Our Criminal Justice System Paper

This first week the assignment was to Define crime, its relationship to the law, and the two most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal, Describe the government structure as it applies to the criminal justice system, Identify choice theories and the their assumptions in regards to crime, Describe the components of the criminal justice system and the criminal justice process, Identify the goals of the criminal 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.

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

Garland (2001), view on “the criminal justice system in America was created to keep communities safe, to respect and restore victims, and to return offenders who leave prison to be self-sufficient and law-abiding. Treatment simply did not work either by therapy or broader social programs and became is a monumental failure that our states and nation can no longer afford” (p.61)

The United States’ criminal justice system has been under scrutiny by countries of equal standing for good reason, what this country is doing, in an attempt to eliminate crime, is not working. Currently, in the United States, we are living in an era of “mass incarceration.” Almost 1% of men in this country and .1% of women are incarcerated (Phelps). With an incarceration rate of roughly 693/100,000 The U.S. stands far behind it’s NATO counterparts with the next highest rate of incarceration, in the United Kingdom, at roughly 145/100,000 (Wagner et al.). These high incarceration rates are reason for concern, and many researchers have begun to suggest solutions to this dilemma. In order to begin to solve this problem, we need to further

The American criminal justice system has set up laws and by breaking the laws would be considered a crime, and depending on the crime that is broken have different types of degrees. And these crimes can be broken into three different categorize and whether or not it will be classified as a felony, misdemeanor or an infraction. A victimless crime is a crime that goes against societies values, norm but the people involved with these criminal acts do not feel victimized, compared to if they were being robbed or murdered. In order to make an educated opinion on a topic one must understand the history, controversy surrounding the topic and the different possible reforms being argued on what steps to take on the future of the society. Then with the information given one can take a firm stance on this controversial topic.

David Cole wrote, "our criminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequality" (5). Cole has substantial grounds for making this statement. Race and class have long been issues in the criminal justice system, but does the system "affirmatively depend on inequality?" Does the criminal justice system depend on the disparities of the people that it serves?

Within the last half-century America has experienced events that have shaped the criminal justice system as it is today. The country’s crime rates have risen and fallen. Up until 1960 Americas crime rates were rather stable. In the following years, many concerns of ethnic and racial minorities occurred. By 1980 all areas of social life were affected by the civil rights movement. This was followed by a dramatic increase in reported criminal activities. Buying and selling of drugs also increased in the mid-1980s causing cities to experience declines in property values. In 1999 a school massacre made widespread coverage in the news media. A massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado left 12 students and one teacher dead. American citizens

Criminal Law is a legal act to individual(s) and are punishable by law. Most of our criminal laws are based of ancient laws and from England where our laws came from. The first actual written law that was formed was called cuneiform which was a form that was craved into stones or on clay which then they were baked till they were hard. (CA Criminal Law Concepts).

Our Criminal Justice System is far from perfect but it has fulfilled its design by becoming a living system so to speak. Our system is predicated upon discretion from start to finish whereas the first step in the process lies with the contacting officer. Once lawful presence has been established and probable cause for contact can be clearly articulated, the decision to make that contact rests solely with that officer. Of course, each department utilizes a form of controlled discretion, ensuring that mandatory arrests are completed in compliance with state and federal laws. This controlled discretion also prevents officers from washing late shift reports by looking the other way or failing to make necessary arrests. This particular system

In regard to mythmaking, those who have a vast amount of power and control over the people are typically the ones responsible for fabricating such accounts in order to avoid certain areas of concern. The criminal justice system as a whole, embodies thousands of authoritative figures that citizens confide in. Myths that are fabricated within criminal justice play a vital part in coercing American society’s thoughts and perception, which by its nature, can serve as an advantage to some and destructive to others (Griffin, Woodward, & Sloan, 2016). According to Griffin, et al., individuals who perceive that these myths serve a purpose will seek to achieve ideals. In making this attempt, if at first they do not succeed, their ambition heightens and they try again. In contrary, others may take such myths as an attempt to guard an already biased, and unethical justice system (p. 126).

behavior occurs because relatively powerless individuals are unable to achieve society’s goals through socially acceptable means. (Perry, 2001). The unfairness of the justice system often goes unnoticed especially when it affects people different than ourselves. Crime is a product of social interaction and therefore the intersection of people’s identities plays a role in the way the crime is punished and labelled. Inequalities of gender, race, and class produce criminal activities (conflict theory).

First of all the criminal justice system is composed of agencies and processes established by government to control crime and enforce punishments on those who break laws. How the criminal justice system works in every capacity varies on the jurisdiction that is in charge be it, city, county, state, or federal. Different jurisdictions have different regulations, agencies and techniques of handling the criminal justice processes. The main systems include, state (state criminal justice systems deal with crimes committed in the states boundaries) and federal (the federal criminal justice system deals with crimes committed on federal property or in more than one state). Now, most criminal justice systems have five components, which often include;

One of the pivotal questions being deliberated amongst those within the criminal justice system, society and amongst biblical scholars is that of how do we deal with offenders, there have been copious debates and sentiments on the matter and one, in particular, has been around Restorative and Retributive Justice

First, criminal law is a crime and considered a type of wrongdoing. It can be against an individual or to society as a whole that is perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise an endangerment to a person’s property, health, safety, and/or moral welfare. We define these crimes as assault, battery, arson, rape, or fraud, just to name a few. Therefore, if a person allegedly has committed a crime, a public official such as a district attorney, will file a case against a defendant, whom is then required to appear in court. The defendant then will need to appear before a judge or jury and based on the evidence presented a finding will be either innocence or guilt. If a defendant in a criminal matter is found guilty, our society believes that a defendant should serve a punishment for their wrong doings. Therefore, punishments for the wrong doer are either fines, probation, imprisonment, or in some cases even death.