Criminal (In)Justice

Criminal (In)Justice
Author: Rafael A. Mangual
Publisher: Center Street
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1546001530

In his impassioned-yet-measured book, Rafael A. Mangual offers an incisive critique of America's increasingly radical criminal justice reform movement, and makes a convincing case against the pursuit of "justice" through mass-decarceration and depolicing. After a summer of violent protests in 2020—sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks—a dangerously false narrative gained mainstream acceptance: Criminal justice in the United States is overly punitive and racially oppressive. But, the harshest and loudest condemnations of incarceration, policing, and prosecution are often shallow and at odds with the available data. And the significant harms caused by this false narrative are borne by those who can least afford them: black and brown people who are disproportionately the victims of serious crimes. In Criminal (In)Justice, Rafael A. Mangual offers a more balanced understanding of American criminal justice, and cautions against discarding traditional crime control measures. A powerful combination of research, data-driven policy journalism, and the author's lived experiences, this book explains what many reform advocates get wrong, and illustrates how the misguided commitment to leniency places America's most vulnerable communities at risk. The stakes of this moment are incredibly high. Ongoing debates over criminal justice reform have the potential to transform our society for a generation—for better or for worse. Grappling with the data—and the sometimes harsh realities they reflect—is the surest way to minimize the all-too-common injustices plaguing neighborhoods that can least afford them.

Criminal Justice at the Crossroads

Criminal Justice at the Crossroads
Author: William R. Kelly
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2015-05-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0231539223

Over the past forty years, the criminal justice system in the United States has engaged in a very expensive policy failure, attempting to punish its way to public safety, with dismal results. So-called "tough on crime" policies have not only failed to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, and victimization but also created an incredibly inefficient system that routinely fails the public, taxpayers, crime victims, criminal offenders, their families, and their communities. Strategies that focus on behavior change are much more productive and cost effective for reducing crime than punishment, and in this book, William R. Kelly discusses the policy, process, and funding innovations and priorities that the United States needs to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, victimization, and cost. He recommends proactive, evidence-based interventions to address criminogenic behavior; collaborative decision making from a variety of professions and disciplines; and a focus on innovative alternatives to incarceration, such as problem-solving courts and probation. Students, professionals, and policy makers alike will find in this comprehensive text a bracing discussion of how our criminal justice system became broken and the best strategies by which to fix it.

Crime and Justice in the City as Seen Through The Wire

Crime and Justice in the City as Seen Through The Wire
Author: Peter Alan Collins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Social problems
ISBN: 9781611630336

Since the hit HBO show The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, it was viewed as much more than a typical police procedural. Over its five-season run it was praised by critics for its intricate examination of crime, life in the inner city, the criminal justice system, and the functioning of public institutions and the people who work in them. However, unlike other police and crime dramas, the police in The Wire did not solve cases on a weekly basis. The hardships faced by millions of people struggling to survive in the inner city were not softened. Rather than portraying characters as good or bad, The Wire does not flinch from portraying the good and bad sides of the police, criminals, educators, judges, lawyers, elected officials, or labor unions. Indeed, it presents an unvarnished view of the complex nature of the criminal justice system and the web of institutional linkages that impact individuals and society. The show's willingness to take the time to address complex issues and institutions in non-simplistic ways, has led academics and scholars from myriad disciplines to make The Wire a component of their scholarship and university teaching. While this book examines the problem of urban crime and an inefficient criminal justice system from the perspective of legal and social science scholars, it presents divergent and unique examinations of these oft-studied issues. This anthology is organized into four main sections. The first section features a socio-legal presentation of the interconnectedness of the criminal justice system, followed by an explanation of the negative impacts of urban inequality and poverty; it also highlights many institutional failures as well as the impact that systematic pressures have on individuals. The second and third sections cover topics such as police culture and practice, the War on Drugs and the repercussions of drug war policies, government and politics, and harm reduction strategies. The final section provides excellent linkages from the various scenes and themes from The Wire to criminological theory and practice. All of the chapters in this volume are useful in linking material from the show to academic concepts. Each chapter tackles a different topical focus area and they all do an excellent job in citing the relevant research as well as contemporary issues surrounding the chosen subject matter.

Crime and Justice, Volume 42

Crime and Justice, Volume 42
Author: Michael Tonry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Journals
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-10-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780226097510

For thirty-five years, the Crime and Justice series has provided a platform for the work of sociologists, psychologists, criminal lawyers, justice scholars, and political scientists as it explores the full range of issues concerning crime, its causes, and it remedies. For the American criminal justice system, 1975 was a watershed year. Offender rehabilitation and individualized sentencing fell from favor and the partisan politics of “law and order” took over. Policymakers’ interest in science declined just as scientific work on crime, recidivism, and the justice system began to blossom. Some policy areas—in particular, sentencing, gun violence, drugs, and youth violence—became evidence-free zones. Crime and Justice in America: 1975-2025 tells the complicated relationship between policy and knowledge during this crucial time and charts prospects for the future. The contributors to this volume, the leading scholars in their fields, bring unsurpassed breadth and depth of knowledge to bear in answering these questions. They include Philip J. Cook, Francis T. Cullen, Jeffrey Fagan, David Farrington, Daniel S. Nagin, Peter Reuter, Lawrence W. Sherman, and Franklin E. Zimring.

