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Due Process Model

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To begin with, analyzing the socio-historical context of the use of marijuana in Canada will allow a better understanding of the severity of the punishment for marijuana related crime, meaning that we will be looking at the history of the criminal law involving cannabis and how the laws have change over time. Analyzing the history of the laws containing marijuana will present how the value and views within a society can influence a creation of new laws and policy. Cannabis has always been ban and prohibited, but unlike in 2016 where the laws involving marijuana is quite forgiving, in the past, the punishment for possessing marijuana was much more severe. The possession and use of cannabis was deemed to be criminal in the eyes of the law. The …show more content…

Due process model is inclination to the criminal justice where the protection of citizen’s right is utmost importance, while the crime control model is the inclination which the protection of the community and the arrest of a criminal is most important. Both criminal justice models can be applied to the events within this article. Due process is seen within this article when Marcus Richardson received a fair court trial to prove his innocence within the eyes of the law. A strong presumption of innocence is a key belief within the due process model, these court trial protects the rights of citizens by ensuring equal justice to all citizens, regardless of their status or criminal suspicions. Richardson rights were protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedom, which is also part of the due process model. The Charter allows Richardson to have a lawyer while he was being arrested and allowed him to have a fair trial. He was innocent until proven guilty. The due process models also can also aid Richardson and other Canadians who request a pardon from their cannabis related convictions because it ensure them equality and fairness within the law, and it would be wrong for them to be convicted of a crime due to a drug that would no longer be The crime control model on the other hand has a different approach concerning criminals. Crime control has a strong presumption of guilt, and the belief the protection of victim’s right should take precedent over the rights of a criminal defendant. This model gives “criminal justice agencies, such as the police and prosecutors, the unfettered power to apprehend and prosecute offender (Griffith 2).” This power the police have is shown when Richardson was stopped on the Lions Gate Bridge at a road block and searched his car without any prior warning and found the large amount of weed and a brief case containing

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