Crime Control v Due Process
Here are the three points to hit.
– What, according to Herbert Parker , does the Crime Control Model emphasize as goals? Contrast this with the goals of the Due Process model.
– Taking favor in Due Process: How does this personal perspective about crime and justice shape what you know, and believe, about the justice system?
– Which perspective is dominant in the media? Provide examples of this perspective in action.
Below is the link for the three minute YouTube video.
Additional information that may help:
This discussion requires some personal reflection. I use this activity in many of my classes because it is important to consider how personal views impact, and often limit, what we learn. Our society offers many opportunities to define ourselves as “conservatives” or “liberals.” While the terminology is inaccurate, most of us know where we fall along this spectrum. Some of us are also very libertarian, an ideology that doesn’t always fit the conservative/liberal dichotomy. We also have personal views and ideologies about crime and justice, similar to other political perspectives, but defined in different ways.
Our initial discussion focuses on the crime control “assembly line” and due process “obstacle course.” Herbert Packer’s theories provide us with another way to categorizes our ideological perspectives. Ideally, we will also reflect on the policy realities of these ideological choices.
Some of us want more efficient justice, and our media and politicians certainly support the “lock ’em up” mentality, while others have serious concerns about the realities of error in an efficient system. Efficiency is great for totalitarian regimes, a reality clearly understood by the framers of the Constitution of the United States.
