The Criminal Justice System Has An Important Function

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.

Constable Police officers are the first responders in the Criminal Justice system. They are sworn to preserve the peace and maintain public order. They work on the front counters in their office to take a day to day complaints from the public and they do active patrols as well as directive patrols. They help to provide information to the public regarding safety and awareness in communities. They are to prepare and present reports both written and verbal in a timely and complete manner. They also prevent crime, collect evidence and lay charges. They interview, interrogate and investigate minor crime in the communities and resolve related issues. Their job also requires them to take care of the victims and support them. They carry out lawful duties assigned by the Chief of Police. Sometimes they are also asked to assist other Police departments to help them patrol areas. They capture criminals and other offenders who have violated the law. They are also to be prepared for the court to provide evidence. They are to complete the prescribed training required by the Police service.

There are more people incarcerated in the United States of America than any other country in the world willing to count their inmates (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2016). How can this be? Foremost, the criminal justice system in the United States of America (which is made up of the police, the courts, and the corrections) is not working toward reducing mass incarceration the way it should be. The criminal justice system is set up strategically to accomplish two goals: to bring in money and to gain power. The byproducts of achieving these two goals are mass incarceration, ethnic and racial profiling, and minimal justice. The system needs to change its goals to: reducing crime and doing justice. The police, the courts, and the correctional system all feed off of one another and affect each other. Therefore, if real change is going to be made, it needs to happen in all three branches of the criminal justice system. A system that seems to be working well is in Norway. Norway’s criminal justice system does not look like America’s system. The criminal justice system in Norway has different philosophies concerning crime, justice, and the corrections. "We don 't look at our inmates as criminals, but rather as regular people who have committed a crime." (Skulberg, 2010, p. 73) This is a quote from a Norwegian prison guard giving an example of the ideology in Norway. In order for the United States to reduce crime and to have true justice, first, the policing model needs to change

The criminal justice system is a gratifying, yet often unfair ruling process. Having said that, a first-rate example of a disapproving situation is when a person(s) of African American decent receives severe punishment for a particular offense, as opposed to what a person of Caucasian decent might acquire for the same offense. My topic of choice is from the ACLU's web page via an article entitled "Race and Criminal Justice", certainly peaked my curiosity. Being a young man with a group of friends consisting predominantly of minorities, this article stuck to my brain by bringing back tons of déjà vu. An acquaintance of mine left for court, accused stealing headphones at a local Walmart with a friend. One of the court hearings was for stolen

Across the United States, city and county governments seek to gain revenue through the illegitimate jailing of indigent defendants who cannot afford to pay the large and cumbersome fines that accompany committing (seemingly petty) crimes— such as missing court dates, a requirement for classes such as anger management, the list goes on. Indeed, the practice of debtor’s prison has long been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court within the United States, yet a contemporary form of debtor’s prison has begun to take form which targets vulnerable populations. When an individual commits a crime, they are to be justly punished. If this punishment consists of a fine, that fine is expected to be paid accordingly; if the fined individual simply does not have the time or money to pay these steep fines, however, they are sent to jail indefinitely. This rise of financial burden imposed upon the liberty of low income citizens through the fining, issuing of fees, and jail time sanctioned by the criminal justice system has resulted in new, illegitimate, and ostensibly unconstitutional forms of debtor’s prisons that permeate contemporary U.S. society. Jeopardizing the liberty of vulnerable populations, based upon material inequality and extraction of necessary resources, only does one thing within a society: continue the cycle of poverty and increase the poor’s dependence upon the rich for their liberty, equality and most importantly, survival.

