Due Process vs. Crime Control Model in Criminal Justice - Essay Example

Due Process vs. Crime Control Model in Criminal Justice Herbert Packer, a of law at Stanford discussed in detail the two competing models in the criminal justice system. This was in addition to his famous article, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction. The crime control model carries the responsibility of protecting the rights of the populace in any country while the due process model concentrates on making sure that the state protects the rights of the accused. Professor Herbert applies the criminal justice system of the United States of America in his analysis and quotes various examples from the system in his comparative analysis. This is because the criminal justice system of the United States acts as a benchmark of the most developed justice system in the world making it a basic eternal model. The crime control model works efficiently within the criminal justice system by punishing crime and in the process serving as the best tool to detour the occurrence of criminal behavior. It is important to note that the due process model and the crime control model are two frameworks within the criminal justice system under conflict throughout the world for many years. Proponents of the due process model hold that nobody can deprive of life of any individual, freedom, and material wealth including property disregarding the legal processes as well as safeguards. The due process framework requires the criminal justice system to protect the rights of nay person charged with crime. However, the crime control framework for enforcing law bases on the assumption of complete reliability of facts collected by police officers and handles people arrested by the disciplined forces as guilty. In this case, the arrestees are guilty and proceed to the courts to prove their innocence. On the other hand, the due process considers the arrestees innocent and assigns the criminal justice system the responsibility of proving that they are guilty. This marks the first difference between the due process and the crime control model. The two frameworks present the most competing models within the criminal justice system and result in the ever-increasing tension bringing disharmony and conflict presently observable within the same system. The models aim at challenging crime but insist on issuing the most appropriate justice to both the law enforcers and the arrestees. Professor Herbert, designed the due process model to make sure that people arrested and charged with crime have their rights protected and receive fair trial as well as judgment. The model insists on the fact that arrestees need to get the opportunity to defend them during the trial and that the criminal justice system needs to allocate them a fair hearing. However, the crime control model offers a contradicting stand on the same issue. The model proposes a mechanism of handling weak criminal cases in a fast and quick way and in the process discarding as early as they start to avoid congestion time wasting for both the law enforcers and the arrestees. Furthermore, this would give room for the criminal justice system to handle huge and important cases resulting in conviction and subsequent punishment for those found guilty within the shortest time possible. Scholars appreciate the role and significance of the two models within the criminal justice system in addition to embracing their role in helping interpretation within the same system. This is because the complexity of the criminal justice system and its contemporary nature. The system keeps evolving as a result on new forms and waves of crime as well as the awareness of the same. The criminal justice system varies from one country to another and from one region to another. In countries that make up the United Kingdom, including Wales, Scotland, and England for instance, their criminal justice system entails the prisons, the police, as well as the rehabilitation centers including the services they offer. The government funds and maintains these components of the criminal justice system follow the rules and regulations issued by the same government. In addition, scholars appreciate the role of the two models of the criminal justice system because they have constitutional significance enjoyed by all stakeholders within the system. This includes among others the society and employees working within the criminal justice system. While [protecting the rights of individuals in the United States of America, the due process model consider both illegal and legal people charged with crime. This happens through the process that guarantees a high degree of liberties and constitutional rights. The process cuts down the discretional powers bestowed on people who enforce the law, it also limits the laws, and requires every professional member of the criminal justice system adheres to the laid down rules and regulations. This means that they have to follow the right procedure when establishing a criminal case brought before them by the police officers as well as other agents within the system. The crime control model differs from the due process from the context that when the due process protects the individuals charged with crime, the crime control model focuses on protecting the entire society by executing an effective mechanism of enforcing law by using various strategies in addition to prosecuting people that the criminal justice system finds guilty. Similarities between the two models appear in aspects that include a requirement that law enforcers avoid individual beliefs, bigotry, and preconceived notion as well as discriminations to situations. A judge for instance, should make the same decision under the same conditions on a similar case even in different regions. The crime control model presents another diversion point between the two models. The framework posits that an individual otherwise called an arrestee or a suspect is guilty before the law enforcers present him or her to the courts of law. On the contrary, the due process model carries the presumption that an arrestee is innocent until the law enforcers prove in a court of law that he or she is guilty. The crime control model engages in the movement of people in a manner similar to the conveyor belt. The features of this model include avoiding appeals on cases and avoiding application of pleas on most cases unless it is very necessary and mandatory. In the end, the system that resembles a conveyor belt eliminates congestion because the courts handle and discard minor cases at the earliest opportunity. This system creates enough time for the judges as well as prosecuting agents to deal with huge and more criminal cases. The proponents of this framework within the society