1.2 The Criminal Justice System

Although U.S. criminal justice thus comprises many systems, all involve a series of events, or stages, that are fairly similar from one jurisdiction to the next. These stages are outlined in Figure 1.2.  Later chapters examine these stages extensively, but a brief discussion is in order here.

The left side of Figure 1.2 begins with a crime being committed. To enter the next stages of the criminal justice process, a crime must first come to the attention of the police. However, around 60% of crime is not reported to the police and thus stays out of the justice system (Truman and Morgan 2016). If the police do learn about a crime, they investigate it. Although the chances of arrest vary from one crime to another, about 80% of the serious crimes that do come to the attention of the police do not end in an arrest (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2017). Sometimes the police never find a suspect, and sometimes they do find a suspect but decide not to make an arrest, often because the evidence is too weak to do so.

If an arrest does occur, a series of stages summarized in Figure 1.2 under the heading “Prosecution and Pretrial Services” then occurs. The police give information about the case to the prosecutor, who must then decide whether to file formal charges with the court or, instead, to release the suspect. As Figure 1.2 indicates, the prosecutor may decide to release a suspect or drop the charges at several points in this part of the process, even if formal charges are initially filed. Charges are sometimes dropped for any one of several reasons: The evidence may be too weak, a witness may be uncooperative, and so on. If the prosecutor chooses to proceed with a case, the defendant ordinarily appears before a judge to hear the charges and to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to allow the prosecution to proceed. Defense counsel is also often assigned at this appearance, as most suspects are too poor to afford their own attorney. At this or a later appearance, a judge decides whether to release defendants on their own recognizance or on bail and, if the latter, the size of the bail.

A later preliminary hearing determines whether there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed a crime. If the judge so concludes, the case is often sent to a grand jury. The grand jury hears evidence about the case and must decide if the evidence is sufficient to justify a trial. If the grand jury makes this decision, it indicts the defendant. In some jurisdictions, grand juries are not used; instead the prosecutor issues an information to the court that is equivalent to an indictment; such informations are also ordinarily used for minor offenses.

This series of decisions finally brings us into the “Trial or Plea” stage in Figure 1.2. After an indictment or information is filed, the defendant has an arraignment before a judge. Here the judge tells the defendant the charges, advises the defendant of her or his legal rights, and asks for a plea to the charges. Defendants must decide whether they will plead guilty; those who plead not guilty must decide whether they will request their right to a jury trial or instead settle for a bench trial heard solely by the judge. Most defendants do plead guilty in return for a reduction in the number or severity of the charges and the promise of a reduced sentence. If a defendant does have a trial, the jury or judge must decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Here the burden of proof is captured by the familiar phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt”: The jury or judge must be very certain of a defendant’s guilt before convicting the defendant. 

If the defendant is found guilty, the judge must decide on the appropriate sentence as the “Sentencing and Sanctions” stage in the diagram is reached. Often a sentencing hearing is held in which the judge considers all the aspects of the case, including any aggravating or mitigating circumstances, and also reviews a presentence report prepared by a probation officer or other legal official that discusses the personal background of the defendant. The judge’s most important decision at this stage is whether to incarcerate the defendant. Defendants convicted of minor offenses (misdemeanors) may be sent to jail for less than a year, while those convicted of serious offenses (felonies) may be sent to prison for one year or more. In lieu of incarceration, a judge may sentence a defendant to probation; in this case, the defendant remains in the community but must fulfill certain conditions and follow certain rules, such as drug testing under the supervision of a probation officer. Defendants may also be fined or sentenced to other types of intermediate sanctions, such as house arrest and electronic monitoring, that are stricter than routine probation but less harsh than incarceration.

Once defendants are sentenced, they enter the “Corrections” stage in Figure 1.2. Many inmates serve the full length of their prison term less any time off for good behavior, but others are released early after a favorable decision by a parole board. Once either type of inmate is released, he or she ordinarily will be supervised by a parole officer and must follow certain conditions similar to those of convicted offenders on probation. If they violate these conditions, they risk being sent back to prison. Once convicted offenders successfully complete the terms of their release (or, if not incarcerated in the first place, the conditions of their probation or intermediate sanctions), they leave the corrections system and are no longer under correctional supervision.

The preceding description applies to adults; a separate process exists for juvenile offenders. The juvenile justice system is part of the broad U.S. legal system but separate from the adult criminal justice system. Its stages generally parallel those for the adult system but are more informal. We examine the juvenile justice system further in Chapter 14 “Juvenile Justice”.

As noted previously, the U.S. criminal justice system costs more than $260 billion yearly. This expenditure breaks down as follows. In fiscal year 2012, the latest period for available data, the entire nation spent approximately $265 billion on criminal justice: $56 billion at the federal level, $86 billion at the state level, and $133 billion at the local (county or municipality) level (Kyckelhahn 2015). These figures represent dramatic increases since 1982, when only about $88 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars was spent nationwide on criminal justice (Figure 1.3). The national cost of criminal justice thus tripled over that 30-year span.

Nationwide, the single greatest expense is for police, followed by corrections and then judicial and legal expenses (Figure 1.4). Expenditures for each of these activities also soared during the past few decades.

A major reason for these costs is the fact that the criminal justice system employs many, many people. In 2012, the latest year for available data, the system employed almost 2.4 million people (Kyckelhahn 2015). The single greatest number worked in policing, followed by corrections and then judicial and legal services. The 2.4 million employees in 2005 about doubled the number from three decades earlier.

The criminal justice system also monitors millions of people. As noted earlier, more than 6.7 million Americans are under correctional supervision. This number includes almost 3.8 million people on probation; about 871,000 on parole; more than 1.5 million people in prison; and 728,000 in local jails. The total number under some form of correctional supervision represents 2.7% of the U.S. adult population (Kyckelhahn 2015).