LAWS 3306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Process Theory, Mitigating Factor, Equal Protection Clause
Document Summary
Lecture 1: crime, law, process, and politics: the criminal process. As well, most people that go to cases are charged for offences: models issues. The idea of crime control dominated the criminal justice system for the longest time. The idea was that through criminal law you can control crime. The due process theory became a large aspect in 1982 due to the charter of rights and freedoms. Criminal process: the activities and the actors that refer to crime. Think of crime as an inverted triangle where most of the crime goes unreported and never enters that triangle. At the top of the triangle is this area. Once the police get involved, then the crime enters that triangle. The criminal justice program acts as a funnel and funnels these charges through the system. This makes sense because the further you go into the criminal justice program, the less cases you see. Plea bargain: most cases are dealt with plea bargains.