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Crime and Criminal Justice

Crime and Criminal Justice. 3/20/2012. Learning Objectives. Use knowledge and analyses of social problems to evaluate public policy, and to suggest policy alternatives, with special reference to questions of social justice, the common good, and public and individual responsibility .

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Crime and Criminal Justice

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  1. Crime and Criminal Justice 3/20/2012

  2. Learning Objectives • Use knowledge and analyses of social problems to evaluate public policy, and to suggest policy alternatives, with special reference to questions of social justice, the common good, and public and individual responsibility. • Critically analyze social problems by identifying value perspectives and applying concepts of sociology, political science, and economics;

  3. Opportunities to discuss course content • Today-12-2 • Wednesday 10-2

  4. About Paper 2 • What it Contains • Revised Paper I paper • A critical analysis and a moral analysis of the Controversial Policy Solution • 9-11 TOTAL Pages- 15 Works Cited • Due in class on 4/12 • Rubric

  5. Types of Crime • Part I Offenses • Violent • Property (e.g. car theft) • Part II Crimes • Everything else • E.g. public drunkeness

  6. What the UCR does not Measure • Unreported Crimes • Poor Reporting/discretion • The Number rather than the rate

  7. Crime and Law • Crime: behavior that violates the criminal law and is punishable by a fine, jail term, or other negative sanctions • 2 categories of criminal law: • Misdemeanors:minor crime, punishment is fine or <1 year in jail (ex: public drunkenness) • Felonies: serious crimes, punishment is >1 year in jail or even death. (ex: murder, rape)

  8. The Crime Rate • Between 1970 and 1980, the crime rate rose by 40% • It has declined by 36% since 1991 • Despite this, crime is still higher than in previous decades

  9. Four Measures of Crime

  10. Property Crime

  11. Juvenile Crime • Difficult to Deter Children • Young People commit 20% of all crimes • We try to give them a clean slate

  12. Crime By Region

  13. Who Commits Crimes (Individual Level Theories) • Internal Factors cause people to Commit Crimes • Biology • Psychological Theories Solution is to Lock up people with these traits

  14. Sociological Theories of Crime • Criminal Activity derives from social and economic conditions of society (functionalism) • Otherwise normal people are changed by the conditions in which they live Solution is macro-societal change

  15. Crime And Deterrence • For Deterrence to work, threats must be made credible • The Godfather • Certain • Swift • Severe • If Benefits from Crime outweigh the costs, we have crime

  16. The Death Penalty

  17. The Police and Deterrence • Community Policing • Broken Window Theory

  18. Guns and Gun Laws A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 30,000 gun deaths per year

  19. Federal Gun Laws • Bans on interstate commerce involving guns • The Brady Law • The Impact of Gun Laws

  20. The Courts and Guns • U.S. vs Miller (1939) • DC vs Heller (2008)

  21. Gun Crimes are Stable

  22. Who commits Crime • Age • Opportunity • Economics

  23. Victims of Crime- Age

  24. Victims of Crime: Race

  25. Hate Crimes • Must show that crime is bias motivated. • There has to be an actual crime committed • Hurt Feelings are not protected under Hate Crime legislation

  26. The Judicial Process Crime and The Courts

  27. The Bill of Rights Provides Basic Criminal Protections • ½ of all felonies are dismissed • Unreasonable search and seizures • Self Incrimination • Exclusionary Rule

  28. So you have been arrested step 1 • Read your rights • Booked • Meet with a lawyer

  29. Arrested Part 2 • Taken before a judge before trial • Bail • Who is denied Bail? • Recognizance

  30. Arraignment • The charges are read against you • Plea of guilty or not guilty • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsKZiIX-ij0&NR=1

  31. Plea bargaining • 90% of cases are plea bargained • Cuts down on costs and system overload • Critics argue that it disadvantages the poor

  32. Sentencing • Duty of the judge to decide who gets what • States differ in maximum and minimums • This has lead to an increase in incarceration

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