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Senior Capstone:Criminal JusticeBy

Joseph D. Burruano

About the Author

Joseph D. Burruano obtained his juris doctor, with honors, fromSt. John’s University School of Law in New York. Upon graduationhe worked in the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New YorkCity, where he honed his litigation and trial skills. Later, he servedas executive assistant district attorney for litigation in the NassauCounty District Attorney’s Office. He has lectured and taught atvarious colleges, universities, and police academies and has receivedseveral awards and honors for his work. Mr. Burruano has practicedlaw in New York State and in the federal courts. He currently residesin Pennsylvania.

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Congratulations on the effort and diligence that has broughtyou to this point in your criminal justice studies. You’ve com-pleted some of the most important courses in the disciplineand are able to view the criminal justice system from a newperspective. Your Senior Capstone Project will test your newlyacquired knowledge and examine your insider’s view of thecriminal justice system.

For Part 1 of this project, you’ll review the Fourth Amendment tothe United States Constitution and the history of search-and-seizure laws. Then, after reading the fact pattern of a case,you’ll discuss how the laws relate to a specific instance anddecide how the law would apply in your state. You’ll also critiquethe law as you applied it to the case under consideration.

In Part 2, you’ll address the debate about individuals’ rights—of both the accused and the victims. After some research andexploration of your own moral philosophy, you’ll decide whatwould make a more humane, just, and moral criminal justicesystem. You’ll draft a new criminal justice system for a partic-ular jurisdiction according to your own standards, the onlycondition being that it must meet current federal constitutionallaw standards.

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Previe

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THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW 1

PART 1: FREEDOM, MORALITY, AND THE LAW 3

PART 2: DICHOTOMY IN ACTION 11

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT 15

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Contents

Contents

1

The U.S. Constitution and the Law

INTRODUCTIONIf you were to stop the average person on the street and askwhat government “system” is the most important for peace of mind, certainly many people would answer with concernsabout security and safety. Threats from both internal andexternal sources are apparent, and we rely upon the govern-ment to address them and keep us as safe as possible. For our purposes, we’ll be looking at issues that relate tomost Americans’ lives and that are covered by the criminaljustice system.

As you know, the laws that form the boundaries of the criminal justice system are passed by the legislative branch of government, from city, county, state, and federal bodies.These laws, while important, tell only part of the criminaljustice story. The laws must also be vigorously enforced. This function falls mainly upon law enforcement in all itsdiverse manifestations.

On the federal level, enforcement is conducted by the FederalBureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The prosecutionrole in the federal system is conducted by the Department ofJustice, with individual U.S. attorneys located in jurisdictionsthroughout the nation. The Attorney General also fulfills an

Senior Capstone:

Criminal Justice

Senior Capstone: Criminal Justice2

important federal enforcement role. On the state and local levels,state troopers and police departments perform the enforcementfunction, with local district attorneys handling the prosecutions.

The third and final phase is that of administration.Administration of the law is the role played out in courts all over the country, on local, state, and federal levels.Obviously, the higher the court, the more authority it has informulating the conduct and content of the criminal justicesystem. The Supreme Court of the United States is the finalarbiter and controlling voice on all constitutional issues andis entrusted with safeguarding “the supreme law of the land.”However, other courts are just as important in their ownterritorial spheres. The courts sanction and punish the guiltyand strive to protect the rights of all citizens, including thoseaccused of violating our laws.

The system is far from perfect. Innocent people are arrested,while guilty people are sometimes never apprehended. Theinnocent are sometimes convicted and the guilty sometimeswalk free. Some feel the system fails the victims of crimes byplacing too much emphasis on the rights of the accused andtoo little emphasis and empathy on the plight of their victims.

With all of its imperfections, the system still ranks as one ofthe fairest ever designed. It protects the welfare, safety, andconstitutional rights of all people, regardless of their race,religion, or political beliefs and seeks fairness and justice asits paramount goals. The symbol of Justice, wearing a blind-fold as she balances the impartial scale of justice, representsthe balance of our criminal justice system.

Senior Capstone: Criminal Justice 3

Part 1: Freedom, Morality,and the Law

INTRODUCTIONWhile their meanings are obviously different, the wordsfreedom, morality, and law fundamentally stand for the samethings and represent the same goals. In the United States, we believe we enjoy freedom, that we adhere to a strict moralcode for the common good of our fellow citizens, and that,as a nation, we enact laws that protect these freedoms andmorals. But these words, while similar in nature, are oftenin conflict as they’re presented in the criminal justice system.

