Relevance model of criminal justice in Warren Court
The relevant model was applied in the Warren court to formulate their decision concerning the criminal cases was the crime control model. The police and authority presumed the individuals to be guilty and treated them as guilty rather than suspects. The model assumes when a person has been arrested on crime charges, they must be considered guilty and should face punishment for their crimes (Scheingold, 1997). The court therefore applied this model to rule the cases on individualism basis not communism.
The court argued that the individual rights were not protected during the police procedure. The perpetrators were tortured during interrogation in order to confess on their actions. For instance, Miranda was tortured by the police who violated his right to remain silence during interrogation (Lundmark, 2001). According to the crime control model, police are allowed to conduct police fact finding, and they are faced by few restriction during their police procedure.
On the other hand, the crime control model could be justified in the Warren court since the mentioned defendants were denied the right to have legal counsel during their police procedure. The legal minds argued that the defendants were forced to provide incriminating statements because they were victimized by the police during their interrogation (Scheingold, 1997). For example, on the case of Escobedo v. Illinois, the ruling of the Supreme Court concluded that the defendant’s proper protection was violated thus, the confession was not considered acceptable before the court. Moreover, the court ruled that the officials were responsible in informing the accused that they had constitutional right to have lawyer who would act on their behalf.
Significant operational difference between the models and applicability
In simple terms, the main difference between the two models is that the crime control focuses on the prosecution and enforcement of the accused and considers them as guilty. On the other hand due process model applies of putting more emphasis on restricting the scope of laws and concentrate more on the accused person’s freedoms and liberties.
The crime control model focuses on the consistent, prompt processing of the accused person in through the system of the court and identical punishment of the accused with accordance to strictness of their crimes. According to this model, prosecution and arrest presume that the accused is not a suspect but guilty (Scheingold, 1997). During the police procedure in this model, the actions of the official are not restricted and they might go to extent of torturing the defendants to acquire the incriminating statement during interrogation. The model assumes that, during the police activity, the arrestee should be treated as guilty in order to make the case proceedings quicker and acquire a quick resolution regarding the case.
Contrary, the crime control model sheds light to the policies that focuses on the criminal justice system’s punishment and arrest of the wrongdoer as a method of discouraging crime and suppressing criminal behaviors (Lundmark, 2001). The due process model assumes that the offender is presumed suspect until proven guilty and therefore, they should be restriction on how the police are fighting crimes. However, the model appreciates the presence of the police in maintaining justice within the system. In this case, the authority should be considered accountable to guidelines and procedures to facilitate consistency and fairness in the criminal justice proceedings.
Generally, the Due Process model is considered to be unbiased and more realistic than the crime control model. However, the elements of the both models embrace the constitutional values. This implies that, the law does not give prosecutors and police the green light to act contrary to the right of an individual unless they are engaging themselves in the law violation. This is due to the fact that the system is not founded on harassing the citizens or declaring false imprisonment. Therefore, the two models should ensure that they do not go the limits restricted by the system, that is, they have to stick to the constitution.
The most applied style in the United States is the due process. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment on the US Constitution allows for humane handling of the suspects before trial. Today in the United States, a person is deemed innocent until the courts prove that he or she is guilty. After that, the penal institutions have the right to apply punitive measures in accordance with the set procedure. The law allows the suspects to sue the police on any atrocities committed during arrest or after arrest. Police have been forced by the law to comply rather than face criminal charges. In addition, the constitution of the United States states that a person is not guilty before a trial. This means that the police treat people as innocents through their procedure of getting information. It is evident in the US that people are mot forced to give the police information through inhumane measures.
It is mandatory to disseminate the information relating to the arrest plus the arrest warrant to the suspect in the US as required by the due process model. This means that the suspect is in a good position to defend himself during the trial to prove his or her innocence. Due process in the US prohibits asymmetry of information. Police reforms have been done frequently to revise the extremes that each side should go. The United States Department Of Justice, through a research on How To Make Police Reforms Endure, have suggested that the changes required for an effective due process model require professionalism and tolerance since it is not such an easy method to apply especially when violence erupts during arrests.
In the US, the suspects are allowed to access legal services. In Escobedo vs. Illinois, Escobedo was denied the chance to access a lawyer. Another incident that caused uproar was Gideon vs. Wayne Wright. It was deduced that a person has a right to seek legal advice even if the value of the case is small. Gideon has committed a $5 fraud hence some legal minds suggested it was economical to hire an attorney. This was a game changer in the way the US laws were as far as suspects’ rights were concerned. This is the one of the reasons why crime control system was relinquished in favor of the due process.Impact of
Crime control is a brutal way of handling suspects. This is because the suspect is convicted as guilty upon arrest. The questioning is not moderated thus; it can lead to physical injuries during arrest and questioning. It is a common occurrence that police who exercise crime control force the suspect to give all the information they need regardless of where guilty or not. Another effect is mental and psychological torture. According to Fitzgerald (2007), police brutality can make suspects change attitude and behavior and may sometimes develop mental problems after the incident.
References
Fitzgerald, S. (2007). Police brutality. Detroit: Greenhaven Press/Thomson Gale.
Lundmark, Thomas. (2001). Power & Rights in Us Constitutional Law. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y: Oceana Publications, Print.
Scheingold, S. A. (1997). Politics, crime control, and culture. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, Dartmouth.
