Justice System Of The United States Essay

Before proposing a reform to the American criminal justice system, we must first examine the problems that plague the process of justice on all levels. American society plays an important role in shaping the criminal justice system. Their beliefs and values determine the type of deviants and the consequences of the crimes. Often their beliefs contradict each other.

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.

Author Steve Bogira wrote a book based on his experiences over one ear in Chicago’s County Criminal Courthouse. His book Courtroom 302 goes through numerous cases and trials during the book, and gives the reader an inside look at what really is going on inside of the courtrooms. The key player in this book are the defendants, deputies, prosecutors, attorneys, and jurors. However, the judge of the courtroom, Judge Daniel Locallo is the main character most of the book is around, because he handles all of these cases.

My understanding of the court system has changed almost weekly from the beginning of my semester. I do understand things that I never thought I would’ve have known or even cared about in the least. The book Courtroom 302 has brought an even different side of thinking into this. The book goes into detail about the criminal court in Chicago. He watches all of the actions and different trials that come and go in the courtroom 302. He presents many different cases throughout the book which gives more insight then just a single case.

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

The courtroom is a vital part of the criminal justice system, and a major role in the judicial branch of our government. In the courtroom there are specified roles given to certain people that allow them to to actively engage in the system and get it to work efficiently and properly so that justice is served. The major roles of the courtroom work group are: Police officer, prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, defendant, victim, bailiff, court reporter, and the jury. In this essay I will describe in depth the responsibilities of each of these important courtroom characters.

During this documentary, the viewers get an inside look at how criminal proceedings work. In the courtroom, the most important players are the prosecution, defense, and judge. The judge is in the room to make sure the proceeding runs smoothly and to settle any arguments that arise. The prosecution is there to accuse the defendant for whatever crime he or she has been convicted of. The defense is there to defend the person being convicted of the crime. There is also a bailiff who is there to oversee the court and make sure everyone there is safe. The bailiff will bring evidence form the defense or prosecution to the judge, as nobody is to approach the bench without the judge calling attorneys to the

The book Courtroom 302, written by Steve Bogira in 2005, is about the criminal courts in Chicago, IL. Steve Bogira graduated from Northwestern University, and is an excellent reporter for the Chicago Review. Courtroom 302 is story told mainly from through Steve Bogira’s observations. Bogira observes a courtroom (Courtroom 302), and basically the entire justice system process from beginning to end. The courtroom that Bogira observes is in the control of Judge Daniel Locallo. Judge Locallo helps give Bogira an all access view, plus vital personal thoughts and feelings about issues and events that he has dealt with; and Bogira has observed. Judge Locallo is not the only person that expresses personal information. Many employees of the

On October 21, 2014 I went to a court to listen in on some proceedings. It was pretty difficult to find one that was open to the public in this court. Many courtrooms were private or some hearings were irrelevant with what I was looking for. The bailiffs were really nice they helped guide us to the big courtroom that allowed proceedings to be heard by the public. There were some trials that we couldn’t attend because it was a more serious crime or there were juveniles involved and since they are under age we couldn’t be there for it. The courtroom I was in had a professional atmosphere to it but kind of unorganized because there were a bunch of papers all over the place and some of the inmates didn’t show up so the judge would put them to the side. Majority of the inmates being held for drugs, driving under the influence, or physical violence.

On Friday, March 23, 2017, I observed activities at the C.J.C. from 8:05 a.m. till 12:30 p.m. I had opportunities to view Magistrate Rice preside over bail hearings, Judge Thomas Gerhet preside over a trial and conduct ‘Drug Court’ progress hearings, and Judge Frank Palumbo conduct probation hearings. Although, I witnessed over 26 different hearings, due to assignment constraints this paper will focus largely on one case and

When it comes to the United States, (U.S), the majority of the American people love their seconded amendment rights. As stated in the textbook, Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System by J. Scott Harr, Karen M. Hess, Christine Orthmann, the second amendment of the United States Constitution, for the most part, protects the U.S. citizens rights to “keep and bear arms” (Harr, Hess, Orthmann, & Kingsbury, 2015, p. 167). That being said, each state in the U.S. will vary in their firearms laws. For instance, some states make it easier for their residence to purchase or use a firearm; other states may have stricter laws that require a more scrutinized screening process. To be more specific, most states vary in elements, such as the exceptions to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, the waiting period on purchasing firearms; if someone needs a license to own or purchase a gun; if registration is required; and if a record of the firearm sales is sent to the local police. Other factors that will differ from state to state would include, if some firearms are permitted or not allowed to be sold or owned by a state, the concealed carry laws, hunter protection laws; range protection laws, and finally, not all states have firearm injury lawsuit preemption.

Moreover, because we arrived earlier than the original time for the Riker’s island pretrial, we witnessed a brief trail which to me wasn’t informative because very little could be heard from what the judge, prosecutor and a different defense attorney were discussing. Since I could retain very little information from that trial, I took a quick glance at the interior structure of the court room. To accurately present the surroundings of the court room without interrupting the ongoing trail, I imagined myself standing at the door we entered through to the room. With my back facing the door, I pictured the room as having seats arranged much like how churches have long chairs that could occupy a number of individuals, a long aisle that separated the seating into sections of right and left with the male and female prosecutors of the cases chairs and computers in front of the seats on my right and the defense attorneys with their clients on the left. The seating sections for observers had ropes in front of them, separating them from where the prosecutors, lawyers, defendants, judge, security and the juror were seated. Both the right and left seats had the first roll of seats cleared by the security with have no sitting on them, a phenomenon that I still

presence of a jury, if the defendant wishes so. Even if a case is too

There are three women on the Supreme Court, one of whom is Latina, and there is one black justice serving on the Supreme Court (Brown, 2016). This is a major issue. The United States, the “melting pot”, has an extreme lack of diversity in their court system. This is an issue that affects several aspects of society. Decisions made by judges will affect the lives of men, women, and their families. The decisions made by judges can also create law. Unlike political officials, the people do not always have the power to vote judges into their positions. Instead, the people hope that their peers with the power to affect the system choose a candidate that will fight for them. Often times, this does not happen.

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