Week Number One
Web Links for Review:
Bureau
of Justice Assistance
(Click on Crime Trends and review the information.)
Three
Strikes - Serious Flaws and a Huge Price Tag
Required Readings:
The Three Strikes Metaphor,
Gaymond Gozzi
Fear, Crime and Punishment in the
United States, Steven Donzieger
Suggested Readings:
Making the Case for Hands on Courts:
Judges are Learning that a problem-solving approach can stop the
cycles of drug use and dysfunction, Newsweek, 1999
Metro
State Home Page
How
to Access These Articles
PDF Files for Review:
Colorado
Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, Office
of Research and Statistics, Adult and Juvenile Projections
(Note: This is a long document, you do not need to print it out,
the information is in chart form and you just need to get a sense
of what is happening with offender/prison population trends -
in brief, know the trends)
Review the below documents for trends only. I do
not expect that you will know the statistics, but that you will
have an understanding of the crime trends in Colorado.
To read these files you will need the Adobe Acrobat
Reader. If you do not have on your computer, download a free copy
here.
|
Segment Requirements
|
Assignment
|
| Learning
Objectives: |
-
Information about course requirements
and assignments.
-
Review the criminal justice system and
processes.
-
Review information about the US and
Colorado criminal justice system.
|
| Review Topics: |
- What is the role each of the agencies involved in the
criminal justice system? Who is in charge of the agency
and how is the agency connected to the other parts of
the criminal justice system.
- Which of the agency directors or managers are elected
to office.
- Which of the agency directors or managers are appointed
to office and who appointed them to office.
- Who provides funding for the various agencies.
- What has happened to crime rates, arrests and safety
in the US during the past years.
|
| Discussion
Topics: |
- Are the people in the US safer or, less safe as compared
with 25 years ago?
- Is any one agency or individual in charge of the US
criminal justice system?
|
| Writing
Requirement: |
- Describe the implications to public safety of the fact
that the criminal justice system in the US is locally
controlled (fragmented) and lacking in centralized control.
|
| Review Questions |
- List who, in general is elected to office and who is
appointed to office in the criminal justice system.
- Prison population in the US is growing and in fact the
US may have the highest number of individuals locked in
prison per 100,000 in the world. (True or False)
Text Answers
|
Click these icons to listen to audio answers.
Additional Information:
Please review the course description
and syllabus to determine the course requirements for this section.
- The critical points that you should learn
from this section are: The nature of politics in the criminal
justice system.
- What is occurring to the crime rate in
Colorado and the United States.
- Gain background information for future
course topics and discussions.
Web
Page for Hal Nees
