SOCIOLOGY 362                                                                        OFFICE: 211 COLLEGE HALL

CRIMINAL JUSTICE                                                          PHONE: Ext. 4207; Home 895 8697

TERM 9, 2003                                                                               OFFICE HOURS: MWF 11‑12

CARLSON                                                                                            AND BY APPOINTMENT

                                                      

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

In this course we will examine the components of the criminal justice system in the United States.  We will begin with a brief considera­tion of the distri­bution and causes of street crime and a basic overview of the criminal justice system.  We will then move on to focus on the police, the courts, and the correctional system.  In each of these areas, our attention will be on the components of the criminal justice system as institutions and the social contexts that shape these institutions and the behavior of people in them.  We will examine the history and current functioning of components of the criminal justice system, as well as contemporary reform movements.  Although this is not a course in criminal law, elements of the criminal law will be the focus of our attention on occasion, and the course does provide an important perspective on the criminal justice system for those who are considering or planning careers in the law.

READING
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION

COURSE TOPICS AND READING LIST
PART I. CRIME AND THE POLICE

PART II. PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE

PART III. CORRECTIONS: INCARCERATION AND ITS ALTERNATIVES  

READING

 

The following three books are required for the course:

 

George Kelling and Catherine Coles, Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities

Arthur Rosett and Donald Cressey, Justice by Consent: Plea Bargains in the American Courthouse

Marc Mauer, Race to Incarcerate

 

Several articles and book chapters are on reserve (preceded by an asterisk and followed by an “R” under Course Topics and Reading List).  You may wish to make copies of this reading.

 

A few readings are located on the WEB (the URLs are listed under Course Topics and Reading List and on the course WEB page: http://people.cornellcollege.edu/ccarlson/362.htm).   On occasion, I may hand out some short newspaper articles relevant to our topics.

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 

At the end of each section of the course designated under Course Topics and Reading List, I have included a list of a few articles and books for those who wish to do some additional reading.  These articles and books are available in Cole Library or are available on the WEB.

 

I also have included links to two general criminal justice WEB sites on the course WEB page.  These sites contain links to a huge number and variety of resources on all sorts of topics relevant to the course.  There are numerous criminal justice topics that we will address only briefly or that we will not address at all in this course.  These sites provide resources for you to do some exploration of these topics on your own.

 

An excellent source of information and statistics about crime and criminal justice in the United States is the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  Most of the Bureau’s publications are available on line at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/.  Useful summaries of many of these publications are also available at this site.

 

A flow chart showing an overview of the criminal justice system in the United States is located at http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/cjlinks/cj-flowchart.html.  Clicking on various points on the chart will connect you to lists of WEB resources relevant to that stage in the criminal justice process.

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION

 

Tests: A midterm and a final exam will be given.  The exams will be composed of essay questions on the reading and on material covered in class.  The questions will be of two types: short answer questions that focus on content and longer answer essays questions that focus on explanation, analysis, and application.  The final exam will be comprehensive.  The midterm is on Friday of the second week of the term and the final is on Wednesday of the fourth week of the term.  I will not give the final exam early.

Assignments: Six assignments using WEB and other resources and requiring written summaries are described in the section on Course Topics and Reading List.  The necessary URLs for these resources are listed on the syllabus and can be accessed through course WEB page.  Other material is on reserve.

 

Participation and Attendance: Class participation will account for approximately 15% of your final grade.  I will assign points on the basis of your contributions in the form of questions (including questions to our class visitors), responses to my questions, and other comments.  It is my intention to reward participation rather than to penalize those who choose not to participate.  In general, participation can only improve your grade, not lower it.  However, attendance is necessary as the minimal required participation—be in class every day.  Unexcused absences from class will result in reductions in your participation grade and may affect your final grade in the course.  If you cannot attend class for some reason, please let me know ahead of time.

 

The distribution of points on the various assignments follows:

 

Assignment	Points
Assignments	50
Midterm Exam	100
Final Exam	100
Participation	50
Total	300

 

Final Grade: I will determine your final grade by adding the points for these assignments and for participation.  I will use the following scale:  A 93-100%, A- 90-92, B+ 87-89%, B 83-86%, B- 80-82%, C+ 77-79%, C 72-76%, C- 70-72%, D+ 67-69%, D 63-66%, D- 60-62%, F below 60%.

 

LATE WORK

 

Late work will be accepted only in cases of illness or emergency.  Prior approval by me or a written excuse from the Health Center is required.

