class: center, middle background-image: url("tsu-logo.jpg") background-position: 50% 70% background-size: 40% # Politics, The Criminal Justice System, & Policy ## CJ 4310: Special Problems in the Criminal Justice System <br> <br> **Seth Watts, PhD** School of Criminal Justice & Criminology <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> August 25, 2025 --- class: middle ## Overview 1. Know the syllabus 1. What we will cover in this course 1. Politics and Policy 1. Crime Control vs. Due Process 1. Criminal Justice Policy --- ## Important Syllabus Information - There will be no syllabus quiz but please read it over - Pay close attention to: - Listed readings - Class schedule - Assignments - If for some reason you lose access to Canvas at any point, I will be trying to keep everything up-to-date on my [personal website](https://www.sethbwatts.com/courses/) - You will just need to locate this course (CJ 4310) - Also, **email me** if you lose access to Canvas and reach out to IT for assistance --- class: center, middle, inverse # What will this course cover? --- ## The Criminal Justice System (CJS) <img src="crime-trends.png" width="70%" style="display: block; margin: auto;" /> .center.small[Source: [Fox, 2024](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-08-19/crime-keeps-falling-when-will-voters-believe-it?srnd=undefined&sref=U3dOGIDF)] -- - Do the police effect crime levels? -- - Does the court system control crime? -- - Does the correctional system control crime? --- ## Other Interventions <img src="crime-trends.png" width="70%" style="display: block; margin: auto;" /> .center.small[Source: [Fox, 2024](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-08-19/crime-keeps-falling-when-will-voters-believe-it?srnd=undefined&sref=U3dOGIDF)] -- - Do community members informally (or formally) help reduce crime? -- - What about the physical environment? Does improved lighting reduce victimization rates? -- - Does gun shot detection systems help police respond quicker and apprehend offenders? -- - Does employment lead to reductions in offending? --- class: center, middle, inverse # Politics and Policy Mays & Ruddell (2019) Ch. 1 --- ## Why Start with Politics and Policy? - The CJS does not exist in a vacuum - It exists within a larger structure of legal, political, and social influences - Shifts between so called "lenient" and "tough-on-crime" policies are largely a result of the political process - This process plays out across local-, state-, and federal-levels ??? --- ## What are the Sources of Law? <div style="position: absolute; top: 2em; right: 1em; width: 400px;"> <img src="bill.png" style="width: 75%;" /> </div> -- - **Constitutional law** -- - **Common law** -- - **Statutory law** -- - **Case law** -- - **Administrative (Regulatory) law** ??? - Ex. Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth Amendments - Ex. Murder: “the killing of another human being with malice aforethought.” - Ex. Murder (First, Second, Third degree; codified in statute) - Ex. Tennessee v. Garner (1985) - Ex. Clean Water Act enforced by Environmental Protection Agency --- class: center, middle, inverse ## What is Public Policy? > At its core, policy is a course of action or a direction established by one of the three branches of government—executive, legislative, or judicial— or by the permanent bureaucracy housed in administrative agencies. .right[Mays & Ruddell, 2019: p. 5] --- ## What is Public Policy? -- - **Policy issues** - Substantive v. Symbolic -- - **Actors** - High ranking officials, judges, front-line personnel -- - **Resources** - Allocation and distribution -- - **Institutions** - Three branches of government across local-, state-, and federal-levels ??? - symbolic = "quick fixes" (e.g., superficial responses) - substantive = issues arising from the public --- ## Developing Policy in the CJS Stages of policy development in the CJS: <div style="position: absolute; top: 7em; right: 15em; height: 300px; width: 350px;"> <img src="policy-process.png" style="width: 100%;" /> <p style="font-size: 0.75em; text-align: center; margin-top: 0.2em;">Generated using ChatGPT</p> </div> </div> ??? 1. Agenda setting - whats the problem? 2. Policy formulation - development of alternatives to address problem 3. Policy implementation - actionable mechanisms to adopt and incorporate alternative response 4. Policy impact - did the intervention address the problem? 5. Policy evaluation - how effective is the intervention? 