The criminal justice system can be quite complicated, especially in the attempt to punish offenders for wrongs committed. Society expects the system to be efficient and quick, but the protection of individual rights and justice being fairly delivered takes time. Ultimately, the balance of these goals is ideal, but it can be challenging to control crime and quickly punish offenders, while also ensuring constitutional rights are protected.

In the 1960s, legal scholar Herbert L. Packer created models to describe ways of thinking about the focus of the criminal justice system (Packer, 1964).

The crime control model focuses on efficiency, with the most important function being to lower crime to ensure that society is safe and there is order. Under this model, controlling crime is more important than individual freedom. This model is a more conservative perspective. In order to protect society and make sure individuals feel free from the threat of crime, the crime control model would support fast and serious punishment for offenders. Under this model, the justice process may resemble an “assembly line”: law enforcement arrests suspects, the courts determine guilt, and guilty people receive appropriate and serious punishments through the correctional system (Roach, 1999). The crime control model may focus on plea bargains because trials may take too much time and slow down the process.

The due process model focuses on a fair criminal justice system for all and a system that upholds the constitutional rights of individuals. Further, this model would argue that the system should be more like an “obstacle course,” rather than an “assembly line.” The protection of individual rights and freedoms is of utmost importance (Yerkes, 1969).

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“The Crime Control and Due Process Models” is adapted from “1.8. The Crime Control and Due Process Models” by Shanell Sanchez in SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System by Alison S. Burke, David Carter, Brian Fedorek, Tiffany Morey, Lore Rutz-Burri, and Shanell Sanchez, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Modified by Sam Arungwa and Megan Gonzalez, and revised by Roxie Supplee, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, for brevity.