Law Topic -Courts

ASSIGNMENT 6

Kenyeta Clements

March 25, 2017

CCJS 495

Mark Weissman

Criminal Justice Component in America

The United States criminal justice system is subdivided into three branches that all correlate. The first component is the law enforcement system (Hall, 2004). Under this component, there are individual’s assigned jurisdictions such as sheriffs and their deputies and even patrol officers. Federal agents, game and parks rangers, detectives and other individuals that usually make the first contact with criminals are also inclusive in this bracket of peacekeepers. Basically, at this point, the justice system mainly contains those that make the first contact with criminals. These persons major responsibility is to uphold the law by apprehending those committing a particular crime (Lofstrom, & Raphael, 2016). It is not their responsibility to prosecute or charge anyone with any allegations their particular job is to arrest and submit to courts. Law enforcement individuals must be knowledgeable of the individual rights of suspected offenders such as Miranda rights, search and seizure rights and reasonable stops to name a few. Officers also need to be aware of citizens' and civil rights so as not to violate those rights or compromise an investigation if a crime was indeed committed. These are important things as they would even lead to the jeopardy of a case or cases filed against a criminal officer or would lead to the civil rights society having problems with the officers. If for example, an officer had no search warrant that allows him or her to search a particular premise but goes ahead with the activity, the would raise queries against his or her eligibility. In cases where forensics are needed also an officer might end up interfering with evidence of a whole case even if the crime was genuinely committed.

The second and the most key component of these justice systems is the court (Hall, 2004). The first component which includes patrol police and the sheriffs are all submissive to the courts. Some of the key role players in this component include judges, attorneys, magistrates, lawyers and the jury. Many of these positions being elective, such as the district attorney and the judges. Defense attorneys are generally private practice attorneys who specialize in certain areas of the law, such as family law or drug law, and are hired by a defendant. Public defenders are defense attorneys who are appointed to individuals who cannot afford an attorney (Lofstrom, & Raphael, 2016). These defenders are either appointed from a public defender office or are part of a rotating pro bono requirement from the court. For example, in some family law courts, the public defenders are private attorneys in the area who are regularly hired by clients but will rotate taking case pro bono for clients who need a court-appointed attorney. Some clients may not afford defenders and hence are assigned pro bono lawyers by the courts. Jury members are selected from the pool of registered voters in a court's jurisdiction and then further selected into a group of 6-12 members by the attorneys involved in the case before a trial begins (Lofstrom, & Raphael, 2016). This position is minimally compensated but is a part of citizen responsibilities. All the above-mentioned individuals play a key role in ensuring that any individual who goes through this system is granted and taken through a fair trial and that none of his or her rights have been violated up to that level. As I had mentioned earlier, this may be the most crucial component of all the three as it is important to both the complaint and the defendant. It is the component where the fate of the accused is known here everyone is very cautious to ensure everything is done with protocol to avoid errors that might lead to a regrettable decision. The final stage in this component is that where the fate of the accused is decided. Both the jury members and the judge are mandated with roles to sentence the accused if found guilty but in accordance with the statute of the state or the federal government.

The third and the last component of the justice systems is the corrections department (Hall, 2004). The corrections component has several officers including probation officers, parole officers and corrections officers who are all mandated with the responsibility and duty to ensure that a convicted offender serves his or her sentence as advised by the courts and supervises the convicts as they service their sentences. Correction officers are always found in county jails or city jails where their job is to supervise inmates as they serve their sentences or as some even await trial (Lofstrom, & Raphael, 2016). Probation officers also supervise adult and juvenile offenders who are being monitored by the courts in lieu of serving a sentence in jail. Probation officers also conduct investigations for the courts, as they give their recommendations for sentencing to a judge with the compilation of information. Presentence investigations may involve a gathering of criminal history, interviewing of friends, family, and colleagues of the convicted and then submitting a recommendation of sentencing to the court. They also continually report progress of the probationer to the courts and make recommendations of possible revocation. The work of parole officers is to supervise individuals released from prison early on parole. Each and every of these three components is very essential for the whole justice system to function properly.

References

Hall, T. (2004). The U.S. legal system (1st ed.). Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press.

Lofstrom, M., & Raphael, S. (2016). Crime, the Criminal Justice System, and Socioeconomic Inequality. Journal Of Economic Perspectives, 30(2), 103-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.30.2.103