Criminal Justice Essay Examples

Donnie Brasco

Joseph D. Pistone is considered to be the greatest undercover FBI agent of all times. He is an expert in the field of organized crime and is sought after by domestic and foreign agencies alike for his advice. He acquired this knowledge during his undercover days in the Bonanno crime family. His cover lasted six years and it ended with his sudden disappearance; despite revelations by the FBI to the mob bosses, they remained skeptical initially of Pistone’s real identity. It is remarkable that Sonny Black and the others really liked Pistone despite his testifying against them; all of them were eventually killed by the mafia. None of them bore any ill will towards Pistone. Did they like him? Yes, they did. Did he like their company? He probably did. Yet that does not romanticize his involvement in the mob. He would have probably wanted to try and get his former mob friends to safety; after all he managed to extract Lefty successfully.
The answer is no. Pistone’s sole mission was to get as much of evidence as possible. He did what had to be done to access that information. He probably knew that all his mob friends would die someday on his account. If Hollywood were to make a movie out of only the facts; Donnie Brasco would have come out as nothing more than a cold hearted, ambitious law enforcer who used the kindness and friendship that was generously offered to him in the worst possible way. That is no way to sell a movie. The romanticizing of outlaws has always been a hot movie sell. The producers of Donnie Brasco knew that if their movie had to make a profit, they would have to tell the story with a few tidbits thrown in. If not for that element of a false conscience line, it would probably do slightly better than a Discovery Channel documentary.
Criminal Justice students need to stay focused on the Law enforcement perspective of the story at all times. That is the only story that counts.

Dexter

In America, we have seen some of the worst possible serial killers of all times. Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper, Robert Hansen, Richard Ramirez, Dennis Rader, Richard Kuklinski, Bobby Long, Otis Toole, Albert Fish and the long list follows. We have not even cover three percent of the full list. The worst affected are the victims’ families who wait for years to see justice due to the illusive nature of the killers. One wonders if Lee Falk’s Phantom would come alive and leave skull marks on the jaws of these vicious predators.
Dexter is the modern day Phantom with a remarkable twist. While the Phantom always turned the killers over to the law; Dexter becomes the law, jury, judge and sentence for the perpetrators. The audiences love Dexter because for once in a crime based show, there is no escape for the perpetrators. They are punished. The victims’ families can move on without waiting everyday by the phone. There are no procedures that stall punishment. In reality, vigilantism seldom provides solutions.
The Book of Deuteronomy in the Bible lists a huge set of laws to be followed and despite our nation being founded on this powerful book did not frame its laws by it. The system of the law is not just about punishing the criminals; it’s about transformation of the criminal. The only exemption would be certain violent killers who could never really change their appetite for killing. Yet, even in this category there have been remarkable stories such as the Son of Sam who found God in jail. The Coed Butcher aka Ed Kemper relented and turned himself in. Dexter deprives his victims of their chance at redemption.
There have been several children who start out as bullies and start fires however; not all of them transform into serial killers. If Dexter’s father saw the tendency of a killer in his son, he should have helped his son differently. Besides, when a country acclaimed as the foremost technology leader in forensic science convicts one out of four wrongfully, how much more are the chances of Dexter killing innocent people? The real heroes always look to transform even the most villainous people; they do not seek to kill.
Criminal Justice students need to exercise caution and should check reality. The procedures exist to keep the innocent safe; yet, it fails on occasion. It is likely that we would see many a criminal go free due to insufficient evidence. It is better this way for no amount of restitution can bring back a life taken away wrongfully.