OBJECTIVESWhen you complete Part 1 of your capstone project, you’ll beable to

• Explain the law regarding search and seizure and thestages of its development

• Describe landmark decisions of the United StatesSupreme Court regarding restriction of constitutional law guarantees

• Assess the laws of your own jurisdiction and contrasttheir purview and philosophy with the standards estab-lished by the Supreme Court

• Demonstrate your knowledge of search and seizure byapplying both federal and state laws to a commonlyoccurring fact pattern

• Explain the conflict between morality and the law ofsearch and seizure


PREFACEDo we have unlimited freedom to do whatever we want to doin this country? We do not. The law tells us that we can’tengage in conduct that could be injurious to other membersof society, and the penal code exacts sanctions for actionswe, as a society, deem to be immoral. For instance, we’retaught from an early age that it’s wrong to take the propertyof another. The code alone doesn’t protect us—it’s the enact-ment and enforcement of laws against larceny that permitsociety to redress the wrong suffered at the hands of thewrongdoer. So freedom has its limits, and while morals arenice to aspire to, it’s the law that protects us.

It’s interesting to see how the moral sense of one generationgives rise to certain laws that are then changed by a latergeneration, which finds them reprehensible. We’ve been deeplyembarrassed that our nation, supposedly founded upon thecornerstone of freedom, could have permitted unfair or discrimi-natory laws to come into existence and to remain on the booksfor so long. For instance, in Philadelphia, during the summerof 1787, our founding fathers debated the contents of whatwas to be the Constitution of the United States. Having justconcluded the bloody Revolutionary War in quest of preciousfreedoms, these men believed that they were guided by God-given truths. They were strongly moral people who would giveup their very lives for freedom, who would never lie, steal, orhurt their neighbor. Yet their moral code excluded AfricanAmericans, Native Americans, and women from enjoying thesame freedoms that were possessed by white American men—freedoms that they proclaimed to be inalienable and guaran-teed by the Creator.

But values change and the law must keep pace. It took anentirely different generation and an evolving code of morality to change the law. In 1865, almost 100 years after theConstitutional Convention, slavery was abolished and theThirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.This generation accorded all of the Constitution’s protectionsand rights to minority groups through the enactment of theequal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in1866. The Fifteenth Amendment gave African American menthe right to vote in 1869.


However, this generation’s moral code was still limited. It tookyet another generation to recognize that women had rights, too.It wasn’t until 1920, with the ratification of the NineteenthAmendment, that an inherent right of all members of a freesociety—the right to vote—was finally “bestowed” upon women.

Today, we see ourselves as enlightened, free, moral, and law-abiding individuals. But how do you think future genera-tions will view some of our laws? It’s imperative for us toconstantly hold our laws—as well as our moral code—up to the light of scrutiny.

The Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1791, reads as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons,houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonablesearches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,supported by oath or affirmation, and particularlydescribing the place to be searched, and the personsor things to be seized.

Read this amendment a few times, then direct your memoryto Philadelphia and the Constitutional Convention. Did ourfounding fathers—Washington, Madison, and Adams—intendthe Constitution to evolve into the document that it is todaybased on the interpretations by the Supreme Court? Wouldthey be just as troubled in examining our laws as we arewhen we look at theirs? We can assume that their agendawas radically different from the search and seizure issuesthat have confronted the Supreme Court over recent decades.

The framers of the Constitution were products of a tyrannicalrule in England that extended into the colonies. They didn’twant the king’s soldiers, or any soldiers for that matter, tohave the right to violate the sanctity of their homes and pos-sessions. They wanted to make it clear that in these UnitedStates a man’s home was truly his castle (remember, womenhad no rights), and that men weren’t subject to the whimsof despots. Could they have envisioned that the FourthAmendment would be used as a “get out of jail free” card,as some critics have argued? Yet even criminals must havethe benefit of the Fourth Amendment, because in protectingthe rights of the guilty we safeguard the rights of everyone.


Many victims’ advocates argue that crime victims don’t enjoyrights equal to those of criminal defendants—that they’retreated as second-class citizens in the criminal justice sys-tem. The criminal justice system weighs and balances thecompeting interests of victims and criminals.

A CASE OF HOME INVASIONAs you study the following case, keep in mind our focus onthe Fourth Amendment and how the laws on search andseizure may affect the outcome of the case in court.

