Due Process and Crime Control

Due Process and Crime Control Models of Criminal Processing

The manner in which criminal justice is sought in a court of law will depend upon an array of factors. Including among them is the nature of the crime, the cultural context in which the individual is tried and the philosophical orientation of the legal personnel on all sides who will control the defendant's fate. As to this philosophy, there are two broad categories that help to suggest the orientation and some of the expected outcomes of any given criminal trial. The Crime Control Model and the Due Process Model, though ideological counterpoints, will typically exist in some balance for most objective legal professionals.

Comparison:

In a comparative discussion of the two forms, Packer's (1968) text acknowledges, there are certain agreed-upon commonalities that descend from the American legal system itself. Packer indicates that both approaches to the administration of justice share interests and regulatory responsibilities, remarking that "A model of the criminal process that left out of account relatively stable and enduring features of the American legal system would not have much relevance to our central inquiry. For convenience, these elements of stability and continuity can be roughly equated with minimal agreed limits expressed in the Constitution of the United States and, more importantly, with unarticulated assumptions that can be perceived to underlie those limits." (Packer, p. 2)

That said, these basic limits within the legal system are typically extrapolated by attorneys, judges and justices to the end of competing ideologies. Those taking the Crime Control Model as the dominant philosophy will tend to view the prosecution and prevention of further crime the goal of utmost importance in the administration of criminal justice. (Packer, p. 4) This may be taken to mean that the advocate of this approach favors a mode in which prosecution is more likely than acquittal and in which certain extremities in enforcement and sentencing will be more common.

This 'law and order' approach, however, will tend to invoke discomfort amongst civil libertarians, who will object to the danger that this poses to the constitution. Accordingly, we consider the Due Process Model of criminal justice, which U.S. Legal (2010) identifies as a mode of administration which emphasizes procedural regularity, adherence to the terms of the Constitution and meaningful commitment to the notion of innocent until proven guilty. As USLegal reports, "A person is entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard at a hearing when they have life, liberty. Or property at stake. Laws should be applied to persons equally, without discrimination on prohibited grounds, such as gender, nationality, handicap, or age. In criminal cases, fair procedures help to ensure that an accused person will not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment." (USLegal, p. 1)

Conclusion: