Criminal Law
Question No. 1
The philosophy of the Crime Control Model is that discovering, apprehending, and punishing offenders, preventing and deterring crime is considered a priority. The civil liberties are still protected, but shall be limited to the extent that they do not jeopardize social control. The repression, detection and efficient prosecution are central to this model. The failure to detect and successfully prosecute the offenders shall be considered as failure on the part of the government (Hall, 2011, p.316). When this happens, the public loses its confidence in the government, which will hinder its ability to detect and deter crimes.
On the other hand the philosophy of Due Process Model is to discover, apprehend and punish the criminals must be balanced with the civil liberties. Under the due process model, there are instances when the civil liberties shall take precedence, and in effect, the crimes will go unpunished (Hall, 2011, p.317). Factual guilt is necessary under the crime control model to determine whether the accused has in fact committed the crime. While the due process model puts a strong emphasis on the integrity of the individual rights, and does not concentrate on the rights of the community to be free of crime. Legal guilt and factual guilt are essential under the due process model to ensure that the rights of the accused are observed in the course of the investigation and trial.
In terms of process, the Crime Control Model is mechanistic and that efficiency is the primary concern. Under this model, the criminal justice system is a machine through which the government will process its cases. While in the case of the Due Process Model, the process is cumbersome in the sense that efficiency takes a back step. Convicting the accused is not the main priority. The criminal justice system is regarded as a maze, and not a machine, through which the government has to navigate before the accused in convicted (Hall, 2011).
In terms of conviction standard, the Crime Control Model requires that the guilt of the accused is required before securing the conviction of the accused. The burden of proof and the production of evidence on the part of the government are less stringent compared to the system that focuses on due process. On the part of the Due Process Model, the legal and factual guilt are required to secure the conviction of the accused. The government has high burdens of production and proof of evidence (Hall, 2011, p.317).
According to Cole and Gertz (2013), the common ground between the two models is that despite their several purposes, they serve as guidelines for judge to handle the actual or positive operation of the criminal justice system. Such common ground is important to ensure that crimes will not go unpunished and the offenders who are responsible for such crimes will have to pay for the wrongs committed to society. However, it is imperative that civil rights are also protected by giving the accused the opportunity to defend himself and prove his innocence. There must be a formal trial before a tribunal that will study the facts and follow a procedure before a verdict is reached.
Question No. 2
The Blacks are have a greater probability to be arrested and imprisoned for drug use compared to White offenders. The reasons for this trend are racial profiling on the part of the arresting officers and police brutality. Police brutality is one of the main reasons for instilling fear to the community. Such occurrence can be compared to public execution or assault of the Blacks, who belong to the minorities. Studies have shown that several Blacks have been arrested and prosecuted citing police brutality. In fact, majority of law enforcement agencies and investigating officer use excessive force while in the exercise of their functions. Since the police are given the liberty to use their own discretion, their authority can be abused in the sense that they treat offenders in disparate approach. There are police officers who maltreat members of minority groups, male offenders, and juvenile delinquents. Racial discrimination is regarded as the prevalent form of discrimination on the part of the police. According the Harr, Hess and Orthmann (2011) racial profiling generally happens when discriminatory practices and treatment are applied to racial or ethnic groups while the police officers enforce the law. The racial profiling committed by the police is an illegal act, and protected right under the Fourteenth Amendment. Law enforcement officers may be accused of discrimination due to the broad discretion provided to them by law.
In my opinion, there must be a change on the policies on arrest by the law enforcement agencies. The use of force by the police must also be employed only as a means for the fulfillment of responsibility, but should not be abused in order to instill fear to the community. The police must employ force in a reasonable manner by taking into consideration the facts and circumstances for every arrest, and at the same time, ensure the safety of the arresting officers.
Based on the study of Hackney and Glaser (2013), based on the recent profiling trends, they found that Blacks did not cheat more when Whites were ostensibly profiled. There are several factors that were considered to reach this finding. The first factor is the prevalence of racial profiling, wherein the Blacks may feel as if they are being monitored by authorities for transgressions. The second factor is that since the Blacks belong to lower status and being minority group members, the White identity may appear less salient. As a result, there is inference that the White-targeted racial profiling is less likely to happen. In addition, some legal and economic experts believe that the economics of transgressing are different for minorities as compared to the majority group members. In my opinion, racial profiling is a form of racial discrimination because a person is given unfair treatment on the basis of race or ethnicity and the color of his skin. This constitutes a violation of the due process concept under the constitution which mandates that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without reasonable and unlawful procedures.
It is recommended that the police force must undergo training processes that will avoid any incidence of racial profiling. The benefits of training police personnel on racial profiling issues will help eliminate any form of discrimination during arrests. It is best for the new recruits and existing officers to go through seminars and trainings to help them become more efficient in their decision-making process (Harr et al., 2011).
References:
Cole, G. and Gertz, M. (2013). The Criminal Justice System, 10th ed. OH: Cengage.
Hackney, A. A., & Glaser, J. (2013). Reverse Deterrence in Racial Profiling: Increased
Transgressions by Nonprofiled Whites. Law & Human Behavior (American
Psychological Association), 37(5), 348-353.
Hall, D.E. (2011). Criminal Law and Procedure, 6th ed. New York: Delmar Cengage.
Harr, J.S., Hess, K.M. and Orthmann, C.M. (2011). Constitutional Law and the Criminal
Justice System. California: Cengage.
