Contrast the due process and crime control models of criminal justice.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The crime control model's key goal is the repression of criminal conduct, which is accomplished by apprehending, convicting, and punishing offenders. The crime control model advocates expeditious processing of offenders and reliance on informal fact-finding by the police and prosecutors to achieve the correct result. Crime is a breakdown of individual responsibility and self-control and that punishment acts a deterrent, as well as incapacitates offenders. The elimination of loopholes like the exclusionary rule and insanity defense are necessary to keep offenders from beating the system.The due process model emphasizes protecting individual rights. Though concerned about crime, they believe that granting too much leeway to police will only result in loss of freedom and civil liberties of all. The due process model supports the presumption of innocence and enforces beliefs that formal fact-finding in an adversarial process will achieve the correct result. What the crime control model views as obstacles to justice are seen by due process advocates as necessary checks on unwarranted prosecutions. Emphasis is on the need to reform people through rehabilitation, which is best accomplished through increased use of community-based sentencing alternatives rather than prison sentences.