The Collapse of American Criminal Justice

The Collapse of American Criminal Justice
Author: William J. Stuntz
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2011-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674051750

Rule of law has vanished in America’s criminal justice system. Prosecutors decide whom to punish; most accused never face a jury; policing is inconsistent; plea bargaining is rampant; and draconian sentencing fills prisons with mostly minority defendants. A leading criminal law scholar looks to history for the roots of these problems—and solutions.

Justice, Crime, and Ethics

Justice, Crime, and Ethics
Author: Michael C. Braswell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2014-05-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317522281

Justice, Crime, and Ethics, a leading textbook in criminal justice programs, examines ethical dilemmas pertaining to the administration of criminal justice and professional activities in the field. Comprehensive coverage is achieved through focus on law enforcement, legal practice, sentencing, corrections, research, crime control policy, and philosophical issues. The contributions in this book examine ethical dilemmas pertaining to the administration of criminal justice and professional activities in the field.

Crime and Justice

Crime and Justice
Author: Carolyn Boyes-Watson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2018-03-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1538106914

Crime and Justice offers a comprehensive introduction to the U.S criminal justice system through fifteen historical and contemporary case studies. The third edition has been revised and streamlined throughout, featuring new material on race, the war on drugs, police violence, “stand your ground” laws and gun laws, and more. Each chapter opens with an engaging case study followed by an explanatory chapter that teaches core concepts, key terms, and critical issues. The cases serve multiple learning objectives: illustrating concepts applied in real life; exploring sociological issues of race, class, gender, and power; and teaching students the law and processes of the justice system. Crime and Justice is excellent for any course that introduces students to the criminal justice system. A complimentary Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank are available, as well as an open-access Companion Website for students that includes interactive flashcards, links to online video and media, and other learning material. Visit http://textbooks.rowman.com/boyes-watson3e or email [email protected] for more information.

Crime and Justice

Crime and Justice
Author: Derek Dalton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 741
Release: 2016
Genre: Criminal justice, Administration of
ISBN: 9780455238647

Crime and Justice: a Guide to Criminology has been for many years a leading Australian textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students approaching this subject for the first time. The contributors are well known research active academics in Australia who contribute to the criminological debate at national and international level. Fully revised and updated, this 5th edition offers a comprehensive guide in criminal justice and criminology that is well suited to a dual-semester approach. It covers a wide range of topics including: different forms of crimes .. from street crime to state crime and international crimes; who commits crimes and who are the victims of crimes; and how society responds to crime. This book offers a balance between critical and administrative criminological traditions to add to the discourse of crime and justice in the twenty-first century.

The Machinery of Criminal Justice

The Machinery of Criminal Justice
Author: Stephanos Bibas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2012-02-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0190236760

Two centuries ago, American criminal justice was run primarily by laymen. Jury trials passed moral judgment on crimes, vindicated victims and innocent defendants, and denounced the guilty. But since then, lawyers have gradually taken over the process, silencing victims and defendants and, in many cases, substituting plea bargaining for the voice of the jury. The public sees little of how this assembly-line justice works, and victims and defendants have largely lost their day in court. As a result, victims rarely hear defendants express remorse and apologize, and defendants rarely receive forgiveness. This lawyerized machinery has purchased efficient, speedy processing of many cases at the price of sacrificing softer values, such as reforming defendants and healing wounded victims and relationships. In other words, the U.S. legal system has bought quantity at the price of quality, without recognizing either the trade-off or the great gulf separating lawyers' and laymen's incentives, values, and powers. In The Machinery of Criminal Justice, author Stephanos Bibas surveys the developments over the last two centuries, considers what we have lost in our quest for efficient punishment, and suggests ways to include victims, defendants, and the public once again. Ideas range from requiring convicts to work or serve in the military, to moving power from prosecutors to restorative sentencing juries. Bibas argues that doing so might cost more, but it would better serve criminal procedure's interests in denouncing crime, vindicating victims, reforming wrongdoers, and healing the relationships torn by crime.

Crime and Justice, Volume 43

Crime and Justice, Volume 43
Author: Michael Tonry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Journals
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-03-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780226208633

Violent and property crime rates in all Western countries have been falling since the early and mid-1990s, after rising in the 1970s and 1980s. Few people have noticed the common patterns and fewer have attempted to understand or explain them. Yet the implications are essential for thinking about crime control and criminal justice policy more broadly. Crime rates in Canada and the United States, for example, have moved in parallel for 40 years, but Canada has neither increased its imprisonment rate nor adopted harsher criminal justice policies. The implication is that something other than mass imprisonment, zero-tolerance policing, and “three-strikes” laws explains why crime rates in our time are falling. The essays in this 43rd volume of Crime and Justice explore the possibilities cross-nationally. They document the common rises and falls in crime and look at possible explanations, including changes in sensitivity to violence generally and intimate violence in particular, macro-level changes in self-control, and structural and economic developments in modern states. The contributors to this volume include Marcelo Aebi, Andromachi Tseloni, Eric Baumer, Manuel Eisner, Graham Farrell, Janne Kivivuori, Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Suzy McElrath, Richard Rosenfeld, Rossella Selmini, Nick Tilley, and Kevin T. Wolff.