The Consensus, Crime Control, and Due Process Models

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The criminal justice system consists of models and theories that often contradict one another. Of these models are the crime control model, the due process, model, the consensus model and the conflict model. In this paper these models are evaluated and defined, as well as each entity in the criminal justice systems role within each model. Policing, corrections and the court system all subscribe to each model in some way and in a hurried manner in cases that dictate such a response. As described by Erik Luna in the Models of Criminal Procedure, the following statement summarizes the aforementioned most appropriately.

The slippery slope becomes exceptionally slick during times of intense public anxiety and perceived social peril. History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure (Luna, 1999).

Historically regardless of when these types of approaches were explicitly defined and named, they still existed in the different types of approaches used in the justice system by each entity.

Criminal Justice Models

The Consensus Model

The consensus model is based on the thought that people, as a society, will reach an agreed consensus in regard to appropriate criminal approach. “Those individuals whose actions deviate from the established norms and values are considered to pose a threat to the well-being of society as a whole and must be sanctioned (punished)” (p. 5).

In regard to the consensus reached by the majority, the realism approach of what is illegal and who should be punished; the assumption is that those who live in a consistent society can decide moral values and norms of behavior.

[sic] “The society passes laws to control a...

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...s related to their goals is inherently clear as over time the system has done nothing but show improvement. The system is based upon trial and error and much goes into the evaluation of methodology that is used to further improve it. These models are also tracked through community surveys and crime statistics information in every element of the criminal justice system, and have proven effective.

Works Cited

Luna, Erik, The Models of Criminal Procedure, (1999)

http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/bclrarticles/2(2)/luna.pdf

Perron, Brandon, The Criminal Defense Investigative Training Council. The Crime Control

And Due Process Models. (2001). http://www.defenseinvestigator.com/article10.html

West Valley Education, Criminal Justice Today, (Chpt. 1, pg’s 5, 6, 18). (Updated 2009).

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/smith/aj1handouts/gaines_chapter1.pdf

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