Local knowledge in this area is key. It is worthwhile to understand how criminal justice systems and processes differ across jurisdictions but your foundation knowledge should be local. As a start, look up local and national police, justice and correctional services websites using your favourite search engine. In your searches you’ll want to cover aspects of the process as well as the system responses. We’ve noted some nationally focused websites as well as a few podcasts that target aspects of the criminal justice system. In addition don’t forget about fictional depictions of crime and justice. Keeping in mind that they may not represent reality, they are a source of information about issues relating to the criminal justice system and may also convey social attitudes prevalent at the time.
The Centre for Problem Oriented Policing also has useful information about the criminal justice system and processes generally as does the Ministry for Justice.
US websites include Lawyers.com which provides an overview of the process, Criminal Justice Degree Hub which includes information on 50 events that shaped the development of criminal justice in that country and Criminal Justice Degree which provides additional links to the history of several aspects including police and legal history.
Vito, G. & Tewksbury, R. 2009. ‘The Great Books in Criminal Justice: As Ranked by Elite Members of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’, Journal of Criminal Justice Education 19:3, 366-382.
This article will point you to several key works covering the criminal justice system.
Podcasts
There are several podcasts that examine specific aspects of the criminal justice system including podcasts devoted to specific crimes. You need only search the web to find a range of audio material.
For example, a podcast looking generally at legal matters in the US is Opening Arguments http://openargs.com/
If you are interested in trials you could listen to Finish Line which covers in detail the Boston Marathon Bombing Trial.
Or maybe you are interested in perspectives from the prison system. If so Radio Diaries which covers stories from inmates, correctional officers and a judge might be worth a listen, or you might prefer Ear Hustle, stories from inside San Quentin prison in California.
Real life and fictionalized accounts of crime are abundant. Here are just a few and don’t be put off by the age remembering that how crime is depicted is sometimes cultural and temporal.
Making A Murderer (2015), The Central Park Five (2012), Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001) Paradise Lost The Childhood Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) and The Thin Blue Line (1988) are documentaries (or series) depicting wrongful convictions.
Movies about real crimes include: In Cold Blood (1967) which depicts the 1959 murders of the Clutter family based on the book by Truman Capote; Dead Man Walking (1995) which examines capital punishment; Murder at Road Hill House (2011) which looks at the case of Constance Kent and raises issues regarding class (based on the book the Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale); and Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) which is a courtroom drama focused on the military tribunals on crimes against humanity committed under the Nazi regime convened at Nuremberg in 1945.
Fictionalised accounts of crime also depict aspects of the system albeit with a fair amount of dramatic licence. A couple of examples are 12 Angry Men (1957) which looks at jury dynamics and Murder in the First (1995) which depicts prison time.
The podcasters associated with the Opening Arguments podcast (mentioned earlier under the additional resources for the Criminal Justice System chapter) have an additional feature available to Patrons of the site (that is listeners who subscribe with a payment) called Law’d awful movies in which they discuss how the featured movie inaccurately depicts the law. One episode is freely available and looks at the 1993 movie The Firm based on the book by John Grisham http://openargs.com/lawd-awful-movies-1-firm/
You be the judge
Finally, if you are interested in sentencing there are several sources that ask you to be the judge. These sites present information about crimes and get you to consider the sanction you might impose.
