Criminal Justice as a NON-System
In the criminal justice system, there are three divisions. Law enforcement consists of the police force and have the primary focus on crime prevention, crime detection, and apprehending suspects for crimes committed. Next, the judiciary determines the level of punishment based on two simple factors e.g. whether it is the suspect’s first time offense or the suspect has shown a history of delinquent behavior. Finally, corrections handles all punishments from first time offenders on probation to hardcore convicts in prisons. Some view law enforcement, the judiciary, and corrections as intertwined but a segregated criminal justice system. This brief essay plans to explore the criminal justice system as a NON-system.
Law enforcement within a town can be intertwined but segregated. For example, in Old Town, Maine, there were two primary law enforcement divisions. Both law enforcement divisions were trained police officers with community college education levels, police training, and mental illness training. (Davidson, 2016) The Old Town police department was responsible for the town and surrounding villages not including tribal land. The Penobscot Island tribal police handled the indigenous law enforcement challenges. When a murder happened within the city then the Old Town police would handle apprehension. However, if a drunk and disorderly happened within the city with an indigenous person then the Old Town police would ring the Penobscot Island tribal force to take care of the indigenous perpetrator. Law enforcement of all flavors work together as well as separate which makes some smart people consider law enforcement part of the NON-criminal justice system.
The judiciary is also intertwined but a segregated part of the criminal justice system. The judiciary consists of judges, clerks, lawyers, the courts, tribal council, etc. (Neubauer, & Fradella, 2012) Each position within the judiciary differently handles the jobs. For example, prosecutors often work with law enforcement to get the alleged facts for a criminal proceeding. Prosecutors must also establish whether the offender is a first timer or has demonstrated a pattern of delinquent behavior. (Adler, Mueller, & Laufer, 2013) Judges will then weigh the sentencing on the the two factors and must weigh the options. For example, the drunk and disorderly indigenous Penobscot perpetrator might have to come before a tribal council to settle punishments for the perpetrator’s continued drunk and disorderly behavior. The tribal council Chief might then remand the perpetrator to hard labor. An example of the Old Town judiciary, might include handling the murder and whether the judge viewed the pregnant lady’s death as a double homicide or single homicide based on the community’s views of life, and the judge’s personal views and experiences might also determine the extent of punishment. All the levels, positions, courts, etc, in the judiciary operating as a separate and disenfranchised mess enforce the theory of the criminal justice system as a NON-system.
Corrections is the final piece of the disenfranchised criminal justice system puzzle. Corrections consist of many segregated units to include jails, prisons, rehabilitation centers, parole officers, etc. (Adler, Mueller, & Laufer, 2013) Rehabilitation centers focus on getting an individual off an addictive substance and back to being a productive societal member. (Rehabilitation, 2011) Back to the Penobscot Chief’s ‘rehab’ punishment for the indigenous drunk and disorderly, the rehab for tribal people is often hard labor to work off the evil spirits. Where as the punishment from Old Town police for the same offense might include jail time. Corrections works in mysterious ways and thus are viewed as a NON-system.
In review, the criminal justice system is often viewed as a NON-system because there are three intertwined but segregated divisions. Law enforcement consisted of the police force and focused on crime prevention, crime detection, and apprehending suspects for crimes committed. The judiciary punishments based on two simple factors e.g. whether it was the suspect’s first time offense or the suspect has shown a history of delinquent behavior. Finally, corrections handled all punishment outcomes from rehabilitation and half-way houses to in-house arrest and much more. The criminal justice system is a big disenfranchised chaotic mess, but the system still works if one stands back, not nitpick, and embrace the suck. This brief essay explored the criminal justice system as a NON-system.
References
Adler, F., Mueller, G. O. W., & Laufer, W. S. (2013). Criminology (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Davidson, M. (2016). A Criminal Justice System–Wide Response to Mental Illness: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Memphis Crisis Intervention Team Training Curriculum Among Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27(1), 46–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403414554997
Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2012). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Rehabilitation. (2011). In American heritage of the English language, (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
