonsystem
The “criminal justice system” in the United States is
really a “nonsystem.” Each agency works
independently, and often in conflict with others.
system
A smoothly operating set of arrangements and
institutions directed toward the achievement of
common goals.

20. Criminal Justice:
The Nonsystem
• Judges impose prison sentences when there
isn’t room in prisons to hold the offenders.
• In every state, there is a separate process for
juvenile offenders.
• Police often say sentencing does not match
the crime.

21. Criminal Justice:
The Nonsystem
• Prosecutors complain about shoddy police
work.
• Police complain that offenders are not
prosecuted.

22. Costs of Criminal Justice
• Each year in the United States an enormous
amount of money is spent on criminal
justice.
• In 1999, local, state, and federal
governments spent a total of $146 billion on
civil and criminal justice.

23. Costs of Criminal Justice
State and local governments pay most of the cost of
criminal justice. Generally speaking:
Local governments pay for police.
The federal government works strategically to
influence criminal justice policies at other
levels of government.

24. Costs of Criminal Justice
• About 4 cents out of • Roughly two-thirds of
every tax dollar is the American public
spent on crime control. thinks the government
should spend more.

25. Myths About Crime and
Criminal Justice
Much of the American public’s understanding
of crime and criminal justice is wrong; it is
based on myths.
myths
Beliefs based on emotion rather than analysis.