In the criminal justice system there is very rarely a single linchpin that can be pointed to and held responsible for the failure to convict a seemingly guilty person. This reigns true for the very public prosecutions of both Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman. In the eyes of a vast majority of the public, fueled by media spectacle and opinion, Anthony and Zimmerman were guilty even before they ever saw the inside of a courtroom. There simply could be no other answer. The public was subsequently outraged when, after what seemed to be trials of certainty, juries acquitted each. The public sought to find someone, or something to blame. The verdict could not be accepted and many turned their focus to condemn the workings of the criminal

The population of offenders in correctional institutions in the United States is at an alarming amount, and it doesn’t have to be. Each year 7 million offenders are absorbed and expelled from correctional institutions and jails, placing a heavy burden on the criminal justice system (Morgan, 2011). Many of these offenders will recidivate, and with rates that are estimated at 70%, means 4.9 million will eventually return to the criminal justice system, creating a vicious cycle of arrest, re-arrest, and imprisonment (Morgan, 2011). Among this population are offenders with mental illnesses that need to be addressed, or specialized care that needs to be administered. Without the support of mental health programs such as mental health court,

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Many failed policies have led us to the issues we have today. Policies such as America’s “get tough on crime” failed us and put us into a bigger hole than we already were in. Our criminal justice system needs to be evaluated and failed policies and procedures must be thrown out. It is a time for a reform for our criminal justice system. However, we must first address these policies and procedures that led us to where we are today. By learning of our mistakes it will hopefully allow us to move forward and have a successful criminal justice system.

Correctional Agencies. Correctional agencies are all those in correction and they include prison, probation, jail, parole, community-based sanction such as house arrest and electronic monitoring. Their primary purposes are to punish, rehabilitate, and to ensure public safety [ (Shilton, 1992) ]. Responsibilities as stated by Professor Daly (2012) are to hold people on remand, hold people who are sentence to a term of imprisonment, maintain appropriate conditions for those in custody, provide activities that encourage learning and life skills, prepare inmate for release.

In the text, Karmen (2015) discusses the many ways that the criminal justice system does not always act to support crime victims. The following news stories help to illustrate how, at every phase of the criminal justice process, victims may be further victimized.

The criminal justice system is a complex and often uncoordinated system that operates by enforcing the law and seeking justice across countless jurisdictions. It is comprised of many separate agencies including agencies at the federal, state, and local level. Each agency has its own function and goals while operating at different levels of government. The agencies also represent different concerns and values of the public, creating a fragmented system rather than a monolithic, unified system. A monolithic system would deny the reality that justice in a rural area might not be justice in an urban area. To create a unified system would require our complex society to determine a common set of values and goals (Wright, 1981). It is seemingly impossible that a common set of goals or values would ever be agreed upon by the entire society. Therefore a range of goals and values are represented throughout the separate yet intertwined agencies that comprise the criminal justice system.

The Criminal Justice System consists of three main components; police, corrections, and the courts, which play a role in maintaining a proper and functional system. These three core functions have their own limitations and use of discretion. At times discrimination occurs within each individual function. Policing is law enforcement, which obtains the backbone and gatekeepers to The Criminal Justice System. This is where discretion takes place the most. Indeed, discrimination can start with policing, and that is what stands out to the eye of the public. To understand the community, our obligation, is to be aware of how minorities, policing, and society interact. It is important to realize what the community thinks and feels, for the sake

The criminal justice system is a system of law enforcement that is directly involved in prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing people suspected of crime or convicted of felony offenses. The criminal justice system is made of three major components; law enforcement, courts, and corrections. All have subcomponents that work together in order for the system to function properly and maintain order. The three major components have big backgrounds that lead up to the way they function now.

Criminal Justice in general terms refers to the agencies of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct in the society. The criminal justice system is essentially an instrument of social control used by the government. Society considers some behaviors so dangerous and destructive that it either tries to strictly control their occurrence or outlaws them outright. It is therefore, the job of the agencies of justice to prevent these behaviors by apprehending and punishing transgressors or deterring their future occurrence.

The Criminal Justice System goes as far back as the days of Jesus. There were Soldiers who acted like policeman, the tribune which was the court system, and Caesar, Herod and even Pontius Pilate stood as judge. The prison system was that of dark caves and dungeons. As we journey to the twenty-first century, nothing has genuinely changed. In my essay I will explicate how the various aspect of criminal justice relate to one another as well as why it so important in society. Criminal Justice refers to the facet of social justice that concern violators of criminal law. The