Fact Pattern

It’s a late summer evening in the town of Pleasant Valley, aquiet, middle-class suburban community. The Jacksonfamily—Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and their 12-year-old daughterLinda—is at home enjoying an evening of television. At around9 P.M., there’s a knock on the door. Mr. Jackson opens theinterior door and is greeted through the screen by a youngman in his early twenties. The man tells Mr. Jackson that hehas car problems and that his cell phone isn’t working. Heasks if he might come in and call a tow truck. Mr. Jackson,always willing to help anyone in trouble, opens the screendoor and tells the young man to come in. As the man, SteveReynolds, enters the house, another man, Steve’s brotherPeter, rushes in behind him with a pistol in his hand. Oncethey’re in the house, Steve also pulls a gun from his pocket.

Steve Reynolds instructs the Jackson family to get down onthe floor or they’ll get hurt. When Mr. Jackson attempts tograb the gun from Steve Reynolds’ hand, Peter Reynoldssmacks him in the head with his gun, knocking Mr. Jacksonunconscious. Linda Jackson by this time is hysterical, andMrs. Jackson takes her and flees into the bedroom and locksthe door. Peter Reynolds breaks down the door and binds andgags both of the women with duct tape. The intruders ran-sack the house in search of valuables. They find cash andjewelry, which they take. After 15 minutes, they run fromthe home. Mr. Jackson later awakes and frees his familyand calls the police.


When the police arrive, Mr. Jackson informs them of theevents and an ambulance takes him to the hospital. Mrs.Jackson and Linda also go to the hospital, with Linda in astate of shock. Before leaving for the hospital, the Jacksonsare able to give the police a general description of the intrud-ers, and Mrs. Jackson tells the police that they took a veryrare cameo that had belonged to her great-grandmother.

Detective Walters is assigned to the case as the investigatingdetective. He’s very familiar with the Reynolds brothers, sinceboth have extensive criminal arrest records and the burglary/robbery at the Jackson’s home matches their modus operandi.In canvassing the neighborhood the next day, Detective Waltersinterviews a woman, Mrs. Lindsay, who lives around the blockfrom the Jacksons and was out walking her dog the night ofthe crime. She told the detective that she knows the Reynoldsbrothers’ father, Cyrus Reynolds, who is quite elderly and nolonger drives an automobile. She did see Cyrus’s 1985 FordTaurus parked near her house as she was walking her dog,and both of the Reynolds brothers were sitting in the cartalking. This was approximately 8:45 P.M., 15 minutes prior to the crime.

Based on the information he has uncovered, Detective Waltersis convinced that he has probable cause to arrest both of theReynolds brothers for the Jackson crime. That same day, heand a team of police officers go to Cyrus Reynolds’ house at7:30 P.M.. The detective knows that Cyrus Reynolds lives in the house with Steve and that Peter Reynolds lives in a smallapartment on the other side of town. The police don’t obtainany sort of arrest or search warrant, determining that theyhave the legal right to arrest and search based on the probablecause that they’ve obtained.

At the house, the police break through the front door and findCyrus asleep on the sofa. They go into Steve’s bedroom and findSteve and Peter hiding under the bed. On the nightstand isMrs. Jackson’s cameo, as well as two handguns. TheReynolds brothers are placed under arrest and make nostatements to the police.

Detective Walters conducts a lineup with the Jackson family,and the only person who can make a positive identification isMr. Jackson, who identifies Steve Reynolds only. Mrs. Jackson


and Linda told the police that they were so hysterical thatthey couldn’t remember the faces of the intruders. The policealso obtained the Reynolds brothers’ fingerprints on each ofthe guns found in Steve’s bedroom.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Assignment: Part A Research and write a paper that traces the history and evolu-tion of the Fourth Amendment and the law of search andseizure. The paper must include the following points:

• Laws of search and seizure as they existed in Englandand in the colonies and the laws that were enacted during the formative years of the United States

• The evolution of search-and-seizure laws throughout thehistory of the United States, with emphasis on majorU.S. Supreme Court decisions

• The law of search and seizure in your home state and acomparison to the federal laws

• The purpose of the exclusionary rule, the law of stand-ing, warrant requirements and exceptions, and the fruitof the poisonous tree doctrine

Assignment: Part B For the second part of your assignment, you must analyze theevidence of the case given and write an essay applying thefact pattern to the law. Be sure you include the following topics:

• Admissibility in court of the cameo with respect to each brother

• Admissibility in court of the guns with respect to each brother

• Admissibility of the lineup evidence against each brother

• Admissibility of Mrs. Lindsay’s testimony against each brother


The analysis in this part of the assignment must includeyour opinion on the admissibility of the evidence under bothfederal law and the law of your particular state.

