Class Name, Instructor Name Date, Semester Criminology 2011 Chapter 17 PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT

Class Name,Instructor Name

Date, Semester

Criminology 2011

Chapter 17

PROSECUTION AND

PUNISHMENT

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved


17.1

17.2

17.3

Understand the functioning of the criminal courts under the so-called adversary system, including the

impact of plea bargaining, which reveals the adversary process as largely a myth.

Understand the relationship between punishment, social structure, and inequality, including the specific effects of social class, race, ethnicity, and gender on

conviction and sentencing.

Be familiar with the impact of punishment on crime and the evidence against a deterrent effect and an

incapacitation effect.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES



17.4Be acquainted with the death penalty debate, including the relative costs of execution versus life sentences; general deterrence and the death penalty; arbitrariness and racial

discrimination in the death penalty's application; the quality of legal representation of capital crime defendants; and wrongful

executions.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES



Understand the functioning of the criminal courts under the so-called adversary system, including the impact of plea bargaining, which reveals the adversary process as largely a myth.

Learning ObjectivesAfter this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes

17.1



Federal System

State System

17.1



Criminal Law

Civil Law

17.1


17.1

Prosecution Defense

7


17.1

Plea-Bargaining



Understand the relationship between punishment, social structure, and inequality, including the specific effects of social class, race, ethnicity, and gender on conviction and sentencing.


17.2


Crime

10

17.2

Punishment

Inequality

Social Structure


17.2

How might social class impact conviction and sentencing?

Social Class

Conviction and

Sentencing


17.2

Does race and ethnicity impact conviction and sentencing?

Race and Ethnicity

Conviction and

Sentencing


17.2

Does gender impact conviction and sentencing?

Gender

Conviction and

Sentencing



Be familiar with the impact of punishment on crime and the evidence against a deterrent effect and an incapacitation effect.


17.3


17.3

Does punishment impact crime?


17.3

Deterrent Effect of Punishment

Decreases in crime rates have not always accompanied huge increases in incarceration

At state level only weak and inconsistent relationship between severity of punishment and crime rates

Decreases in crime do not generally occur after harsher penalties

Increase in prisoners has forced early release of convicted offenders already there

Lack of evidence in studies to support argument


17.3

Incapacitation Effect of Punishment

Assumes we don’t have enough people already in prison and there’s room for more

Assumes chronic offenders can be easily identified

Increase in incarceration last few decades may make crime problem worse

Ignores fact any extra people put in prisons are only a small % of all offenders



Be acquainted with the death penalty debate, including the relative costs of execution versus life sentences; general deterrence and the death penalty; arbitrariness and racial discrimination in the death penalty's application; the quality of legal representation of capital crime defendants; and wrongful executions.


17.4

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved19

17.4

Oppose

Does Not Deter Crime

Innocent People HaveBeen Executed

Lowers Society to Same Moral as Murderer

Imposed in Haphazard and Random Fashion

Human Life Is Sacred

Imposed Disproportionately on Ethnic Minorities

Goes Against Precepts of Most Organized

Religions

It’s More Expensive Than Imprisonment

Internationally Viewed as Inhumane and Barbaric

There Is a Better Alternative (Life Without

Parole)

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved20

17.4

Support

Discount Opponents Claims (In Previous Slide)

Death Is Deserved by Those Who Commit Heinous Acts

Justice for the Victim’s/Victims’ Families

“Eye for an Eye”



17.1

17.2

17.3

Understand the functioning of the criminal courts under the so-called adversary system, including the

impact of plea bargaining, which reveals the adversary process as largely a myth.

Understand the relationship between punishment, social structure, and inequality, including the specific effects of social class, race, ethnicity, and gender on

conviction and sentencing.

Be familiar with the impact of punishment on crime and the evidence against a deterrent effect and an

incapacitation effect.

CHAPTER SUMMARY



17.4Be acquainted with the death penalty debate, including the relative costs of execution versus life sentences; general deterrence and the death penalty; arbitrariness and racial

discrimination in the death penalty's application; the quality of legal representation of capital crime defendants; and wrongful

executions.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Documents

Class Name, Instructor Name Date, Semester Criminology 2011 Chapter 17 PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT