Standard SSCG22

1
Standard SSCG22

• SSCG22 The student will demonstrate knowledge of
  the criminal justice process.
• Analyze the steps in the criminal justice
  process.
• Explain an individuals due process rights.
• Describe the steps in a criminal trial or civil
  suit.
• Examine the different types of sentences a
  convicted person can receive.

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Criminal Justice System

• Types of Crimes
• Petty Offenses minor crimes usually punished
  with a ticket and fine (parking illegally,
  littering, disturbing the peace, minor
  trespassing, speeding)
• Misdemeanors more serious crimes that may be
  punishable by fine or imprisonment - usually up
  to 1 year and up to 1000 fine (vandalism, simple
  assault, writing bad checks, being drunk or
  disorderly)
• Felonies serious crimes punishable by lengthy
  prison sentences or capital punishment - the
  death penalty (burglary, kidnapping, arson, rape,
  fraud, forgery, manslaughter, murder)

3
Rights of the Accused

• 5th Amendment
• Cant be forced to incriminate themselves
• Right to a grand jury (decides there is enough
  evidence for trial)
• Cant be tried for the same offense of law twice
  (double jeopardy)
• Right to due process (fair treatment) 
• 6th Amendment
• must be told what crimes they have been charged
  with
• have the right to a speedy and public trial
• have the right to a lawyer
• have the right to question witnesses

4
Criminal Justice System

• Criminal Cases
• Investigation and arrest warrant
• Arrested and booked (charges are recorded)
• Brought before judge to be formally charged
• Grand Jury decides if enough evidence to hold a
  trial
• Plea Bargaining takes place in about 90 of cases
• Arraignment is held to read the formal charges
  and hear the plea of the accused (guilty, not
  guilty, not guilty by reason of mental defect)
• Trial Begins Opening statements, witnesses and
  evidence presented, jury deliberates and decision
  is given to judge
• Not Guilty released
• Guilty Sentencing is determined by the judge or
  a sentencing trial is scheduled (eligibility for
  parole can be decided in sentencing phase)

5
Sentencing

• Fines
• Probation
• A suspended sentence, which takes effect if
  conditions such as probation are violated
• Payment of restitution to the crime victim
• Community service
• Drug and alcohol rehab
• Incarceration in jail
• Incarceration in prison (longer-term)
• Death Penalty

• Under the Violent Crime Control and Law
  Enforcement Act of 1994, the "Three Strikes"
  statute (18 U.S.C. 3559(c)) provides for
  mandatory life imprisonment if a convicted felon
• been convicted in federal court of a "serious
  violent felony" and
• has two or more previous convictions in federal
  or state courts, at least one of which is a
  "serious violent felony." The other offense may
  be a serious drug offense.
• The statute goes on to define a serious violent
  felony as including murder, manslaughter, sex
  offenses, kidnapping, robbery, and any offense
  punishable by 10 years or more which includes an
  element of the use of force or involves a
  significant risk of force.

6
House arrest and electronic monitoring.

• An offender sentenced to house arrest must spend
  all or most of the day at home. Compliance is
  enforced in some states by requiring the offender
  to wear a small transmitter on the wrist or
  ankle, which sends electronic signals to
  monitoring units. House arrest can stand alone as
  a sanction or be used with electronic monitoring.
  It can also be coupled with fines, community
  service, and other sanctions. Some electronic
  monitoring devices can analyze an offender's
  breath to see if the offender has drunk any
  alcohol in violation of conditions of the
  house-arrest sentence.

7
Incarceration

• Jails are short-term lock-up centers normally run
  by counties and operated by county sheriffs.
  Inmates housed in jails include un-convicted
  defendants awaiting trial who are unable to make
  bail, convicted misdemeanants, and felons serving
  jail time as a result of probation violations.
  Prisons are long-term penal facilities operated
  by state and federal governments. Most prison
  inmates are convicted felons serving sentences of
  more than one year.

8
Probation

• Probation, the most frequently used criminal
  sanction, is a sentence that an offender serves
  in the community in lieu of incarceration.
  Probationers are required to adhere to conditions
  of probation, such as obeying all laws, paying
  fines or restitution, reporting to a probation
  officer, abstaining from drug usage, refraining
  from travel out of the area where the offender
  lives, and avoiding certain people (for example,
  other criminals or victims) and places. If a
  probationer violates any condition of probation
  or commits a new crime, the judge can revoke
  (take away) probation and incarcerate the
  offender. Probation officers monitor offenders
  and hook them up with various services in the
  community. Probation officers handle such large
  caseloads (on average, 118 per officer in 1994)
  that they are left with limited time to track or
  supervise offenders. Probation is the preferred
  sentence when the crime is nonviolent, the
  offender isn't dangerous, the convicted criminal
  isn't a repeat offender, and/or the criminal is
  willing to make restitution. Due to prison
  overcrowding, judges have been forced to place
  more felons on probation. A Rand Corporation
  study found that 60 percent of the felons on
  probation were rearrested for a new crime.

