The Goal Of The Due Process Model In Close To Home And Justice

The media plays a crucial role in the public’s perception of crime, lawyers, and court proceedings. Therefore, since the introduction of crime shows into popular culture and television, people are becoming more interested and less correctly informed about the events surrounding crime. When comparing the television programs entitled Close to Home and Justice, Justice was more effective at transmitting its message regarding the due process model because it was more accurate at displaying what occurs during a court proceeding which thus, made it more enjoyable to watch. While both television shows were enjoyable, Justice was more engaging because it appeared to be a more accurate representation of the court system and court proceedings. This

The goal of the crime control model, as mentioned in the title, is to control crime by making punishments harsher and longer (Dumas, 2015: Week 2). Furthermore, this model seeks to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens only and there is a presumption of guilt of the accused. On the other hand, due process stipulates that the rights of all citizens, criminal or law-abiding, should be protected. Additionally, there is the assumption in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that all Canadian citizens have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty (Dumas, 2015: Week 4). The television shows each took on one of these models of criminal justice. Close to Home demonstrates the crime control model while Justice, the due process

For example, during the beginning of the episode, the crown discusses how if the defendant gets convicted for the present crime it will be his third strike which will put him in jail for life. This is a great example of the crime control model because they believe in ‘get tough on crime’ approaches and giving citizens a max of three chances. Another example of the crime control model that was outlined in Close to Home was that the defendant was not presumed innocent until proven guilty. On the contrary, the accused was assumed to be guilty by the prosecution before evidence had been examined. According to the crime control model, it is better to convict innocent people than to allow guilty people to walk free (Dumas, 2015: Week 2). This is evident when the main characters of the show were pushing for a conviction regardless of the lack of facts surrounding the case. On the other hand, in Justice, the model of criminal justice that is evident is due process. This is evident because, while the defendant was not presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, the audience was made to feel that this was an incredible injustice. Furthermore, the due process model attempts to protect all citizens against the powers of the state as well as the prevention of the conviction of innocent people (Dumas, 2015: Week 2). Therefore, in the trial, the defence attorney believed in the innocence