point to the fact that it is important because it identifies and punishes criminals within the society within the shortest time possible. They belong to the group of people who believe that justice delayed is justice denied (Maguire, & Reiner, 2007, p. 52). They oppose the due process model in the sense that they consider it a model that constitutes an annoying hurdle or hindrance since it offers protection to the guilty. Most of these protections are unnecessary. Scholars who support the due process of law believe that the structure cuts down on the risks resulting from mistakes and in the process protects the innocent from receiving undue punishment. Proponents of this model posit that it eliminates and minimizes corruption as well inaccuracy and incompetence form the members of the criminal justice system to the least possible levels in the society. Professor Herbert quotes a number of errors in the history of the United States of America in different times that each model dominated the criminal justice system (Misha, 2005, p. 38). Professor Herbert credits major rulings by the Supreme Court with changes in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth as well as the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment for instance, provides various protections to the citizens of the United States. The significant rights include the right to security whether in the houses, as individuals, and papers. Others include effects against unwelcome and unfriendly searches and arrest. The Amendment requires members of the police force to establish a likely cause before seeking and obtaining search warrants or warrant of arrests. The Supreme Court ruling in the County of Riverside versus McLaughin in nineteen ninety-one is quoted and adopted by various criminal justice systems across the world. In the judgment, the court ruled that it is a violation of a person’s Fourth Amendment rights to arrest him or her and hold or detain him or her for more than forty-eight hours without presenting in a court of law. The Mapp versus Ohio case in nineteen sixty-one remains another important ruling by the Justice system in the United States that shaped the criminal justice system in the history of the same country. During the grand landmark ruling, the Supreme Court endorsed the exclusionary rule rendering all evidence obtained as well as succeeding evidence inadmissible during the trial for state-related cases. Initially, the rule was only applicable for cases in the federal courts. Actions by the police to abuse their powers led to the legislation of the Fourth Amendment. The abuse occurred in the process of the police getting the writ of assistance. This constitutes a warrant of search that existed in the era of the American Revolution. Presently, the law requires a [police officer obtaining either a search or an arrest warrant to get in touch with a magistrate of a judge. The two warrants now include the items the police is seeking to search, the location of the place, details of the suspect, as well as supporting evidence linking the existence of a cause. On the other hand, the public in the United States agrees that the Fifth Amendment offers the most significant protections to the people of America (Davies, & Tyler, 2005, p. 77). The amendment remains the only section of the law requiring the police offers to inform or educate a suspect or an arrestee of particular protection rights guaranteed by the constitution. This takes place before interrogation. The suspect has a right to remain silent incase the officers did not inform him or her of his or her rights as envisaged in the constitution. The amendment aims at protecting the suspect from giving the police self-incriminating evidence. This is a type of evidence given by an arrestee and can be used by the police against him or her during the trial. Similarly, in the United Kingdom criminal justice system is a framework designed to respond to criminal activities and constitutes various agencies charged with the responsibility of executing laws issued by the government. The criminal justice system in the United Kingdom combines both the due process and the crime control model to control crime effectively. The concerns of crime control model include among others assertions that control of criminal activities remains the most essential role of the criminal justice system guided by order as a necessity for liberty in the society. The system needs to focus on vindicating the rights for victims as opposed to the process of protecting the rights of arrests (Ashworth, 1998, p. 116). The crime control model also advocate for the expansion of the powers of the police officers. This according to the model eases the investigative functions, search, arrest, convict, and seizure. The model holds that technicalities within the legal framework that make the work hard for police officers should be appealed. It further believes in developing a criminal justice process in a manner similar to the conveyor belt. This allows process to move in the direction of disposition. Other assertions of the crime control model are assuming that the suspect is guilty after a police makes the arrest and the prosecutor initiates charges against the individual. The model avers that the criminal justice system should aspire to unravel the truth while establishing the degree with which the suspect is guilty. However, the due process offers a counter proposal to the crime control model. According to the proponents of this model, the most important function of the criminal justice system is to offer a due a process. The system should also concentrate on the rights of the defendant. They derive this from the bill of rights, which they claim provides the rights of the defendant and not the victim. The model proposes that the powers bestowed on the police officers should be minimized to prevent misuse of the same powers. Employment of value judgment is central to the process of determining the most appropriate model to apply within the criminal justice system. Whereas the due process is a mirror of liberal values, the crime control model indicates conservative values. List of references Ashworth, A, 1998, The Criminal Process, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Davies, C, & Tyler, J, 2005, Criminal Justice: An introduction to the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, London, Long ham. Maguire, Morgan, & Reiner, R, 2007, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (4th Ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press. Misha, 2005, News: Analysis of the Crime Control and Due Process Models. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from http://associatedcontent.com/article/14223/analysis of crime control and duehtml?cat=37 Read More