Assignment: Part C For this section, write an analytical essay that critiques thelaw of search and seizure as you applied it to the fact pattern.This analysis should include

• Constitutional freedoms

• Moral purposes

• Legal perspectives

• Merits or lack thereof of the ultimate results

Refer to the Writing Guidelines at the end of Part 2 forinstructions on preparing your work for submission.


NOTES


Part 2: Dichotomy in Action

INTRODUCTIONThe criminal justice system has staunch supporters, and italso has its fair share of critics. By now you should be famil-iar with both sides of the issues regarding police work, thecourts, and the detention/rehabilitation of offenders. Ideally,laws reflect a balance between the two competing interests—protecting society and safeguarding individual rights. As youbegin your project, you’ll examine your own sense of moralityin preparation for creating a penal code, a criminal proce-dures law, and an immigration enforcement statute.

OBJECTIVESWhen you complete Part 2 of your capstone project, you’ll beable to

• Explain the competing interests in formulating laws thatprotect both society and individual rights

• Assess the relative merits of these competing interests

• Describe your own sense of morality in terms of the goalsof the criminal justice system

PREFACEAs you research and analyze information for Part 2 of yourproject, you’ll clarify your own ideas on what should go intothe formulation of substantive and procedural criminalstatutes. For this assignment, you have a unique opportunityto create a fairer, more humane, just, and moral criminal justice system. Some of the contradictory views are identifiedbelow, but you’ll need to consider them in more depth beforebeginning your project.

Some people feel that the criminal justice system amounts tonothing more than a revolving door, admitting criminals onone end for a cursory visit, only to release them back into


society. They see plea bargaining as a red-tag sale at the localdepartment store—any reasonable offer accepted. Othersargue that laws are too severe and sentences too draconian,thereby preventing any hope of rehabilitation for the offend-ers. Capital punishment, it has been argued, has nodeterrent effect and diminishes the moral credibility of societyby demeaning the sanctity of life.

Opponents of drug laws are outraged by “cruel” sentencesmeted out to first-time offenders and the stigma that followsyoung people for the rest of their lives. To lessen these concerns,many states have enacted juvenile and youthful offender lawsthat allow the courts to adjudicate cases without having togive the offender a lengthy prison sentence and without theoffender receiving a criminal conviction.

On the other side of the spectrum, federal and state govern-ments have instituted mandatory sentencing laws, prior-felony-offender laws, and persistent-felony-offender (“threestrikes”) laws, which effectively remove sentencing discretionfrom judges.

Victims’ rights groups lobby for laws that recognize and protect the rights of crime victims to the same degree as the accused. The groups maintain that the laws on searchand seizure, sex offenses, and early release are unfair tocrime victims.

If these concerns aren’t enough, citizens also complain aboutU.S. immigration policies. Some contend that we need stricterlaws and enforcement measures because illegal immigrationfosters crime, leads to job losses, and strains social programs.Others point out that we should never forget that we’re a nationof immigrants and the sanctuary for the world’s oppressed.

In the meantime, the police make as many arrests as possible,prosecutors get as many convictions as possible, and defenseattorneys get as many people released as possible. The policesay they’re only trying to protect society, and, in the main,they do accomplish that; the prosecutors say they’re only trying to do justice, and, in the main, they do accomplishthat; the defense attorneys say they’re only protecting theconstitutional rights of their clients, and, in the main, theyaccomplish that.


BACKGROUND Your assignment will be to create a fairer, more humane,just, and moral criminal justice system for your jurisdiction.Begin by assuming that the jurisdiction in which you live hasa population of approximately one million people. The popu-lation is equally divided between an urban city and ruraltowns. The socioeconomic status of the residents runs thegamut from the very poor to the very rich, and you have yourfair share of illegal immigrants. The crime problems are thesame as you would find in comparable areas throughout the country.

The jurisdiction has hired you to draft a new criminal justicesystem for them. They’re interested in new and innovativeapproaches to old problems. Their only requirement is thatwhatever you propose must meet existing federal constitu-tional law standards. However, if you feel that the federalstandards are flawed, you may advise the jurisdiction andpropose whatever changes you feel are appropriate. You don’thave to be concerned with your state’s laws for the purposeof this assignment.

