Monthly Archives: November 2021

The Wedding Cake Model of Criminal Justice

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To end of my blogs for this semester, I want to discuss the origins of the 4 levels of crime, known as the “Wedding Cake Model of Criminal Justice”, my opinion on this model, where I have observed this model being used, as well as an important celebrated case (which you will learn about through reading my blog). It is important and relevant to my blogs because many of the cases I covered were on the “top tier” of the cake, which again you will be informed about as you read.

The Wedding Cake Model of Criminal Justice is a model that expresses the criminal justice process in a four-tier hierarchy. The lower tiers typically include less serious cases and informal processes are likely to occur whereas the higher tiers contain few celebrated cases and more serious crimes. This model we use to categorize the different levels of crime was developed by Samuel Walker. He created this because he felt as though criminal cases were being treated differently and each case had a different level of extremity. 

The first level of criminal cases represent the top tier of the cake. This level of the wedding cake model contains high profile cases that typically concern the rich and wealthy, celebrities, or people with higher statuses in society. Criminal justice professionals refer to these cases as “celebrated cases”. To continue, these cases are handled by the highest level of criminal courts in the criminal justice system. The second tier of the cake contains more serious felony cases such as homicide, rape, and robbery. These cases are likely to have the full and complete attention of the criminal justice system. Just like tier one cases, these cases are handled by the highest level of criminal courts in the criminal justice system. These cases are typically resolved through plea bargaining versus the trial process.

The third tier contains lesser felonies that are nonviolent. These types of crimes are typically committed by offenders who know the victim of the crime or first offenders. Some of these crimes can be drug-related, financial, etc. These crimes are also typically resolved by plea bargaining rather than attending a trial. Lastly, the largest tier of the cake contains misdemeanors which are more than likely to be nonviolent. This can include disturbing the peace, public drunkenness, and minor theft. These cases make up roughly 90% of criminal matters. Police officers are the ones who make the decision whether or not to arrest the perpetrator. If they choose to arrest the perpetrator, then these cases are handled by the lowest level of criminal courts in the criminal justice system. Consequences that one can face for a misdemeanor charge can include community service, fines, probation, or short jail sentences. 

I agree with this model in relation to cases I have observed in television shows and the media. In the television shows such as Law and Order and Criminal Minds, most cases are typically within the two highest levels of the wedding cake. This means that these shows convey cases that concern rape, homicide, robbery, and/or serial killings, etc. In the media, there are cases that can start off in the bottom levels and work their way up to the higher levels depending on different factors such as under representation or wrongful conviction. Cases like Kalief Browder’s are a perfect example of this. More extreme cases like the Central Park 5 and Rodney King are in the higher tiers of the cake. 

A celebrated case that I believe is relevant and important is the Bill Cosby sexual assault case. This case is specifically relevant now because Cosby was recently freed from prison on June 30, 2021 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction. His release sparked a lot of conversation amongst those who kept up with the case all across the nation. He was originally arrested in 2015 and faced sexual assault charges against a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand. Many other women claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the beloved comedian and his reputation slowly began to tarnish as the case progressed. Though these women came forward, he was only charged with the sexual assault of Ms. Constand. He was convicted in 2018 and was sentenced to serve 3 to 10 years in state prison.

It was nice being able to share my blogs with you all and inform you more on my passion about true crime and the things related to it.

 

TedTalk Reflection

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My TedTalk performance was not the best it could have been, and I think a big part of it was timing. If I had one or two more days to prepare, I would definitely had a better delivery. I had to prepare my paper ahead of time in order to have the content for my TedTalk and I also think that if the paper was due before the TedTalk was, my delivery could have been better as well. My delivery at the beginning was okay, but towards the end I did not have as much as my content memorized which led me to stutter and have to fill in blanks accordingly. I only had about 3 hours to memorize,  rehearse, and submit my TedTalk out of all the time we had so this made it difficult for me. I had to take several mental breaks during the 3 hour period as well because I was frustrated that I could not memorize my content or perform it to the ability I know I could. If I had a bit more time or the due dates for these assignments were switched, my delivery would definitely be 10 times better than what it was.

For the History of a Public Controversy Project, I was considering doing the topic of solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a topic that many do not discuss and I covered this topic in my most recent passion blog. The entire concept of solitary confinement is inhumane and cruel and this can have reversed effects on the inmate compared to what the system originally planned. Solitary makes people crazy and do things one in general population may not do. I feel as though there should be more rehabilitative services for those who are in solitary and the ones who are constant issues should be sent to a maximum security prison where there are trained professionals to deal with people as such. Solitary confinement has many views and I think this would be a great public controversy to explore for this project, but I am excited to see my group mates’s ideas!

Solitary Confinement: My Opinion

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Solitary Confinement: My Opinion

As I have done in previous weeks, I discuss true crime cases. As of last week, I changed the route and discussed the idea of killers having fans and support groups. This week in my criminology class, we discussed prison systems and specifically elaborated on the concept of solitary confinement. Many notorious killers such as Jeffery Dahmer and Robert Maudsley are examples of solitary confinement inmates. For this week’s blog, I will be discussing my views on solitary confinement, based on readings from my Crimnology 100 textbook, and a documentary we watched this week, which I will link in the blog.

Solitary confinement is a very inhumane form of imprisonment in my opinion. The “purpose” of this is reasonable, but the fact that there is no limit on how long one can be contained in solitary is cruel and inhumane. The longest one should be held in solitary is 1-2 weeks. In my criminology textbook titled: “Introduction to Criminal Justice” by Kenneth J. Peak and Tamara D. Madensen-Herold, it provides the example of: “While in solitary confinement in a Massachusetts prison, an inmate cut his legs and arms, tried to hang himself with tubing from a breathing machine, smashed the machine to get a sharp fragment to slice his neck, and ate pieces of it, hoping to cause internal bleeding; he eventually hanged himself.” This is a prime example of what residing in solitary confinement, especially as a mentally ill inmate for example, can do to a person.

To add, prisoners in solitary confinement are typically not allowed to make phone calls or have contact visits, and their recreational time often involves being taken to another solitary area, such as a cage as shown in the video, where they pace alone for an hour before being returned to their cell. This is unacceptable treatment under all circumstances. Yes, people do bad things, but they do not deserve to be treated as if they are not human. If one is too much of a threat to be around the other inmates, why are they not held in a maximum security prison with trained professionals to handle them? Also, one can be punished longer for attempted suicide while in solitary and this is an idea I cannot fathom either. This should be handled in a more serious and caring way, on the psychological perspective, not handled in a deterrent way.

Quakers noticed that their original use for solitary, which was part of an experiment to improve prison conditions and rehabilitate inmates, was making people go “crazy”, so why later U.S. officials assume to use it a second time as a form of imprisonment, thinking it would make things any better? The mental health unit displayed in the documentary is a good rehabilitative form of imprisonment and they should take some of the components from that unit and apply it to the general population. This could lead to less people having to be sent to solitary confinement. A lot of these inmates in solitary are victims of broken promises, and this can lead to distrust between the inmates and the facility’s staff. This is more than likely the reason why these inmates want to retaliate amongst staff once they get out. All of these concepts correlate with one another, and if institutions can develop a plan of action that combats all of these possibilities, prisons might be able to greatly advance.

https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-solitary-nation-show/