The Extreme Dichotomy Of The American Political System

Today, in the United States, most citizens are able to appreciate the fair, balanced legal system that is in place. The country suffered many failures before establishing the United States Constitution, and later the Bill of Rights, which became the foundation of the country’s legal system and protection of the citizens’ rights (American Sentinel University). Citizens may take their right to trial or their right to due process for granted, without realizing how life was before these rights were recognized and established. Until the Constitution in 1787, the justice system was not permanent and not quite clear, causing unfair and unjust treatment. Of course, no system can be perfect, but it is possible to discover options that suit the wants

The criminal justice system consists of models and theories that often contradict one another. Of these models are the crime control model, the due process, model, the consensus model and the conflict model. In this paper these models are evaluated and defined, as well as each entity in the criminal justice systems role within each model. Policing, corrections and the court system all subscribe to each model in some way and in a hurried manner in cases that dictate such a response. As described by Erik Luna in the Models of Criminal Procedure, the following statement summarizes the aforementioned most appropriately.

A landmark case that shifted the attention to due process was Miranda vs. Arizona. In this historical landmark case the Miranda Rights got there famous name from this man Ernesto Miranda. The attention shifted to due process because of the fact that Miranda pled his rights were not read to him, therefore he did not know he could not self-incriminate himself. He claimed she was coerced to giving his confession (Miranda v. Arizona). From then on the criminal justice system new they had to do something about criminals trying to flee from the law by saying their rights were not read to them. Police departments everywhere new something had to be done. Therefore the Miranda rights were born all criminals were being arrested had to be read their Miranda Rights, therefore they could not plead that their rights were not read to them that is why the Miranda Rights is an important part of the due process. It is not fair to the suspect to arrest him and not to let them know why they are being detained, or

The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

The criminal justice system in the United States has traditionally operated under two fundamentally different theories. One theory is the Crime Control Model. This theory is characterized by the idea that criminals should be aggressively pursued and crimes aggressively punished. The other theory is the Due Process Model. This theory is characterized by the idea that the rights of the accused need to be carefully protected in any criminal justice investigation. (Levy, 1999)

The contest of strength between the Crime Control Model and the Due Process Model is similar to attempting to satisfy every person, each and every second and no one some of the time. Debates are good for both models, but for all growth on one side, there must be one on the opposing side as well. The Crime Control Model, prosecutor or the police, is not in favor for the Due Process Model, a person, to have more rights than they do. Each and every individual who is a United States citizen should know what his or her rights are.

Packers Due Process Model is much different than his Crime Control Model. According to Packer (1964), “If the Crime Control Model resembles an assembly line, the Due Process Model looks very much like an obstacle course” (13). The Due Process model focuses much more on the rights of victims than the Crime Control Model does. It is focused around the premise of the innocent until proven guilty side of court cases. Defendants feel that everyone deserves a fair trial, and every defendant should have all of their rights under the Bill of Rights. They also feels that the powers of police officers should be much less than what the Crime Control Model does. Meaning that just because someone is arrested, it does not mean that they are guilty. The Due Process Model is also a lot longer process than the Crime Control Model. Defendants can not be sentenced to any crime without enough evidence to prove what they were

The criminal justice field faces the challenges of getting criminals off the streets, and prosecuting them, while using limited funds and manpower. Citizens expect results, and want to feel safe when they are in their own neighborhood. On the other hand, citizens in our democratic country expect people to be treated fairly, and feel the need to make sure that no innocent people are wrongly sent to jail. It is a balancing act of keeping the community safe on one hand, and on the other, making sure that no one’s rights are violated. It is like being told to do a job, but then having all these rules and obstacles you have to navigate around in order to do your job. The following paper is a study of the differences between due

Immemorial, governments and individual citizens have had to walk a thin tightrope between the two ideals. This controversy was the catalyst that sparked the first ten amendments of the Constitution that we know as the Bill of Rights and, how in addition to these rights secured by America's forefathers, a number of institutions have arisen to ensure the protection of individual rights in an increasingly complex world. In order to add balance to this equation, the criminal

As we can see, due process has changed our justice system from hastily-prosecution to time consuming investigation of all the facts. We should stop pre-judging the accused person until all of the facts are made known unto us. Due process has given all accused citizens an equal opportunity to tell their story, and the right to question the evidence that was brought against them. Even though due process has guaranteed the accused person his or her right to be heard

While the due process promises “fundamental fairness and decency,” it does not promise that everyone will agree on what is fair and decent (Johnson, 2016). Throughout history we have clear examples of due process failing. During the 1920’s the state of Virginia’s approved a law to eliminate defects of the human race through sterilization of inmates in state institutions. Carrie Buck a patient at the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-minded in Lynchburg was the first woman to be sterilized under this law. In an effort to avoid sterilization, the case was tried in the Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell. The case, defended by the author of the law Aubrey Strode and tried by his childhood friend and sterilization supporter Irving

The “crime control” model is defined as a process that uses every effort to repress and reduce crime. It has emphasis on speed, efficiency, and finality. This gives it the ability to apprehend, try, and convict a high number of offenders.(Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2013, p. 13) Anyone familiar with “Judge Dredd” is also familiar with the crime control model. Due process is defined as a model where every effort must be made ensuring that decisions are made on reliable information, which shows extreme importance on the adversarial process (the legal system of the United States), the rights of the defendants, and the formal process for

The due process conflict model envisions the elements working against each other as competitors or adversaries. In this model, the integral parts are operating to supply their interest justice almost appears to be secondary as individual rights are the primary concern. The relationship, or lack thereof, is to ensure that no individual is forced through the system without access to their rights and they are respectfully considered(Cronkhite, 2013). Simply put the consensus model mainly centered around public safety, whereas the conflict model views the criminal justice as the system responsible for individual freedoms. The perspectives of community safety versus the rights of the people can shift from back and forth depending on elected officials and who has is appointed to certain criminal justice positions.

In our government today we have due process of law. Due process of law simply means that we have protection against a chance deprivation of life, liberty or property. Within the due process law, if you are to be accused of something it has to be under fair and reasonable circumstances. If we are ever to be arrested of something, under due process it commands that we are taken to court and showed a cause. It is very important that we have due process in the law for the people of the United States. Law enforcement always requires the balancing of two competing social concerns: on one hand, is the government's interest in protecting its citizens and prosecuting criminal conduct; on the other hand, is the right of

1.Analyze the evolution of the American political system. Be sure to include one individual or document that influenced the Constitution and one change in the federal system.