CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SYSTEM
By Yanwen Wang

HISTORY OF THE CJS IN THE U.S.

Police forces can be traced back as early to the times of
Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Rome, where police forces
were used to maintain public order.
The most important job these early police forces had was to
protect the royal families from mob violence.
England was the first instances of a solid CJS. They created
the common English law, which was later established in the
United States when the pilgrims traveled and settled in the
united states.
The criminal justice system is combined of the police, courts
and prison systems of a country or state.
The constitution set up the Supreme Court and provided
people with a Bill or Rights that protected them from the
government.

CJS PERCEPTION
Perception of the criminal justice system differs greatly by race and
ethnicity.
Polls gathered by Karlyn Bowman of Fobes.com shows that people have
little confidence in the CJS.
In the latest poll, far more people had high confidence in the police (53
percent) than in the criminal justice system (23 percent) (Bowman).
Considering recent events in the United States, its actually surprising to
see people have more confidence in the police than the CJS.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickgleason/2015/12/03/louisiana-trouble/

HOW DO MEMBERS PERCEIVE

THEMSELVES?
Employees in the police departments, courts
and corrections see themselves as good
people trying to maintain order and keep
people safe.
However, police morale in some
departments around the country is declining.
This is shown by police officers being more
afraid of doing their job.
Mark Sappenfield of Business Insider reports,
Police are under siege in every quarter,"
said Gene Ryan, president of Baltimore's
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, in a
statement. "They are more afraid of going to
jail for doing their jobs properly than they
are of getting shot on duty (Sappenfield).

PROBLEMS WITH THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

WORKS

HOW HAS THE INSTITUTION

CHANGED?
The institution has not changed much over time. People still need to be
arrested by the police to face charges in criminal court. If found guilty by
a judge or jury than the person faces punishment that can include time in
a correctional facility.
Case laws and decisions by the supreme court dictate the way the police
and courts can act in regard to rulings. The Supreme Court can also order
the police, courts or corrections to change their policies. This is seen
when federal courts ordered California to manage its state prison
populations.
Crowding reached dangerous levels, leading federal judges to rule in
2009 that the conditions were unconstitutional. When Gov. Jerry Brown
took office in 2011, the state was under orders to cap prison counts at
110,000 (St. John).

WHAT CAUSES
VARIOUS
INSTITUTIONS TO
CHANGE?

The institution can change

by adjusting to the needs of
the people. For example,
police departments change
by adjusting their personnel
to meet the needs of the
communities they serve.
Change can be brought
upon by the people through
laws and regulations.

STABLE FEATURES
The system is still composed of police
officers, detectives, judges, juries and
correction officers.
People need to be arrested by the police or
given a ticket to appear in court for them to
make into a court. A court and judge then
hand out punishment with the help of a jury if
need be. The judge hands out punishment
that is allowed via statutory laws. A person
that is sent to jail or prison spends their time
their until their sentence ends.

TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE
PEOPLE
I would make three simple changes
Mandate all police officers to wear body cameras.
Hold corrupt or shady judges and district attorneys accountable for their
questionable ethics. This is especially true in California where prosecutors
are hardly punished for criminal misconduct. As Matt Ferner writes
According to a 2010 study from criminal justice reform group
theInnocence Project, there were more than 700 cases between 1997
and 2009 of prosecutorial misconduct in California courts. In that 12-year
period, only six prosecutors were ever disciplined (Ferner).
A third change I would make is to have the state and not local authorities
investigate fatal police shootings.

WHO ARE THE MAJOR

PARTICIPANTS?
The police, district attorneys, judges
and correction officials.
Police departments investigate
crime and arrest people.
District attorneys prosecute crime.
Judges preside over trials and deal
out punishment if required to do so
by law.
Correction officials control how
prions are set up.

YES, THE CJS WORKS BETTER

FOR SOME THAN OTHERS.
The rich typically can afford their bails so they get out earlier than other
people who cannot afford bail.
The rich have access to the best defense attorneys.
At times district attorneys and police decline to bring charges to rich
people because of their status and fame in society.
Minorities are targeted by police at times.
They cannot afford bail so they plead guilty to get out of jail faster.
Many cannot afford a good attorney so they may get screwed by the
district attorney.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalist see the CJS as an important structure in society. It has many
function such as:
Maintaining public order.
Providing guidance and assistance to trouble youth, thus compensating
for breakdowns in family and education.
The CJS allows for society to know where its moral compass is. The CJS
has the power to arrest and issue punishment. Therefor, the CJS acts in
the interests of the people.

CONFLICT THEORY
Conflict theory would argue that the CJS is designed by the rich to
promote social inequality.
They will point out how jail and prison populations are predominantly
filled with minorities.
They will point out that rich people tend to receive minor punishment.
They would also point out how white collar crime is not prosecuted as
frequently as blue collar crime. This plays into the hands of capitalist who
can commit criminal acts to increase their profit margins.

WORDS CITED
Sibilla, Nick. Civil Forfeiture Now Requires A Criminal Conviction in Montana and New Mexico. July 2, 2015.
Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2015/07/02/civil-forfeiture-now-requires-a-criminal-conviction-in
-montana-and-new-mexico
/
Asset Forfeiture. N.d. Retrieved from https://
www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/asset-forfeiture-abuse
Ingraham, Christopher. Asset forfeitures surpass burglaries. November 23, 2015. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/23/cops-took-more-stuff-from-people-than-burglars-did-la
st-year
/
Ferner, Matt. experts: no hope for justice in orange county prosecutor scandal with current investigations.
Huffingtonpost.com. July 7, 2015. retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/orange-county-district-attorney_55a6fc50e4b0c5f0322c5b8e
how does the criminal justice system work? n.d. n.p. retrieved from
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/how-does-the-criminal-justice-system-work.html
St. John, Paige. early jail releases have surged since Californias prison realignment. Losangelestimes. Aug 16,
2014. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-ff-early-release-20140817-story.html
Sappenfield, Mark. Something is hurting morale in police departments all across America. Businessinsider.com.
Aug 31, 2015. Retrieved from
http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-something-thats-hurting-morale-in-police-departments-all-across-america-