preview

Due Process Model In Criminal Justice

Decent Essays

Constructed by a Stanford University law professor, Herbert Packer, the Due Process Model starts with skepticism about the morality and utility of the criminal sanction, especially in relation to "victimless crimes" based on consensual transactions. This skepticism is based on the liberal values of the primacy of the individual and the complementary concept of limitation on official power and concerns about the intrusive policing required to enforce drug, obscenity, and prostitution laws. Many police abuses could be prevented if the legislature did not insist on criminalizing such activities. Decriminalization would also reduce the workload of the criminal justice system and allow more time to be devoted to respecting the rights of those accused of more serious crimes. The due process model places much less emphasis on efficiency and guilty pleas than the crime control model. The validating authority comes from the Supreme Court and the restrictions that many courts are interpreting the Constitution have many places on the state's creation and pursuit of crime (Roach, 1999).
“The due process model is concerned with the equality in the sense that all accused regardless of wealth or social status should receive equal treatment by, for example, being represented by a lawyer. Minorities and the poor bear the brunt of police abuse and prosecutions. It is assumed that protecting the due process rights of all accused will protect the rights of the most disadvantaged” (Roach, p.

Get Access