COURSE TOPICS AND READING LIST

 

PART I. CRIME AND THE POLICE  

 

Week I

 

Monday: (9-11) Crime in the United States: An Overview

 

Tuesday: (9-11) Criminal Justice: An Overview

     *Herbert Packer, “Two Models of the Criminal Process” R

*Adam Liptak, “Prosecutors See Limits to Doubt in Capital Cases” R

 

Assignment #1:  Megan’s law is the name for a New Jersey statute requiring that individuals and groups be notified that a convicted sex offender resides in their community. Most other states now have similar laws. You will find information on Megan’s laws at the following websites: 1) http://njlawnet.com/megan.html .  Read the documents: “What is Megan’s Law.”  There is also a link to the text of the law. 

2) http://www.klaaskids.org/pg-legmeg.htm.  Read the introductory material.  There are links to information on the versions of Megan’s laws in the various states. You will find additional necessary information by connecting to Ebsco Host via the Library home page.  Check the Social Science Index box and uncheck the Academic Search Elite box.  Type in “Megan’s law” in the search box.  Read “A scarlet letter” and the abstract of “The public safety potential of Megan’s law.”)

Construct a defense of Megan’s law using the basic values and assumptions of the crime control model as discussed by Packer OR construct a critique of Megan’s law using the basic values and assumptions of the due process model as discussed by Packer.  Briefly summarize your ideas in approximately 2 pages, double-spaced.  In your summary be explicit about the assumptions of the model you are employing (i.e., identify what you think are the critical assumptions).  Due at 9 AM.  (10 Points) 

Wednesday: (9-11, 1-2:30) Keeping Peace and Fighting Crime

      Kelling and Coles, Introduction and Chapters 1-3, pp 1-107

Thursday: (9-11) Police Perspectives

 

      *William Muir, “What is a Good Policeman,” pp 3-4, 13-55(top)

      in Police: Street Corner Politicians R

     * Jerome Skolnick, “The Police Officer’s Working Personality” R

 

Friday: (9-11) Toward a New Policing: Promise and Problems

 

     Kelling and Coles, Chapters 4 and 5, pp 108-193

Anderson, David. 199  “Policing the Police.” The American Prospect, Volume 10, Issue 42. Available at this URL: http://www.prospect.org/print/V10/42/anderson-d.html.

Assignment #2: In Chapter 4, Kelling and Coles provide us with an account of the process of restoring order in New York City.  In Chapter 5, they consider the key elements of community policing (which they call “fundamental tenets) and the basic problem involved in carrying out the aggressive order maintenance involved in some forms of community policing: “can police be trusted to maintain order equitably, justly, and in ways that preserve the public peace”?  What solutions do they offer for this basic problem? 

Consider the Human Rights Watch report on the New York City Police (http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/index.htm--click on New York on the menu on the right side of the page) in light of Kelling and Coles’ discussion of this basic problem.

There is far more here than you will have time to read.  For this assignment, read the opening page, Race/Ethnicity, and “Background.” Then skim the material on the “Civilian Complaint Review Board” and the “Police Administration/Internal Affairs Bureau.”  You may want to read some of the “Incidents”

 

What elements would the authors of the Human Rights Watch report suggest are missing from Kelling and Coles’ discussion of this problem and its solution?  What questions does this report raise for you?  Summarize the results of your investigation in approximately 2 pages, double-spaced.  Due at 9 AM.  (10 points)

Week II

Monday: (8:30-10:30; 1-2:30) Beyond 911

 

Kelling and Coles, Chapters 6 (pp 194-206) and Chapter 7, pp 236-257

Eig, Jonathan. “Eyes on the Street: Community Policing in Chicago.” The American Prospect, Volume 7, Issue 29. Available at this URL:http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V7/29/eig-j.html

     

David Dostal and Craig Furnish, Cedar Rapids Police Officers and Cornell graduates, will answer our questions about their experiences as police officers about police work with us at 9.  Chief of Police Mike Klappholz of the Cedar Rapids Police Department will answer our questions about the police task, the organization of police work and what is a good police officer 1.  Chief Klappholz is an advocate and practitioner of community policing.

 

Assignment #3

Chicago’s Police Department has gained national attention because of its efforts to move beyond 911 policing. Connect to:

 

Some Optional Reading for Part I.

 

Skolnick, Jerome. Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in Democratic Society. New York: Prentice Hall. 1975.

