Week 3 Discussion

Revolutionary Period Criminal Justice Implications

A common thread throughout this course is the intentional analysis of
criminal justice through a historical lens with the hope of
understanding deeply rooted issues within today’s U.S. criminal justice
system. In early colonial America, religion and customs borrowed from
England were the order of the day and the foundation of the American
criminal justice system. How did this particular colonial perception,
the understanding of criminal behavior, and the systematic response to
it affect underlying regional and cultural ideologies?

For this Discussion you compare characteristics of the system, from
the early American Revolutionary Period to today, as well as discuss
their impact on the current U.S. criminal justice system.

Post by Day 3, two crimes and their
respective punishments during the Revolutionary Period (1718–1797).
Explain one social and one political influence these crimes and
punishments had on the current U.S. criminal justice system.

Week 3 Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to
scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning
Resources.

Required Resources

Readings

• Jones M., & Johnstone, P. (2011). History of Criminal Justice. (5th ed.) New York, NY. Routledge.
  • Chapter 6, “Criminal Justice on the North American Colonial”
  • Chapter 8, “The American Revolution and Criminal Justice”

Optional Resources

• Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Utilitarianism.
  Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620682/utilitarianism

Please proceed to the Discussion.