The requisites of Justice

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The requisites of Justice
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The Requisites of Justice

• The absolute ability to identify all law
  violators.
• The absolute ability to apprehend all law
  violators.
• The absolute ability to punish all law violators.
• The absolute ability to identify the intent of
  all law violators.

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Prison Punishment Odds

• Murder of a police officer 23 (67)
• Murder in general 12 (50)
• Aggravated Assault 110 (10)
• Robbery 115 (7)
• Burglary 135 (3)
• Felony Larceny 1110 (.9)
• White Collar Fraud 12 million
• Computer Fraud 1120 million

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Justice Premise 1

• Absolute justice demands that all violators
• be punished or no violators be punished. It
• is inequitable to the law abridgers who are
• punished to allow another law abridger to
• roam free and unpunished.

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Justice Premise 2

• It is inequitable to the law abiders of society
• if known law abridgers are allowed to roam
• free and unpunished.

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Four Justice Delivery Errors

1. Innocent are punished.
2. Guilty escape punishment.
3. Guilty are punished more severely than they
   should be.
4. Guilty are punished less severely than they
   should be.

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5th Justice Delivery Error

• There is a general socio-economic clustering of
• the four classic justice delivery errors, with
  the
• general convergence of error as follows
• A. Poor
• 1. Innocent being punished and
• 2. Being punished more severely than they
• should be.
• B. Wealthy
• 1. Escaping punishment when guilty and
• 2. Being punished less severely than they
• should be.

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What is Justice?

• Justice is the interest of the stronger
• vs.
• Justice should be, the equitable access and
• applicability of rights, privileges and
• opportunities

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What is Justice?

• All governments that have flourished since
• the beginning of time have been nothing
• more than a conspiracy of the rich to
• perpetuate themselves under the guise of
• Statecraft.
• Thomas More
• (circa 1530)

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• Who is not a criminal?
• Those who have not been caught.
• Those who possess a high socio-economic,
  political, legal efficacy coefficient.
• Who are the criminals?
• Those who have been caught
• Those who have a low socio-economic, political,
  legal efficacy coefficient.

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What is a Crime?

• Substantive dimension (legislative
• component, executive orders, court
• precedents)
• Procedural dimension (line level police
• decision, local police, prosecutorial and
• judicial department policy and practice
• local legal culture)

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What is a Crime?

• Unfounding Systematically ignoring crimes known
  to exist (Atlanta vs. St. Louis, Chicago).
• Founding Systematically reporting crimes that
  otherwise would have not been reported
  (Portland).
• De-founding systematically adjusting the
  severity of offenses that are known to exist
  (Washington, D.C.).

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What is Deviance? Who are the Deviants?

• Deviance acts
• Deviants people
• Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

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What is Deviance?

• 1. Deviance is a two-edged sword of
• equivalent positive and negative values.

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Who are the Deviants?

1. Deviant tends to be an all- encompassing label,
   but no one is deviant in all aspects of their
   lives.

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Who are the Deviantsagain

1. The definition of deviant is contextual. It is
   the quintessential relativity. We are deviant
   when we are in a group that is different from us.
   Deviance and deviants depends upon who you ask
   and in what setting or context you are in. We
   are all the deviants in someone elses eyes.

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Population SampleCriminology Students
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Population SampleCoin Collectors
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What is deviance, really

• 4. While there is some consensus at the
• extremes, there is little consensus beyond
• those edges. Definitions depend upon
• values, culture, perspectives, and
• experience. Definitions of deviance are a
• relative, normative phenomenon.

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• 
  

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Deviance and Deviants, Again?

• What is deviance and who are the deviants depends
  upon who you ask, and when you ask it and in what
  context. We are all the deviants in someone
  elses eyes.
• Multiple perceptions of deviance are held by
  different people with different backgrounds and
  experiences, and these perceptions are subject to
  continual change over time. These varying and
  fluid perceptions co-exist and compete for
  prominence in society, and if you have the power,
  you can elevate your perception to a position of
  prominence and have it serve as the societys
  socio-legal definition of deviance, and it will
  stay that way until you are out of power and then
  someone elses definition will emerge supreme.
  The definition of deviants and deviance is the
  ultimate, the quintessential examples of
  relativity.

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Eliminate all the Deviants!(and all deviance too)

• 5. Were all deviants (and their deviance) to be
• eliminated, new definitions of deviance would
  emerge
• and punishment would be meted out accordingly.
• What was marginal deviance before would now be
  in
• the unacceptable category. Deviance cannot be
• eliminated. The extent of deviance is constant
  (the
• constancy dictum). What changes is the
  definition of
• the nature of deviance. As societies evolve, as
  the
• interests of the powerful change, the
  definitions of
• deviance change, but the extent does not.

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Crime and Social Class

• 6. Crime is bound by social class. The poor
• are more criminal than the rich because the
• laws are both written and enforced for the
• benefit of the rich and powerful.

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Deviance and Social Class

• Deviance is also bound by social class, not
• in terms of extent, but in terms of nature. In
• other words, the prevalence or extent of
• deviance is similar from one social class to
• another, but the types of offenses committed,
• the nature of deviance, differs from one social
• class to another (ie., the rich steal in ways
• available to them and the poor do likewise).

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So What Does It All Mean?

• The rich are less criminal than the poor
• simply because they have the power to
• define crime so as to legitimize their illicit
• Behaviors, and have the law enforced to
• their liking, but they are no less deviant in
• terms of the extent of their involvement in
• illicit behaviors. The nature of their
• involvement is different (the rich can steal
• in ways the rest of us cant), but the extent
• of their involvement is the same.

