Earl Warren Research Paper

Crime Control and Due Process Models

Earl Warren's involvement in the American Justice system played an important role in shaping American history as a whole. Warren was Chief Justice of the U.S. between 1953 and 1969 -- a period filled with significant events in the country's history. As a consequence, Warren was provided with the mission to play an active role in many of these respective events that was responsible for making decisions that would reflect on the whole country rather than just on the individuals who took part in the trial.

Connection between the Due Process Model and Warren's decisions

The Due Process Model is characteristic to Warren's decisions, considering that the American Chief Justice focused on fighting for people's rights. Initially thought to be a moderate conservative and to thus act in agreement with Eisenhower's thinking in general, Warren gradually proved to be a determined liberal. Eisenhower actually chose to elect Warren as a Chief Justice of the U.S. because he "represents the kind of political, economic, and social thinking that I believe we need on the Supreme CourtHe has a national name for integrity, uprightness, and courage that, again, I believe we need on the Court." (Eisenhower in Schulman 22)

Warren mainly managed to act in disagreement with what Eisenhower expected from him as a result of his tendency to focus on liberal ideas more than on ideas that addressed the well-being of the country as a whole. He appeared to be fueled by his interest in helping people on an individual level rather than helping the country while ignoring persons whose rights were taken away from them. Eisenhower apparently hated Warren's attitudes toward the legal system and believed that appointing him Chief Justice was one of the worst mistakes that he performed during his administration (Eisenhower in Schulman 23).

The Brown v. Board of Education case is essential in putting across Warren's involvement in controversial matters. The case ended up generating a decision that desegregated public schools and that eventually enabled non-white individuals (African-Americans in particular) to be able to attend schools depending on their interests instead of on their skin color.By declaring school segregation unconstitutional, Warren was able to influence law enforcement officers throughout the country to change their understanding of the system. While they previously were unhesitant about openly discriminating African-Americans, they gained a more complex understanding of the situation and they acknowledged that it was wrong to put across such behaviors.

Other Supreme Court cases that Warren presided over were similarly effective in making moral values more appreciated in the U.S. Loving v. Virginia legalized marriages between individuals with different skin colors while Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona provided defendant with more rights.

Most of these cases were meant to emphasize Warren's position on the justice system: he believed that the authorities were inclined to abuse both guilty and innocent individuals and that something thus needed to be done in order to make trials and punishments as fair as possible.

Operational differences between the due process model and the crime control model

In contrast to the due process model (that promotes the idea that the authorities need to focus on factors like a person's life, liberties, and property when dealing with the respective individual) the crime control model takes on a harsher attitude toward crime in general. It is aimed at fighting crimes through all means available, even if this means that defendants are not going to be provided with a fair treatment.

The crime control model is based on the assumption that law enforcement officers are perfect and that everything they decide needs to be considered when dealing with a criminal. In such a situation, a jurist would have to act in agreement with decisions these individuals make without questioning them. This means that criminals are always considered guilty in this context and they are always treated as if they were guilty.

The primary purpose of the crime control model is to catch and punish offenders. The rationale behind this type….....