 

Abstract: A classic study of police behavior.  The book reports the results of a field study of the police and examines the interaction between the formal rules and purposes of police organizations and the daily work of police officers.  A recent book on the occupational views of police is Danger, Duty and Disillusion: The World View of Los Angeles Police Officers by Joan C, Barker (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press. 1999.

 

Roach, Kent. 1999. “Four models of the criminal process.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 89:  671-716.  Shelved with periodicals.

 

Abstract: “The writer presents four models of the criminal process. He conducts an evaluation of Herbert Packer's crime control and due process models. He presents a non-punitive model of victims' rights and a punitive model of victims' rights—two new models that are based on different conceptions of victims’ rights. He contends that his models and Packer's models both endeavor to offer positive descriptions of the operation of the criminal justice system, normative statements in relation to values that should direct criminal justice, and descriptions of the discourses that encompass criminal justice.”

 

Curtis, Richard. 1998. “The improbable transformation of inner-city neighborhoods: crime, violence, drugs, and youth in the 1990s.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 88: 1233-76.  Shelved with periodicals.

 

Abstract: “The writer discusses the change in inner-city life in New York in the 1990s and looks at the relationship between drugs, crime, violence, and youth development. He draws on ethnographic research that was conducted in several neighborhoods in Brooklyn over the period 1987 to 1997. He argues that the reconfiguration of the drug market in the mid 1990s had a significant effect in reducing the level of violence in the neighborhoods. He concludes that the young people of the Brooklyn neighborhoods were at the forefront of the effort to change their lives, and in doing so, they proved that they were not powerless against a ‘crimonogenic’ environment.”

 

Skolnick, Jerome. “Code Blue.” The American Prospect, Vol. 10, Issue 42. (http://www.prospect.org/print/V11/10/skolnick-j.html),

 

Abstract: Skolnick considers the difficulties involved in prosecuting cases of police misconduct created by the pervasive but understandable “blue wall of silence.”

 

Stark Andrew. “Arresting developments: when police power goes private.” The American Prospect, Vol. 10, Issue 42. http://www.prospect.org/print/V10/42/stark-a.html

 

Abstract: This article examines the growth of private police and the implications of the increasing tendency for the most wealthy to purchase security services.

 

PART II. PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE  

 

Tuesday: (8:30-11) The American Courthouse

 

      Rosset and Cressey, Chapters 1-4, pp 1-84

 

      Film: Presumed Innocent

     

Wednesday: (9-11, 1-2:30) Prosecution and Plea Bargaining

 

      Rosset and Cressey, Chapters 4-6, pp 67-144

      *Heumann, “Adapting to Plea Bargaining” R

      FILM: Real Justice

 

Optional Film: Presumed Guilty: Tales of the Public Defenders.  This film follows several felony cases through trials and plea bargains in San Francisco courts.  It may be checked out from the library.

 

Thursday: (9-11, 1-2:30) Plea Bargaining and Defense

 

      Rosset and Cressey, Chapters 7-8, pp 145-187

      *Feeley, “Plea Bargaining and the Structure of the Criminal Process” R

*Flemming, “Client Games: Defense Attorneys’ Perspectives on their Relations with Criminal Clients’ R

           

Fay Hoover Grinde, Cornell graduate and an attorney with the Linn County Public Defender's Office, will discuss felony court procedures and criminal defense with us a 9.

 

Friday: MIDTERM EXAM (9-12)

 

Some Optional Reading for Part II.

 

Flemming, Roy B. Punishment Without Trial: An Organizational Perspective of Felony Bail Processes. New York; Longman. 1982

 

Abstract: A classic study of the felony bail system in two cities, Detroit and Baltimore.  The book examines the dilemmas that courts face when deciding if a defendant should be freed before trial and seeks to explain why bail processes differ between the two cities.

 

Carlson, Christopher and Frank J. Nidey. 1995. “Mandatory penalties, victim cooperation, and the judicial processing of domestic abuse assault cases.” Crime and Delinquency 41: 132-149.

 

Abstract: In 1991, the state of Iowa instituted a mandatory 2-day jail sentence and mandatory participation in a batterer’s education program for conviction of domestic abuse assault.  This article examines the impact of mandatory penalties on case processing, convictions, and sentences.  The examination shows that punishments increased and convictions declined as a result of the mandatory penalties and raises questions about the wisdom of removing discretion from judges in imposing sentences.

