Title: Describe the historical basis of the American criminal justice system.
Course: Criminal Justice I (15051-I) > Section: Introducing the Criminal Justice System

Description should include the

- various changes in punishment/sentencing throughout the history of the criminal justice system
- evolution of police, the courts, and corrections
- concept of common law
- influence of Sir Robert Peel on modern policing
- progression of substantive American criminal laws from their bases in common law
- emergence of procedural law (i.e., case law) from substantive law.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What was a significant event in the history of the criminal justice system? How did that event affect the system?
- What is a situation in which societal pressure changed the criminal justice system in the United States?
- Where do most of the United States’ criminal justice laws come from?
- How do historical legal texts influence current criminal justice practices?