The U.S. criminal justice system is made up of different but equally important divisions to ensure proper criminal justice functions are performed. This system is broken up into three different segments: law enforcement, the courts, and corrections These segments work together to enforce justice to all when a crime has been committed (Schmalleger, 2013). The first segment of the U.S. criminal justice system that is important to the overall flow are our law enforcement personnel. Law enforcement personnel such as police officers have the task of keeping our streets safe by arresting individuals who commit crimes. Police officers are the ones who not only arrest offenders but the do the initial investigation of the crime and when needed provide their testimony within the courts. …show more content…
The court system is made up of a judge, prosecutor, and a defense attorney. After the police have made an arrest and conducted their investigation the offender will have to seek a judge for their sentencing determination. Before the offender sees a judge, the prosecutor must file legal charges based on the evidence given by the arresting officer and the defense attorney, who is for the offender, will add his professional analysis of the crime to help protect the offender when being sentenced. After charges are filed the case will be presented to a judge who will then determine the necessary sentencing for the
In his book, Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text For The 21th Century, author Frank Schmalleger inform us that two social realities coexist in prison setting; the first, being the official structure of rules and procedures put in place by the wider society and enforced by prison staff, the second, being the more informal and intimate world of the inmate, namely the prison subculture (Schmalleger, 2001). Prison subculture, in its broad sense, refers to the customs, beliefs, attitudes, values and lifestyles of prison inmates (Dugger, 2017). Here, inmates develop their own myths, slang, customs, rewards, and sanctions; with their own values, roles, language and leadership structure (Clear, Cole, Petrosino, Reisig, 2015).
The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.
The United States criminal justice system has three main components: law enforcement, courts (both civil and criminal) and corrections. The law enforcement component is made up of agencies whose task it is to prevent, detect and investigate crimes. The job of the courts is to hear cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent and to give out proper punishments. The corrections system (or penal system) refers to agencies such as prisons and probation that enforce the courts punishments.
In the beginning of chapter one, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Florida v. J.L, a police officer may not search individuals based merely on an anonymous tip. The anonymous tip received was that a black man standing at a bus stop was carrying a concealed firearm. Out of the three black men at the bus stop, they searched the man wearing the plaid shirt, as described in the tip. Although public safety issues were recognized, the conviction was overturned. This unlawful search violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states, in simpler terms, that the police cannot search an individual or take their property without probable cause.
The criminal Justice Advisory members met in room 7242 and discussed issues of importance since the last meeting, which was held on October 28, 2014. Originally, it was though that Captain Weldon Bullock of the Vance county Sheriff’s Office would chair the committee. However, after a review of the previous minutes members learned that Captain Bullock was not the designated chair. The law enforcement personnel designated to chair the meeting was not present as the Criminal Justice Advisory Meeting had been divided since last year. Some of the members which were not present Tuesday were now part of the BLET Advisory Committee. Mr. Clements inquired if there was anyone present who would take on the leadership role of the committee. Sandra Baker graciously stepped forward and assumed the role. Likewise, Reverend Willie Darby agreed to serve as the vice chair of the committee.
Christopher E. Smith, Police Professionalism and the Rights of Criminal Defendants, 26 Crim. L. Bull. 155, 158 (1990)
There are three components for the criminal justice system is the police, the courts and then corrections. The police enforce the law by apprehending offenders, investigating crimes and also trying to prevent crimes among other things. The courts conduct fair and impartial trials; they determine criminal cases and decide if an offender is guilty or innocent along with many other things. Corrections carry out sentences that have been decided by the courts, they protect the public, and they rehabilitate; reform and reintegrate convicted offenders back into society (2011 CJi Interactive)..
The criminal justice system has been proven to play a very important role in society. The criminal justice system is used to keep the citizens in check and to make sure that the laws that are made are being followed. It also is there to penalize anyone who disobeys the laws. In the criminal justice system, there are 3 main parts, law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections. Law enforcement is self-explainable. It consists of the law enforcers such as police officers and sheriffs. Adjudication is made up of people in the court house such as judges and lawyers. Corrections is made up of jailhouse matters such as prison officials. In these many components of the criminal justice system, there are all put in place to help correct people to do the right thing. There are punitive efforts and rehabilitative efforts. At time, the system may lean towards one category or more, which can be dangerous in terms of disciplinary action. The criminal justice system is more punitive than rehabilitative which makes the system ineffective.
Court-The court system includes prosecution and defense lawyers, judges and juries. These people ensure wrongdoers are given reasonable trials. Judges, hear the cases and direct the members to ensure that all laws are taken after while the cases are being attempted. A few cases are attempted before a judge just, while others have a jury of 12 citizens who decide the blame or purity of
* Officers are instructed to provide safety in the community, and enforce the law. Issuing a suspect to court is the job of the police and it is the job of the police to make sure that the suspect is convicted for their crime and issued to a correctional facility if the offence meets the requirements. By incarcerating individuals and issuing punishments such as tickets the community follows the rules and safety is provided.
The primary focus of the police is to keep the peace and enforce the laws on their mission and jurisdiction. Most of the problems that deal with African Americans start with law enforcement because that’s who they first encounter when a problem comes about. In court is where disputes are settled and justice is administered. Court consists of critical people who include professional and non professional people: the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney. The judge is someone who is elected who knows the law and can offer a final decision to dispose of a case. The prosecutor is a lawyer whose duty is to explain to the court the details of the crime committed and what evidence has been found. A defense attorney counsels the victim or the accused on the legal process, basically counseling them over the possible outcomes that could happen and how to make final decisions. The final step in the criminal justice system is a correctional center better known as prison. If things don’t go right in court, the offender will be turned over to the correctional authorities after being found guilty. Removing the offender from the general population and taking away their ability to commit anymore crimes.
According to Victims of crimes, Law Enforcement is when officers take reports for crimes that happen in their areas, officers investigate crimes and gather and protect evidence, Law Enforcement officers may arrest offenders, give testimony during the court process, and conduct follow-up investigations if needed.
First of all the criminal justice system is composed of agencies and processes established by government to control crime and enforce punishments on those who break laws. How the criminal justice system works in every capacity varies on the jurisdiction that is in charge be it, city, county, state, or federal. Different jurisdictions have different regulations, agencies and techniques of handling the criminal justice processes. The main systems include, state (state criminal justice systems deal with crimes committed in the states boundaries) and federal (the federal criminal justice system deals with crimes committed on federal property or in more than one state). Now, most criminal justice systems have five components, which often include;
The criminal justice system ensures the safety and protection of society from criminal offenders. The process of the criminal justice system begins when a criminal offense is reported to law enforcement officials. If required, an investigation begins, leading to a warrant and arrest. Following the arrest, bail is set and a preliminary hearing is scheduled. If the defendant is indicted, a trial date is set. Providing the defendant does not waive the right to a jury trial, a jury is selected and the trial begins. If the defendant is found guilty, a sentence is imposed, usually within a few days of the jury’s verdict. If the defendant wishes, he or she can then appeal the guilty verdict and sentencing, thus beginning the trial process again. Police officers, detectives, prosecutors, and defense attorneys make great efforts to ensure justice is served swiftly and fairly, thus creating a strong and effective criminal justice system.
Components of the criminal justice system include the police, the court system and correctional agencies. The definition, the function and examples of each component of the American criminal justice system will be described. The criminal procedure and the processing of offenders will also be described in details.