 

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998. Bureau of Justice Statistics Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 1999.  Available at this URL: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/fdluc98.pdf or (if you are using a computer without Adobe Acrobat Reader) http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/fdluc98.txt.

 

Abstract: This report presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the Nation's 75 largest counties during May,1998.  The report includes information on arrest charges, demographic characteristics,

criminal history, pretrial release and detention, adjudication, sentencing.  The report provides critical information about the felony court processing in the United States.

PART III. CORRECTIONS: INCARCERATION AND ITS ALTERNATIVES  

 

Week III

 

Monday: (9-11, 1-3) Prisons and Punishment

 

Mauer, Chapter 1-2, pp 1-41

     *Gottredson, “Theories of Sentencing” R

 

Film: Lockdown at Santa Fe

     

Tuesday: (9-11, 12:30-3) The Get Tough Movement (Meet in Library 108 for afternoon class)

 

      Mauer, Chapters 3-6, pp 42-118

 

FILM: The Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison

 

ASSIGNMENT #4:  Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national organization lobbying for reforms in mandatory sentencing laws.  Their website (http://www.famm.org/index2.htm) presents information on mandatory sentencing and presents their case for reforming these sentencing laws.  Click on the <Sentencing Issues> tab and examine some of the information included—Fact Sheets and Profiles will give you the basic orientation of FAMM.  Obviously, the position of this organization is that mandatory minimum sentences are a bad idea and the website attempts to convince us that serious problems exist in mandatory minimum sentencing statutes. Examine this site to discover some the issues that surround mandatory sentencing and why this organization is advocating changes in these statutes.  In evaluating the position of this organization, what additional information do you think is required and what other issues need to addressed?  Summarize the results of your investigation in approximately 2 pages, double-spaced.  Due at 9 AM  (10 points)

 

Wednesday: Being in Prison: Trip to the Iowa State Penitentiary Fort Madison.  Leave Cornell at 8:00 AM and return at approximately 4:00 PM     

 

We will tour of the penitentiary and have the opportunity to talk to a panel of inmates.  In preparation for our tour and this conversation, I suggest that you listen to some of the audio journals described below.  I recommend the journals of John Mill and Sergeant Furman Camel.  These journals will give you something to talk about on the van trip to the prison.

 

Prisons Diaries.  An All Things Considered National Public Radio series that presents several stories of individuals in U.S. prisons.  To locate the programs, connect to http://www.radiodiaries.org/prisondiaries.html. 

“All Things Considered® from NPR News takes an unprecedented, first-person glimpse into life inside penitentiary walls through the intense, new radio series Prison Diaries.  [F]ive inmates, four correctional officers and a judge were given tape recorders. For six months, the diarists kept audio journals and recorded the sounds and scenes of everyday life behind bars: shakedowns, new inmate arrivals, roll call, monthly family visits, meals at the chow hall, and quiet moments late at night inside a cell. The series is an intimate and surprising portrait of prison life, recorded in a way that has never been done before.”

 

Thursday: (9-11, 1-2:30) Race, Class and Imprisonment

 

      Mauer, Chapters 7-9, pp 81-170

 

Friday: (8:30-11:00) Race and Punishment

WEEK IV

Monday: (9-11) Community Courts and Intensive Supervised Release

 

Joan Petersilia, “When Prisoners Return to the Community: Political, Economic, and Social  Consequences,” http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/184253.pdf or (if you are using a computer without Adobe Acrobat Reader) http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/nij/184253.txt

 

Information on the Hennipin County Drug Court (Handout)

 

Community Justice Exchange: http://www.communityjustice.org/.  Click on the Best Practices link.  Using the menu bar, explore the basic facets of community courts.  Read a few of the project profiles. What are the components and goals of community courts? 

 

Jeff Kapler, a Cornell graduate and a parole officer in Hennipin County in Minnesota (the Twin Cities), will talk to us about the history, purpose and effectiveness of drug courts and about intensive parole supervision.

