For example, if someone murdered another individual in the process of stealing their automobile most 
people would see this as a criminal and a straight-forward example of crime. We often see murder and 
robbery as wrong and harms society, as well as social order. However, there are times crime is not as straight-
forward though and people may hesitate to call it criminal. The community I live in, and many others 
throughout the area, post signs that it is illegal to give food and other items to homeless individuals in need. 
If one were to violate this law and give food to a homeless person it would not involve harm to individuals, 
but the social order. 
Adele MacLean joined others in an Atlanta park to feed the hungry the Sunday before Thanksgiving and 
was given a citation and a summons to appear in court. Ultimately, MacLean’s case was dropped when she 
showed up in court, but she and her lawyers argued the citation for serving food without a permit was 
improper and demonstrates callousness toward the homeless. The city and some advocates say feeding people 
on the streets can hinder long-term solutions and raises sanitation concerns. 
2 Approximately 40 cities across 
the nation have active laws to restrict food sharing, and a few dozen more had attempted such restrictions, 
according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. 
3 
We will talk later about how we may create laws based on what can cause harm. Harm can be to the social order, 
physical, economic, social, emotional, environmental, and more. In order to ensure that people receive justice in 
today’s society, we use the criminal justice system to administer punishment or reward, and those crimes are often 
punished based on morals and norms. 
The criminal justice system is a major social institution that is tasked with controlling crime in various ways. 
Police are often tasked with detecting crime and detaining individuals, courts often adjudicate and hand down 
punishments, and the correction system implements punishments and/or rehabilitative efforts for people who have 
been found guilty of breaking the law. 
Criminal Justice Process 
When the law is broken, the criminal justice system must respond in an attempt to make society whole 
again. The criminal justice system is made up of various agencies at different levels of government that 
can work independently and together, but each attempting to deal with crime.  Challenges may arise 
when agencies do not work together or attempt to work together inefficiently. The notorious serial killer 
Ted Bundy was an example of U.S. law enforcement agencies not working together because of lack of 
technological advancement to freely exchange information and resources about killings in their area. Bundy 
exploited gaps in the traditional law enforcement, investigative processes throughout different jurisdictions, 
and ultimately was able to avoid arrest and detection. If various agencies at the Federal, State, and Local law 
enforcement level had worked together they could have potentially stopped Ted Bundy sooner. Following 
Ted Bundy, a Multi-agency Investigative Team manual, also known as the MAIT Taskforce, was created 
through the National Institute of Justice to develop information about the crime, it causes and how to control 
it https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/110826NCJRS.pdf.  One of the values of the United States is 
that local agencies will control their local community, but at times this may create unexpected complications. 
Working Together? 
2. Brumback, K. (2017). Cities, volunteers clash over feeding homeless in public. Associated Press. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-
world/cities-volunteers-clash-over-feeding-homeless-in-public/ 
3. National Coalition for the Homeless. (2018). 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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