CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS

Criminal Justice Models Julie Perman The court System/CJS 220 February 5th, 2012 Ronald Ramsey

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS The three models of criminal justice that I will compare include the wedding cake, funnel, and the net models. However before any of the models take effect there are four decisions that have to be made before the criminal process can begin. Starting with the state legislatures and congress that are responsible for passing laws and determining what is a crime

and what penalties that crime would have. Other decisions or actions that would have to be made before the crime process begins include: offenders committing crimes, victims deciding to report the crimes, and the police officers deciding on whether or not to arrest an offender (Samaha, 2005). The wedding cake model is layered in four different ways starting with the top layer which is the smallest portion. The cases in the top layer of the wedding cake model acquire a great deal of media attention because the crimes are remarkable, or the defendant is known as a famous person also known as the celebrated layer. In these types of cases usually cameras, and crowding take place that would not take place in other criminal cases. A recent example of the top layer of the wedding cake model include the criminal proceedings involving Casey Anthony, accused of murdering her daughter Caylee Anthony and the case of Conrad Murray found guilty in Michael Jacksons Trial. The second layer consists of high-profile or serious felonies such as murder, rape, or burglary. In this layer the person who committed the crime usually has a criminal past such as a criminal history including serious injury to a person or the use of a weapon when the crime occurred. This layer of the wedding cake model uses the standard procedures of the criminal justice system as the cases are not considered as a celebrated case. However, cases in this second layer have a less likely chance of being released on bail. The third layer of the wedding cake model contains lesser felony type cases that tend to be non violent cases such as drug related or finical cases. A great portion of these cases usually end up with a

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS plea agreement. The final layer of the Wedding Cake Model of the criminal justice process

contains misdemeanor cases. These types of cases are less serious that involve traffic violations, petty or minor theft that are resolved or end in a plea agreement. Another model of the criminal justice process is called the funnel model, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, this model shows the number of crimes committed at the top of the funnel and through the process the number lessens in each layer due to case attrition (Meyer & Grant, 2003). Cases in this layer are either dismissed or referred for treatment or counseling (cliff notes, 2012). The next model of the criminal justice process is called the net model. The net has points that allow some offenders to leave at a certain point of the process while others have a hard time to become free by further trapping themselves (Meyer & Grant, 2003). The police could decide to let a certain individual go with an agreement for the offender to be the mole in order to obtain information on the bigger fish (Meyer & Grant, 2003). The defendants with little or no information to trade tend to not get the greatest plea bargains as if the defendant with more knowledge would. The different points of the net are built in for some cases can exit out of the net and for others exits in the net has yet to be fixed.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS

References
Cliffnotes.com: The Process of Criminal Justice. 4 Feb 2012 <http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-10065, articleId-9909.html Meyer, J.F., & Grant, D.R. (2003). The courts in our criminal justice system. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MODELS Criminal Justice Models