Argumentative Essay: How Our Justice System

The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.

Many of these mistakes were based around DNA. DNA testing wasn’t a thing in the past so there was not the sureness of innocence or guilt (Lindell). This shows that we had to rely more on witnesses and confessions then we did science so a wrongful conviction wasn’t to hard to get. We developed the technology to test DNA a little bit after Morton was convicted. The DNA proved that he was innocent of the murder (Lindell). If we would have haven DNA testing the judicial system probably never would have given Morton a guilty verdict. We can’t just blame the fact that there was no DNA testing we also have to look at the prosecutor of the case. The prosecutor, Anderson, was an amazing attorney and award winning for 16 years, but even he made a mistake (Lindell). Even though he was suppose to be this amazing prosecutor who doesn’t mess up, he still ended up messing up. Everyone can make mistakes, it happens but his changed the life of a man and how much of his mistakes weren’t accidental? Anderson was supposedly withholding evidence and ignoring witness statements lead to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton (Silver). This shows that the prosecutors arrogance of thinking he had the right man lead to him being dramatically wrong at the expense of a man's life. His mistakes may come back to hurt him though. Anderson is being questioned on

District Attorney Mike Nifong should not have behaved the way he did; his actions jeopardized the lives of the three lacrosse players. The North Carolina State Bar submitted ethics charges against Mike Nifong and he was subsequently removed from office. I believe that the act of Mike Nifong having been disbarred was the ultimate and most righteous stance that could have been taken. I also feel that the Durham Superior Court should have ordered Mike Nifong to spend more than one day in jail. Aside from this piece, I found that no further actions needed to be taken.

The three arguments that are mentioned why minorities and other underprivileged citizens are overrepresented in the criminal justice system are as follows that are mentioned in the textbook: minorities are responsible for more crimes than other races, the criminal justice system is racially biased, and that society is racially biased, and the criminal justice system is a tool being leveraged to continue the oppression of minorities. To go with number one, it states that people of color commit more crimes, in return leads to repeated offenses causing them to receive harsher sentencing. You might get a Caucasian male who commits rape only sentenced to 6 months for it being his first offense, but then you have an African American male

The most powerful branch that I think is the most powerful is Judicial Branch, the reason why I chose Judicial Branch instead of Legislative and Executive Branch was that I felt this branch has more information about the supreme court. The Judicial branch contains the supreme court and lower courts. Judicial branch has special judges who interpret laws according to the constitution, hear cases that pertain to issues related to the constitution, they are the highest court in our country, and federal judicial system also has lower courts located in each state to hear cases involving federal issues. The Judicial branch leaves congress significant discretion to determine the shape and structure the federal judiciary.

In every community there is an element of crime. During my time as a Law Enforcement Officer, I had a front row seat to see the intricate and often violent interactions between the two. There were still many aspects I did not have a full grasp on. During my time in this class, I gained a more complete understanding of how the judicial and incarceration process worked. In this paper I will discuss what I found enlightening about the course materials. I will also discuss the information I gain from the guest speakers. Lastly I will make my recommendations for the class in the future.

What has society done about reforming sentencing laws in order to reduce the incarceration population? The fair sentencing Act which was signed by president Obama has helped reduce the number of inmates impacted by mandatory minimum sentencing by “reducing the disparity in the amounts of powder cocaine and crack cocaine required for the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences and eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine, it also increases penalties for major drug traffickers” (White House 2010). What the Act did was changed the ratio of Crack cocaine v Cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1 (U. S. Department of Justice 2010). This Act is beneficial because it

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The President and the Congress are all very well in their way. They can say what they think they think, but it rests with the Supreme Court to decide what they have really thought.” (Roosevelt) This quote summarizes brilliantly the true importance of Marbury vs. Madison. Prior to this famous Supreme Court case, the Supreme Court had not truly cemented itself in the eyes of the American people. With this decision, the Supreme Court made the bold statement that whatever they decided, would always make them the most powerful court in the country.

Is there structural inequality in the criminal justice system? When we watch the news or read our newspapers, we can see that most of the criminals portrayed are of African American or Hispanic descent. Being a fan of true crime novels, they even depict more Black male criminals than White males. Are African American males committing more crimes than White males? What factors are involved for Blacks to be more involved in crime? How do African American stereotypes play a role with possible racial profiling from the policing force? Are Blacks treated fairly in the criminal justice system? After much research, I hope to answer these questions and determine if African Americans

In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with

Looking into criminal justice procedure, many administrations are at work. Starting with the police, to the courts and concluding in corrections. Though all these sectors have different tasks, their combined focus is processing the law. Regardless what the process is called criminal justice will continue to serve with discretion, conviction, and correction. When first presented with the question whether criminal justice is a system, non-system, and network I leaned toward a network. Throughout our discussions, lectures, and readings I felt the process presented itself as a network. Intertwined divisions working for a common goal. Further into my research and help from Webster, I decided that the criminal justice

I agree that this man should not be free. How can we let this man walk free after only 4 days in jail when people are locked up for life for non-violent drug offenses? This man murdered a woman, evidence pointed to his guilt, he confessed, and was convicted. As far as we know, he hasn't committed any other murders since, and that may have been a factor in his reduced sentence. Despite this, he ended a woman's life and although he did confess, he did so only when confronted with incontrovertible evidence over 30 years later. It follows that he should serve a just punishment for the crime he

or she did not nee to record it. If the Government do succeed in the

Oftentimes, the definition of social justice can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. The true definition of social justice is often structured by governmental implications but is the fair and proper administration of laws to each individual conforming to the natural law. Equality is supposed to be equally distributed amongst individuals nationally, but can sometimes be taken advantage of and be taken away from people who deserve it the most. Generally, those who view social justices as a right, also value people above profits.

The Death Penalty has a powerful meaning to it; it’s not just a punishment for those criminals who commit a horrific crime. The Death Penalty offers the execution, gas chamber, lethal injection, hanging, and firing squad. The capital punishment is a topic that can cause arguments because some say it helps and some say it cannot help in anyway. The death penalty has saved lives after an execution, but it has caused many issues for families.