6. Policy termination - Do we want to keep this approach? --- ## Example of Policymaking | **Stage** | **Example** | |------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Problem → | 95% of BWC footage is never reviewed by anyone. | | Formulate → | Companies offer AI tools to review BWC footage automatically. | | Implement → | Departments adopt AI tools to analyze and transcribe BWC data. | | Impact → | Does the AI process 100% of footage and influence officer behavior? | | Evaluate → | Track platform usage and behavior change metrics. | | Terminate? → | Determine if the tool is cost-effective and worth continuing. | .center[↑ This assumes linearity in the process; which is rarely the case] --- class: center, middle, inverse # Crime Control vs. Due Process Mays & Ruddel (2019) Ch. 2 --- <img src="cc-dp.png" width="100%" style="display: block; margin: auto;" /> .center.small[Generated with ChatGPT] ??? - Herbert Packer describes these two models as *viewpoints* not correct or wrong models, per se - A CJS likely embodies both viewpoints; It's not an either or scenario --- ## Comparing the Models |**Feature** |**Crime Control Model** |**Due Process Model** | |-----------------|---------------------------|-------------------------| |Presumption |Guilty |Innocent | |Concern |False negatives |False positives | |Model metaphor |Assembly line |Obstacle course | |Examples |SQF, three-strikes laws, mandatory minimums |Miranda rights, eliminating cash bail, protections against warrantless searches | -- - Due process is mentioned in the 5th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution - 5th: "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." - 14th: "No State ... shall deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." - The CJS also moves along the spectrum when culture shifts (e.g., post-George Floyd resulted in a momentous shift towards the due process model) ??? - note the presumption of guilt is not intended to mean that the defendant will receive no trial if they wish, it is a matter of factual guilt (e.g., it is more likely than not that this individual did commit crime x) --- ## .center[Critiquing the Two Models] .pull-left[ ### .center[Crime Control Model] - Elevated false positive risk (e.g., wrongful convictions) - Potential loss of legitimacy - Authoritarian-like ] .pull-right[ ### .center[Due Process Model] - Inefficient - Resource intensive - Justice for victims may be delayed ] --- class: center, middle, inverse # Criminal Justice Policy Mays & Ruddell (2019) Ch. 3 --- ## Understanding Criminal Justice Policy - Oftentimes policies are irrational, solely influenced by political forces, or not effective - Why is this the case? Why can't rational policy be the rule and not the exception? - Lets look at why this may be the case... ??? - As we learned last week these actions are generally impacted by politics, fear, and irrationality - life-long sentences for youth who committed non-homicide offenses, for example (Tonry, 2017) - produced by a host of actors across local, state, and federal levels --- ## Challenges to Having Rational Policies According to Mears (2010) here are some reasons that rational policy takes the backseat: .pull-left[ - The politicization of crime - False dichotomies - Bad cases make bad policies - Symbolic gestures ] .pull-right[ - Public opinion - Swings between extremes - Limited production of policy research ] <img src="trump.png" width="25%" style="display: block; margin: auto auto auto 0;" /> .left.small[Source: [Ransom, 2019](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/central-park-five-trump.html)] <div style="position: absolute; bottom: 5em; right: 2em; width: 400px; height: 250px;"> <iframe width="100%" height="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Io9KMSSEZ0Y" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen> </iframe> </div> ??? - perceived "soft-on-crime" politicians historically do not fare well - "either or" choices: punishment or rehabilitation - rare, egregious, and highly publicized cases elicit emotional responses which lead to emotional policy - symbolic gestures make the public seem something is being done or that legislatures are doing the *right* thing - The CJS is affected by politics, and politicians respond to the public - extremes have the loudest voices and get the most air time - much research is not adequately assessing the causal effect of said policy. Most is correlational and/or descriptive. --- class: middle ## Key Takeaways - Political processes *do* and *always will* affect the CJS and policy - Policymaking is complex and produced by many different actors - CJ policy often falls along a spectrum of two predominate viewpoints (CC vs. DP) - There are a variety of barriers to implementing rational policy <br > > The criminal justice system is not primarily about crime control. It is about maintaining a certain social order. .right[Herbert Packer, 1968]