Tuesday: (9-11) The Future of Imprisonment

 

Mauer, Chapters 12, pp 189-194

 

Stephen Teles and Mark Kleiman, “Escape from America's Prison Policy.” The American Prospect, Volume 11, Issue 20. Available at this URL: http://www.prospect.org/print/V11/20/teles-s.html

 

WEB #6:  In Chapter 2 Mauer presents some statistics on international comparisons of incarceration rates for violent crimes and property crimes.  Connect to the BJS report: Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96 (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/html/cjusew96/contents.htm).  Look at the charts under the following headings: percent sentenced to incarceration, incarcerations sentence length, and time served.  Look at Australian Sentences (http://www.cornellcollege.edu/~ccarlson/australian%20sentences.html), Figures 5 and 6 at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/facts/2000/sec2.html#fig03, and Figures 49 and 50 at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/facts/2000/sec5.html#prisons for some limited information on another country.  What general conclusions do you draw about the comparative use of incarceration in the three countries?  What specific facts or comparisons stand out as most important to you?  What additional questions do these data raise for you?  Summarize the results of your investigation in approximately 2 pages, double-spaced.  Due at 9 AM  (10 points)

 

Wednesday: FINAL EXAM (9-12)

 

Some Optional Reading for Part III.

 

Johnson, Robert. "The Penitentiary: The Birth of the Modern Prison” (Chapter 2 in Hard Time: Understanding and Reforming the Prison. Monterey, California: 1987) On reserve

Abstract: The author examines the history of imprisonment in the United States.  He attributes the rise of imprisonment to crime a variety of social forces and introduces the concept of “the civilization of pain.”

 

Sykes, Gresham. The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum Security Prison. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1958.

Abstract: A classic study on life in prison.  The book examines the fundamental paradox of prison life—to maintain order, prison administrators cannot count on the cooperation of inmates or govern without it—and explains how order was achieved in the “big house.”

 

Lowenstein, Thomas K., 2001. “Collateral Damage.” The American Prospect 12: 33-36. Available at this URL: http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/1/lowenstein-t.html

Abstract: “The writer contends that the children of inmates are the walking wounded in America's war on crime and drugs. He argues that 1.5 million children in the U.S. are children of inmates and that the impact on their lives is profound. He notes that according to the Child Welfare League of America, many kids whose parents are incarcerated lose contact with them and many live in poverty. In addition, he explains the increased risk for children of inmates for doing badly in school or dropping out and for early pregnancy, drug abuse, and delinquency.”

 

Clear, Todd. “The Problem with ‘Addition by Subtraction’: The Prison-Crime Relationship in Low Income Communities” (In Mauer, Marc, & Chesney-Lind (Eds.) Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Imprisonment. New York: The New Press 2002.) On reserve

 

Abtract: The author asserts that the removal of large numbers of young men and women from neighborhoods removes positive assets that reduce crime, suggesting the counter intuitive point that mass imprisonment increases rather than decreases crime.

 

Tonry. Michael,  and Petersilia, Joan. “Prisons Research at the Beginning of the 21^st Century,” http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/184478.pdf or (if you are using a computer without Adobe Acrobat Reader) http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/nij/184478.txt

 

Abstract:  The authors discuss the important issues facing prison researchers: the collateral effects of imprisonment, the crime control effects on imprisonment, prison life and prison subcultures, prison management, and the economics of imprisonment.

 

 

DAILY SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

 

MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
Crime in the United States: An Overview (9-11)	Criminal Justice: An Overview (9-11)         Assignment #1 Due at 9 AM	Keeping Peace and Fighting Crime (9-11; 1-2:30) FILM: Street Cop	Police Perspectives (9-11)	Toward a New Policing (9-11)         Assignment #2 Due at 9 AM
Beyond 911 (8:30-10:30; 1-2:30)   Class Visit: Chief of Police and Officers from Cedar Rapids PD     Assignment #3 due at 8:30 AM	The American Courthouse (8:30-11)         FILM: Presumed Innocent	Prosecution and Plea Bargaining (9-11, 1:2:30)         Film: Real Justice	Plea Bargaining and Defense (9-11; 1-2:30)             Class Visit: Public Defender Fay Hoover Grinde	MIDTERM EXAM (9-12)
Prisons and Punishment (9-11; 1-3)     Film: Lock Down at Santa Fe	The Get Tough Movement (9-11, 12:30-3)   Assignment #4 Due at 9AM   Film: The Farm	Trip to the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison (Leave at 8:00 AM. Return at approximately 4:00 PM)	Race, Class and Imprisonment (9-11, 1-2:30)	Race, Class and the Law (8:30-11:00)     Class Visit: Professor Rogers Smith   Assignment #5 Due at 8:30 AM
Community Courts and Intensive Supervised Release (9-11)   Class Visit: Parole Officer Jeff Kapler	The Future of Imprisonment (9-11)           Assignment #6 Due at 9 AM	FINAL EXAM (9-12)	SUMMER VACATION