Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure Policy Paper

Melissa Preciado

CJA/364

June 17, 2013

Stacie Gravely

The American justice system’s need for an effective strategy to combat crime has been debated for years. The primary goals can be categorized into two very distinct missions: the need to enforce the law and maintain social order, and the need to protect people from injustice. A cursory examination would appear to reflect that the two goals represent a common and consistent ideology. However, the two goals are generally considered to be in conflict with each other. The first goal is referred to as the “crime control model and was developed by Herbert Packer and presented to the academic world in his analysis of the criminal justice system in the 1960’s” (Zalman, 2011). This model places an emphasis and priority upon the aggressive arrest, prosecution, and conviction of criminals. The second goal is quite the opposite focusing upon “protecting the individual rights of the accused and is commonly referred to as the due process model” (Zalman, 2011). Furthermore, the courts tend to incline more towards the due process model, due to the fact that this model supports all citizens, even the criminally accused by securing their rights and freedom, to assure that all individuals rights are protected as stated in the Bill of rights and makes sure is enforce. On the other hand, law enforcement tends to support the crime control model, as they treat arrest as if they were already guilty; mainly emphasizing on arrest, prosecution and conviction of those who have broken the law.

When comparing the due process and crime control models, it should be kept in mind that “proponents of both models embrace constitutional values” (Zalman, 2011). The ways that the two systems work together are few but they do seem to work accordingly with our adversarial system. In addition, due process means that laws must be applied fairly and equally to all people, especially to a citizen accused of a...