Describe the historical basis of the American 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?