Unit 3: Theory and Practice in Courts
Stacey Pedroza
CRJS300-1203A-04: Proseminar in Criminal Justice
Professor Samantha Carlo
AIU Online University
June 24, 2012
Theory and Practice in Courts In reviewing the court system of the United States there is a definite hierarchy between the trial courts, appellate courts and the supreme courts of both the state and federal levels. However, the actions of the court systems move at such a slow and hindered pace because of the bureaucracy of motions and objections among many others. The following is a review of the type of court system the United States has and why. Along with judges sentencing goals and philosophy; and sentencing innovations.
Dual Court System The United States
…show more content…
Judges are a lot like police officers in that they hold a great amount of discretionary power in their courtrooms and their judgments. Judges are required to ensure that the accused is given a fair trial, while also ensuring that the best interest of the public is maintained. There is a great amount of pressure placed on judges today with excessive case loads and pressures from the media and other outside sources.
Difficult Cases An example of a difficult case would be that of a repeat sex offender. Being a parent this would pose a difficult moral situation, wanting to impose the stiffest sentence possible to remove the offender from being allowed to interact with society at all. Sex offenders are not worthy of being allowed to roam freely with our communities and there are not enough facilities to allow them to be locked up for life.
These offenders may see some jail time but they have specific guidelines on which they are allowed to live on house arrest or on parole. Unfortunately, there are just not enough parole officers or case workers to monitor the daily activities of all of the parolees and many realize more freedoms than they should be allowed.
Sex offenders have damaged their victims for life, and should be held more accountable for their actions. America has such a prison overcrowding issue that we cannot possibly
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their
Judges are public officers chosen to rule and administer the law in a court of justice. Whether it comes to cases that have to do with criminal prosecutions or civil lawsuits, the job of the judiciary is to serve as a fair and unprejudiced judge. Judicial power is given in order to
system has many steps to justice. The hierarchy of the court system is different yet similar in
They believe that the residency restriction laws “force former offenders into exile, and often into homelessness.” (“Sex Offender Issues”). Sexual offenders are forced to live far away from family members and friends, often times for small offenses or something they committed years ago. It should not matter how long ago one offended, the key word is that they did offend. Some say, “the registry is nothing more than a Scarlet Letter to put people to shame” ("US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good."). The people who get put onto the registry have committed a terrible crime; they deserve the humiliation they may receive. Many claim that “we treat those on the registry list with disrespect and fear and this open information can put the offenders family in danger for ridicule and isolation as well.” ("IX. Residency Restriction Laws.") The family of an offender should be embarrassed by their son or daughter's behavior towards other human beings. Jamie Fellner, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch, says, “The public believes everyone on a sex offender registry is dangerous. But what’s the point of requiring registration by a teenager who exposed himself as a high-school prank or even by someone who molested a child 30 years ago?” ("US: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good."). Kids need to learn the severity to exposing themselves; being forced to sign up for the registry serves as the punishment, hopefully enabling more kids to stop and think before they act. Many argue that the registration poses an issue with the job market. It is extremely difficult for an offender on the registry to find a suitable job, no one wants an offender in their workplace and they don't want that bad publicity. It becomes difficult to oneself when one can not find a job and may have been just released from prison, therefore many
Presumably, the judge is considered to be the most experienced stakeholder involved in this process, and the most powerful given their legal authority to impose a determined sentence (Neubauer & Fradella, 2011). However, their ability to exercise such authority is limited by other courtroom work group actors who obtain further insight on the crime and the criminal (Neubauer
Prosecuting those who commit crimes is very important to the overall wellbeing of society and the citizens within society. Prosecuting and convicting criminals not only prevents them from committing another crime, it also serves as a deterrent to others that may be considering breaking the law. Many courts make up the judicial branch and these courts are responsible for applying laws made by the government. The courts are made up of courtroom workgroups that are the basis of the courts proceedings.
Granted, one thing that could be done to prevent so many sex crimes from happening is to rehabilitate the offender while incarcerated. However, the rehabilitation of sex offenders does, cost a lot of money to get the right programs. "The Department of Corrections asked for 1.2 million dollars." This money was then deposited towards treatment programs for sex offenders in prison. Many prisons put rehab and therapy up as an option for the offender even if some prisoners don’t want to accept it or get treatment. In order to help a sex offender or anyone at all they have to want to get help and they themselves have to believe that they have troubles and they are unsafe; instead of placing sex offenders in treatment programs who don’t want it,
The opinion on what should happen to sex offenders is exactly that: opinionated. While trying to find opinions that argue with each other was pretty difficult, because most people believe that if you’re a sex offender, you’re a rapist, which makes it hard for anyone who committed a sex crime to find a job that will actually hire them, and then not even for a long period of time. With all of the laws that are against sex offenders, it also makes it hard to find a place to sleep, so many are homeless. Even if it wasn’t toward kids, then there is still a parameter that they have to follow. While doing the research for finding why a sex offender has to live the
I agree with your post because there are also many false accusation and false imprisonment in our nation that brought up the topic to whether these sex offenders should be label for life or given a second chance to remove that label. I am speaking from personally belief and despite any bias against sex offenders because I actually knows a lot of victim of sexually abused or molestation. And to me that is actually a hateful crime that I am despised. But I also believe in evidence and without real evidence, society should not label these people as sex offender yet because once you're being labeled as a sex offender it prevent you from future career and basically any advancement in
The US spends $80billion on incarceration per year and contributes to 25% of the worlds population of people in prison. Questions have recently arisen whether we should try to rehabilitate more prisoners in the form of parole. A main area of debate is the topic of parole for sex offenders.
Similarities and Differences All the three courts systems forming the focus of this essay are formed pursuant to various laws with the Federal Court system established by the US Constitution. Similarly, state and local courts are established pursuant to various states� constitutions and other formal laws. Another similarity lies on the fact that each of the three court systems has specific jurisdictions and with both the federal and state courts having definite judicial hierarchies. The key differences between the three courts systems boils down to their formation and the nature of jurisdictions.
I agree that it’s difficult to rehabilitate a sex offender. There are so many variable that make it difficult, I like that you provided the number of repeat offenders but not for the same crime. I think that something else is going on in the minds of a sex offender. It is a mental condition or situation that was not being address causing them to act on it. We must use every available resource to assist them.
The judges act as a “referee” in the courtroom. The judge sets the whole tone for the trial, showing that the judge holds the overall power during the trial.
To ensure a fair trial, judges need to be independent and impartial. Judges must be screened by the Judicial Council, they all have to have been a practicing lawyer for at least 10 years and must be in good standing with the legal community. To remain impartial, judges are appointed until age 75 unless are they are proven incompetent or guilty of misconduct. This is to ensure that their employer cannot threat dismissal due to their decisions. Judges are also not allowed to contact government officials or politicians about the cases they are handing, nor are they allowed to participate in politics, other than voting. These measures are all taken to ensure that judges remain impartial and that everyone gets a fair trial.
Subsequently, judges have a pivotal role within the judiciary system not only to cover all the different aspects such as criminal and civil law. They also have to interpret the law, make decisions and deliver judgment on the case before them. More importantly they have to keep aside all biasness and their personal views aside. On the contrary that is not the case, due to the lack of diversity in the judiciary, which is dominated by the stereotypical