Overarching Purpose Of Criminal Justice Essay

If citizens do not recognize the legitimacy of the correctional institutions that embody punishment, then the entire criminal justice system has failed. Punishment by the state for crime must be legitimate. The act of punishment must be systematic and not arbitrary, dealt in an unbiased manner and according to rule of law. For years, differential sentencing for crack cocaine and powdered cocaine in the United States reveals an arbitrary punishment that reflects race and class conflict. Such irrational manifestations of punishment serve to delegitimize the authority of the state. When the legitimacy of the state is lost, the foundation of a free society crumbles.

Ideally, the state possesses credible authority. That authority is used to uphold the rights and freedoms upon which a liberal democracy is based. The shared values of a liberal democracy can coexist with the legitimate use of punishment within certain boundaries. Authority is "legitimated power," the ability to wield power, exert power over others without challenge (Levine 2005, p. 1). If the state did not have authoritative power to maintain a criminal justice system, then there would be legitimacy of law. When the criminal justice system uses punishment as part of its overall strategy to preserve the rights and freedoms of citizens, the state exercises a mandate to take away the rights of one citizen in order to preserve the rights of others. Punishment can fall within the framework of a criminal justice system...

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(2010). Punishment. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved online: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/punishment/
Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and criminal justice. Retrieved online: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CCgCViIiz_QJ:moritzlaw.osu.edu/osjcl/Articles/Volume6_1/Fagan.Intro.PDF.pdf+punitive+legitimacy+criminal+justice&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShJXobcMDmglV5TlF0d0d8XPcpqHyHT7gApxqlyHB-ynAXZXXBPBiOhsyEDeO_9hXlAmWbI6NALIf6VspF0Ox77-F-8kGN04vmftun6kxQh1cvaeK8KZQMg92kQ3GRmlfssgPQ2&sig=AHIEtbTOhZcNkalDBm6G11ceblm6HlrRng

Johnson, D. (2009). Anger about crime and support for punitive criminal justice policies. Punishment & Society. January 2009 vol. 11 no. 1 51-66.

Levine, B.B. (2005). Legitimacy and the process why which it is pursued. In Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. Eds. Beckert, J. & Zafirovski, M. Retrieved online: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CE4QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.fiu.edu%2F~levineb%2FReadings%2FLegitimacy_for_Milan_final.doc&rct=j&q=weber%20legitmacy&ei=0yeaTYvCJMOBhQfLh6j5CA&usg=AFQjCNFY2ueJB2ECMxAN1Wz9m0_b248JAQ&sig2=lZTHzm5bjGI4oVULeml3wg&cad=rja

Pilliavin, I., Thornton, C., Gartner, R., & Matsueda, R.L. (1986). Crime, deterrence, and rational choice. American Sociological Review 51(Feb: 101-119).

Sources Used in Documents:

References

Bedau, H.A. (2010). Punishment. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved online: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/punishment/

Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and criminal justice. Retrieved online: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CCgCViIiz_QJ:moritzlaw.osu.edu/osjcl/Articles/Volume6_1/Fagan.Intro.PDF.pdf+punitive+legitimacy+criminal+justice&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShJXobcMDmglV5TlF0d0d8XPcpqHyHT7gApxqlyHB-ynAXZXXBPBiOhsyEDeO_9hXlAmWbI6NALIf6VspF0Ox77-F-8kGN04vmftun6kxQh1cvaeK8KZQMg92kQ3GRmlfssgPQ2&sig=AHIEtbTOhZcNkalDBm6G11ceblm6HlrRng

Johnson, D. (2009). Anger about crime and support for punitive criminal justice policies. Punishment & Society. January 2009 vol. 11 no. 1 51-66.

Levine, B.B. (2005). Legitimacy and the process why which it is pursued. In Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. Eds. Beckert, J. & Zafirovski, M. Retrieved online: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CE4QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.fiu.edu%2F~levineb%2FReadings%2FLegitimacy_for_Milan_final.doc&rct=j&q=weber%20legitmacy&ei=0yeaTYvCJMOBhQfLh6j5CA&usg=AFQjCNFY2ueJB2ECMxAN1Wz9m0_b248JAQ&sig2=lZTHzm5bjGI4oVULeml3wg&cad=rja


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