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Court History And Purpose Essay

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Court History and Purpose The American court system reinforces positive behavior and was designed to protect and provide justice to the members of society. To fully understand how the criminal court system operates, one must examine the role of courts in today’s criminal justice system. They must also understand the purpose of the court system and examine the role early legal codes, the common law, and precedent played in the development of courts.
The Definition of a Court and its Purpose A court is a judicial branch of government that consists of one or more judicial officers. It is authorized by statute to decide upon controversial cases and disputes (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011). While a court’s primary purpose is …show more content…

Historically, common law emphasized the importance of judicial decisions rather than utilizing the structure of codes, legal rules, and statutes as courts do today. In the past, judges documented and issued their decisions which were later circulated from one court to another and became known as common law. In cases where parties disagreed, common law court would look at previous decisions made in related cases and incorporate those decisions into the current case (Siegel, et al., 2011). If similar disputes had been resolved in the previous case, the court would utilize the same perspective to resolve their current case. This became known as precedent and like common law, continues to be utilized in today’s court system (Siegel, et al., 2011).
The Role of Courts in Criminal Justice Today The courts play a vital role in the criminal justice system. It provides a forum for laws to be upheld and offers victims justice for crimes committed against them (Siegel, et al., 2011). Furthermore, the role of the court is to impose rulings in a way that is fair and unbiased. While it may be challenging, judges must strive to be impartial and reach decisions based on what the law stipulates. They must also fulfill their role in the criminal justice system by issuing rulings despite the weight of public opinion.

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