Intro to Criminal Justice
Word Count: 507
AJS 101
Week One - Chapter One - Introduction to the Justice System - Crime and Criminal Justice
Before I started reading chapter one, I knew the basics of criminal justice such as the three branches, the Miranda rights, and some of the steps in the formal criminal justice process. Now that I have gone through the chapter, I have a much better understanding of the criminal justice system. I know it isn’t over yet, but from what I have read so far, I have been able to grasp the concepts in this chapter. As I was reading, there were many pieces of information that were eye-openers. One of the main ‘side stories’ that stood out to me was about Leroy Schad, the sex offender who was convicted in March 2007. I thought it was mind-boggling when I read that part of his probation requires him to have signs on his personal property stating that he is a sex offender. Even though the crime he committed was uncalled for and inhumane, I believe this is a definite invasion of privacy. I am not sure if there are more charges against him, but from what I read in the excerpt, it seemed as if he was like any other sex offender. I have never heard of someone who committed a crime having to ‘announce’ to the public what they had done. Therefore, I will definitely be doing more research on this case to find out why Leroy Schad was given this punishment. Two figures that stuck out to me were the ‘criminal justice funnel’ and the ‘wedding cake’. Both of these were very interesting. When I reached the bottom of the ‘criminal justice funnel’ I was sort of shocked to see that the example started with a thousand serious crimes and ended with twenty-five incarcerated. This gave a bit of an idea of how the criminal justice system works. The criminal justice wedding cake seemed like a creative idea to me when I came across it in the book. I like how the levels are laid out so we are able to see which categories fall into which layers. I am still wondering if
AJS 101
Week One - Chapter One - Introduction to the Justice System - Crime and Criminal Justice
Before I started reading chapter one, I knew the basics of criminal justice such as the three branches, the Miranda rights, and some of the steps in the formal criminal justice process. Now that I have gone through the chapter, I have a much better understanding of the criminal justice system. I know it isn’t over yet, but from what I have read so far, I have been able to grasp the concepts in this chapter. As I was reading, there were many pieces of information that were eye-openers. One of the main ‘side stories’ that stood out to me was about Leroy Schad, the sex offender who was convicted in March 2007. I thought it was mind-boggling when I read that part of his probation requires him to have signs on his personal property stating that he is a sex offender. Even though the crime he committed was uncalled for and inhumane, I believe this is a definite invasion of privacy. I am not sure if there are more charges against him, but from what I read in the excerpt, it seemed as if he was like any other sex offender. I have never heard of someone who committed a crime having to ‘announce’ to the public what they had done. Therefore, I will definitely be doing more research on this case to find out why Leroy Schad was given this punishment. Two figures that stuck out to me were the ‘criminal justice funnel’ and the ‘wedding cake’. Both of these were very interesting. When I reached the bottom of the ‘criminal justice funnel’ I was sort of shocked to see that the example started with a thousand serious crimes and ended with twenty-five incarcerated. This gave a bit of an idea of how the criminal justice system works. The criminal justice wedding cake seemed like a creative idea to me when I came across it in the book. I like how the levels are laid out so we are able to see which categories fall into which layers. I am still wondering if
References: Siegel, L. J. (2012). Crime and Criminal Justice. Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed., pp. 4 - 38). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.