9
ISP

• Intensive supervision probation is used for
  offenders needing more supervision. It allows
  offenders to live in the community but under
  severe restrictions. ISP offenders can be
  required to meet with their probation officers as
  often as five times a week, to submit to random
  drug urinalysis tests, to work, to attend drug
  treatment, and to be under tight surveillance.

10
Boot Camps

• Offenders sentenced to boot camps live in
  military-style barracks and undergo rigorous
  physical and behavioral training for three to six
  months. Boot camps are generally reserved for
  first-time offenders in their late teens or early
  twenties. These highly regimented programs are
  designed to instill discipline and hold youths
  accountable for their actions. Offenders who
  successfully complete the program are resentenced
  to probation, avoiding confinement in prison.
  Research has failed to confirm that boot camps
  lower recidivism rates.

11
House Arrest/Electronic Monitoring

• An offender sentenced to house arrest must spend
  all or most of the day at home. Compliance is
  enforced in some states by requiring the offender
  to wear a small transmitter on the wrist or
  ankle, which sends electronic signals to
  monitoring units. House arrest can stand alone as
  a sanction or be used with electronic monitoring.
  It can also be coupled with fines, community
  service, and other sanctions. Some electronic
  monitoring devices can analyze an offender's
  breath to see if the offender has drunk any
  alcohol in violation of conditions of the
  house-arrest sentence.

12
Community Service

• Paying the community back for harm done, through
  doing work that benefits the public, is the
  essence of community service. Offenders can be
  required, for example, to pick up trash in parks,
  plant trees, and wash away graffiti.

13
Scarlet Letter

• "Scarlet-letter" punishments or Punishing by
  shaming provides a cheap and morally satisfying
  alternative to punishment. Courts have ordered
  people convicted of assault or child molestation
  to put signs in their yards, announcing their
  crimes. Still other judges have ordered chronic
  drunk drivers to put bright orange bumper
  stickers on their cars, announcing their problem
  and urging other drivers to report erratic
  driving to the police. Critics say this form of
  punishment is unlikely to succeed in changing the
  behavior of repeat offenders because those people
  are used to breaking society's rules anyway

14
Asset forfeiture

• Asset forfeiture consists of the government's
  seizing of personal assets obtained from or used
  in a criminal enterprise. For example, an
  airplane may be seized if it was used in
  smuggling drugs into the country. Law enforcement
  usually keeps the assets.

15
Restitution

• Restitution requires an offender to pay money to
  a victim, whereas a fine requires an offender to
  pay money to the government. The idea behind
  restitution is to make the offender pay the
  victim back for economic losses caused by the
  crime. The offender may, for example, be required
  to pay the victim's medical bills or pay a sum of
  money equal to the value of property stolen. The
  biggest problem with restitution is collecting
  the money. To enforce restitution orders, a judge
  can attach, or garnish, an offender's assets or
  wages. Another way to enforce restitution is
  possible in cases in which restitution is a
  condition of probation. If the offender fails to
  pay restitution, a judge can revoke the probation
  and incarcerate the offender.

16
Fines

• Fines are common for first-time offenders
  convicted of crimes such as shoplifting, minor
  drug possession, and traffic violations. In more
  serious cases, judges combine fines with
  incarceration or other punishments. If fines
  aren't paid, offenders go to jail. Fines
  discriminate against the poor. Day fines are a
  creative response to this problem. They require
  offenders to pay a percentage of their weekly or
  monthly earnings, thus attempting to equalize the
  financial impact of the sentence on the offender.

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Civil Cases

• Civil Cases are called lawsuits
• Usually seeks damages an award of money

• Plaintiff the person who brings the complaint
• Defendant the person being sued

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• Hire a lawyer
• File a complaint
• The plaintiff files this legal document
• Defendant receives a summons official notice of
  lawsuit
• Defendant files an answer a formal response to
  the charges or complaint
• Pretrial Discovery
• Both sides check facts, gather evidence
• Resolution without Trial (90 of civil cases)
• Settlement
• Pretrial conference aimed at a settlement
• Mediation each side explains their position
  arbitrator decides
• Trial
• Can be heard by judge or jury (6-12 people)
• Each side presents their case
• Judge or jury gives a verdict