You’re free to conduct research into existing penal codes,criminal procedure laws, immigration laws, and other rele-vant sources to obtain information and direction. However,the work that you submit must represent your own originalthoughts and ideas and not the restatement or paraphrasingof any other existing law, model, or treatise.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Assignment: Part A For this section, draft a penal code for the jurisdiction describedabove that covers the following crimes:

• Murder/manslaughter

• Robbery

• Assault


• Drug sale and possession

• Weapons possession

• Driving while intoxicated

In your model penal code, you must

• Specify different degrees of crimes for each crime category, based on whatever aggravating factors youdeem appropriate. (Each crime category should have at least three felony degrees and misdemeanor crimeswhere applicable.)

• State whether the crimes are felonies or misdemeanorsand define the difference between the two.

• Define each crime in detail, including all elements and the culpable mental state involved (i.e., intentional, reckless, or criminally negligent).

At the conclusion of your penal code, write an analysis ofyour work giving your reasons for structuring the laws asyou did, and identify the moral choices involved and thegoals sought. Remember, this is your penal code, so don’tcopy, paraphrase, or reference work from any other source.

Assignment: Part B For this part of the assignment, draft a criminal procedurelaw for your jurisdiction that covers the following topics:

• The range of sentence for each degree of crime youincluded in your penal code, including all mandatory and diversionary sentences

• The deterrent, rehabilitative, and punitive purposes of the sentences

• The rights of the accused, including pretrial, trial, and post-trial rights, as well as the laws of search and seizure

• Juvenile offender laws

• Community correction laws


At the conclusion of your model criminal procedure law, writean analysis of your work that gives the reasons you used instructuring your criminal procedure law in the manner youdid, as well as the moral choices involved and the goals to beobtained. Remember, this is your criminal procedure law.Don’t copy, paraphrase, or reference work from any other source.

Assignment: Part C For Part C of the assignment, prepare for your jurisdiction amodel immigration law that covers the following topics:

• A general statement regarding your immigration policy

• Enforcement of your immigration policy

• Sanctions for the violation of your policy

• Rights of illegal immigrants in this country, includingcriminal, social, and economic rights

At the conclusion of your model immigration law, write ananalysis of your work giving the reasons for structuring yourimmigration law as you did, as well as explaining the moralchoices involved and the goals sought. Remember, this isyour immigration law, so don’t copy, paraphrase, or referencework from any other source.

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT

Writing Guidelines 1. Type your submission, double-spaced, in a standard print

font, size 12. Use a standard document format with 1-inch margins. (Do not use any fancy or cursive fonts.)

2. Include the following information at the top of your paper:

a. Name and complete mailing address

b. Student number

c. Course title and number (Senior Capstone: CriminalJustice, CJS 450)

d. Project number (50188300)


3. Read the assignments carefully and complete each one inthe order given.

4. Be specific. Limit your submission to the assigned topics.

5. Proofread your work carefully. Check for correct spelling,grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

Grading Criteria Your project will be graded using the following criteria.

ResearchThe quality and quantity of the research material you usemust be relevant to the assignment. There’s no minimum ormaximum word requirement for this project, but keep inmind the importance of relevance, quality, diversity, and content in your writing. You should also be aware that thisassignment is the major research project of your studies.(Research—20 percent)

Original ThoughtYou’re expected to submit your own original work. A distinc-tive, interesting, creative, and relevant presentation is ofprimary importance. Before you begin, be sure to review theschool policy on plagiarism in your student handbook.(Originality—30 percent)

ContentYou’ll be evaluated on correctly identifying, analyzing, andapplying the issues presented in each part of the assignment.(Content—30 percent)

FormatParts 1 and 2 of the assignment must be combined into onedocument, clearly identifying each topic and its subtopics (A, B, and C). Follow the writing guidelines to format your paper.For Part 1, you must include proper citations, footnotes, and abibliography. You’ll also be evaluated on grammar, spelling, andsentence structure. (Format—20 percent)


Online Submission Guidelines You can submit your research assignment online, followingthis procedure:

1. On your computer, save a revised and corrected versionof your project.

2. Go to http://www.pennfoster.edu and log in.

3. Go to Student Portal.

4. Click on Take Exam next to the lesson you’re working on.

5. Enter your e-mail address in the box provided. (Note: This information is required for online submission.)

6. Attach your file or files as follows:

a. Click on the Browse box.

b. Locate the file you wish to attach.

c. Double-click on the file.

d. Click on Upload File.

7. Click on Submit Files.

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