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Is There a Value to Deviance?

• 7. There is a value to deviance. Remember, it
  is a
• two-edged sword with both positive and
• negative components (yin and yang). On the
• positive side, deviance
• a. Serves as a catalyst for change and
  progress.
• b. Provides the raw materials for social
  change.
• c. Forces a re-examination and
  modification of
• values and behaviors in the context of
  new
• environments.
• d. Redistributes opportunities for
  leadership.

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Is There a Value to Deviance?

• e. It forces the opposition to better prepare
  its case and thus in this adversarial context,
  refines the truth.
• f. Responses to deviance inculcate into
• members of society, just what society
  expects.
• g. Draws people together in mutual condemnation,
  thus promoting community cohesion.
• h. Removes bureaucratic red-tape and thus
  provides quicker responses.

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There a Value to Deviance

• Without deviance, we would be a society of
• clones with hemophiliacic minds, incapable of
• dealing with the variation around us. Deviance
• and diversity are mandatory to confront and
• survive in the tumultuous world in which we live.
  
• But, how much and what types? There is no
• answer. It is the quintessential, eternally
  un-
• resolvable query. It depends on who you ask and
• when you ask and who is in power and who is out
• of power, and even then, the answer will be
• different tomorrow than it was today.

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Can we Eliminate Crime?

• Yes, by having the legislative bodies fail to
  function (substantively)
• Yes, by have the police fail to function and
  report (procedurally).
• So yes, but, that is not the point.

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Can we Eliminate Deviance?

• No, we cannot eliminate deviance anymore than a
• physician can eliminate death. It is always with
  us.
• We can, however, change the nature of deviance -
  we
• can reduce the severity of the nature of
  deviance.
• A. Gun/knife example (extent constant, nature
• changed)
• B. Medical analogy (reduce seriousness of
  disease)
• It is our job as criminologists to find ways to
  reduce
• the severity of the nature of crime/deviance
• (financial planner analogy enhance
  individually
• unique portfolios)

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Crime Control vs. Due Process

• Crime Control Model
  Due Process Model
• Aggravates long-term stability
  Aggravates short term contingencies
• Apprehend the guilty
  Protect the innocent
• Assumes deviance and explains conformity
  Assumes conformity and explains deviance
• Authoritarian, trained police
  Social service, educated police
• Burden of proof on defense to demonstrate
  Burden of proof on prosecutor to demonstrate
• innocence at beyond reasonable doubt
  guilt at reasonable doubt
• Closed bureaucratic justice structures
  Open, linking-pin justice structures
  
• Corporal punishment
  Non-interventionist treatment
• Criminal intent of little concern
  Criminal intent of an overriding
  concern
• Discretionary power to police and prosecutorial
  Discretionary power to judicial and
  correctional
• officials
  officials
• Emphasis on efficiency
  Emphasis on effectiveness
• Emphasis on training
  Emphasis on education
• Few confession extraction guidelines
  Completely voluntary confessions
  
• Few search and seizure rules
  Strict search and seizure rules
• Frequent use of the death penalty
  Abolition of the death penalty
• Harm, frighten, scare, intimidate
  Encourage, help, aid, assist
• Harms innocent persons
  Allows known guilty to go free

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Crime Control vs. Due Process

• Crime Control Model
  Due Process Model
• Large private sector police force
  Small private sector police force
• Legal counsel provided on rare occasions
  Legal counsel provided as a right at all
  stages
• Maintain the status quo
  Respond to social inequities
• Mandatory, determinate sentencing
  Indeterminate sentencing
• Many law enforcement officers
  Few law enforcement officers
• Many penalties
  Few penalties
• Maximize level of offender intrusion into system
  Minimize level of offender intrusion into
  system
• National, centrally organized police force
  Local, autonomous, decentralized police
  force
• No pretrial discovery for defense
  Unlimited pretrial discovery for
  defense
• Plea bargaining emphasis
  Complete adjudication
• Presumption of guilt
  Presumption of innocence
• Preventive deterrence policy
  Curative rehabilitation policy
• Protect society from evolutionary change
  Protect society from revolutionary change
• Protect society in the short run
  Protect society in the long run
• Punish the guilty
  Protect the innocent
• Punishment fits the crime
  Punishment fits the criminal
• Quick, informal justice
  Formalized, individualized
  justice
• Rational, economic man theory
  Crime a psycho-sociological entity

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Socrates

• Premise 1 - When liberty is permitted to
• grow without limits, it is at the expense of
• justice and order.
• Premise 2 - The greatest threat to our
• republic comes from those, who in attempt
• to preserve order, would destroy liberty.

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• Justice will be realized only when the
• body politic are internally willing
• to obey the unenforceable.

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Liberty vs. Order

• What types of protections, freedoms and rights
• should be given to what groups of people? How
• extensive should they be? When does the exercise
  
• of these protections and freedoms begin to flaunt
  
• the law? When does governmental control become
• excessive intervention? How much liberty is to
  be
• afforded to members of society and how much
• order should the state seek to maintain?
• www.unl.edu/eskridge/cj101liberty.html

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F. Scott Fitzgerald

• The real test of life is to be able to hold two
• opposing ideas in mind at the same time,
• and still retain the ability to function. One
• must recognize that things are hopeless, but
• be determined to make them otherwise.
• It is on this premise that we must continue.