The Criminal Justice System Within Criminal Offenders

The criminal justice system ensures the safety and protection of society from criminal offenders. The process of the criminal justice system begins when a criminal offense is reported to law enforcement officials. If required, an investigation begins, leading to a warrant and arrest. Following the arrest, bail is set and a preliminary hearing is scheduled. If the defendant is indicted, a trial date is set. Providing the defendant does not waive the right to a jury trial, a

The Criminal Justice System is a set of legal and social institutions used to enforce a defined set of rules limitations (3). This system in the United States is divided into three subsections: Federal, State, and Military. Each state's criminal justice department is then divided again into separate juvenile and adult systems (3). The system begins when the crime is committed and observed which leads to an investigation and arrest here the accused enters the system. The first step is after the arrest is made the criminal is held in jail until they can go to Criminal court, this usually happens within twenty four hours of the arrest unless it’s a weekend. In that case the trial will be held on Monday. While the prisoner is waiting for trial they get brought to central booking where their fingerprints and photograph are taken. At this time

The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.

Today our Justice system is not perfect, but nothing is. Everything has its pros and cons, its ups and downs and its strengths and flaws. There are things that we can appreciate from how our Justice system is ran and of course there is some that we would like to change. I believe that our Justice system works but that there are things we could change or fix to make it even better.

Every day people are convicted of crimes or arrested for other reasons. Once they are convicted they are summoned to court, this begins the jury process. Citizens are randomly chosen to serve on jury duty. The citizens on the jury will use the jury system to determine if the person being accused is guilty or innocent. Trials can become very long or they can be short it just depends on the topic and how long it takes to decide on what the consequences will be. The jury system is the main trial and the main decision of whether or not someone is right or wrong.

The court system is made up of a judge, prosecutor, and a defense attorney. After the police have made an arrest and conducted their investigation the offender will have to seek a judge for their sentencing determination. Before the offender sees a judge, the prosecutor must file legal charges based on the evidence given by the arresting officer and the defense attorney, who is for the offender, will add his professional analysis of the crime to help protect the offender when being sentenced. After charges are filed the case will be presented to a judge who will then determine the necessary sentencing for the

Travis Alexander’s mutilated body was discovered on June 9, 2008 in the shower of his home in Mesa, Arizona by his friends after not hearing from him for several days. The body had multiple knife wounds, a slit throat, and a gunshot wound to the head, which were inflicted five days prior to his discovery. The perpetrator, Jodi Arias, age 32, was charged with Travis’ murder on July 9, 2008 and put on trial in early January of the following year. Before her trial, Ms. Arias originally denied having any involvement with the crime, which she changed to claiming they were attacked by two intruders who let her live after they killed Travis. While on trial, she then stated that she had ‘killed Travis out of self-defense’ when she was attacked by him

What: Jodi and Travis were dating on and off and she became obsessive very quickly. She would stalk him, break in his house, follow him and slash one of his girl friends tires. One day she came over to Travis’ house and while he was showering, she stabbed him 27 times, slit his throat and shot him in the temple. She left a lot of evidence, including hair and a bloody handprint on the wall.

The criminal trial process is an interesting process that takes place in Courtrooms all across the United States and throughout the globe. This study intends to set out the various steps in the criminal trial process in the American justice system. A trial is described as a "legal forum for resolving individual disputes, and in the case of a criminal charge, it is a means for establishing whether an accused person is legally guilty of an offense. The trial process varies with respect to whether the matter at issue is civil in nature or criminal. In either case, a jury acts as a fact-finding body for the court in assessing information and evidence that is presented by the respective parties in a case. A judge presides over the court and addresses all the legal issues that arise during the trial. A judge also instructs the jury how to apply the facts to the laws that will govern in a given case." (3rd Judicial District, 2012)

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

Entry into the system is the first thing is the report from the victim, then there is an investigation and finally if there is enough evidence then they can make an arrest (“The Criminal Justice System”). Prosecution and Pretrial has to do with the prosecutor seeing if there are going to be any charges made, the first court appearance, if charged they can be release on bail or on bond, grand jury hearing, and arraignment. Adjudication is when most cases are resolved by plea agreements and not a lot of people go on a trial. If they do have a trial and are convicted of the charges, then the judge will set a date for their sentencing (“The Criminal Justice System”). If found innocent, then they are released. Post-trial is when the defendant gets to see what their sentence is. Depending on the crime the judge gets to choose their sentence. They either get fines, probation, jail or prison, or the death penalty.

The United States justice system can be described as a cycle, where people enter the prison system, are released, and upon failure to integrate into society soon find themselves back behind bars. Although the means in which the cycle is perpetuated can be argued, the rate of re-offenders is constantly trying to be reduced. One term used to define this type of convict is recidivism, which is the repeat criminal action of a convicted inmate. Recidivism is fastly becoming a issue in the United States as it has been shown that 70% of convicted offenders have been reconvicted within three years of release (Esperian, 2010, p. 322). As crime of any background can be detrimental to society, this high rate of reentry into the justice system has stimulated

To what extent has the media shaped your understanding of crime and the criminal justice system?

Garland argues that a new predicament has occurred over the last 30 years within the criminal justice system that encompasses one of the six adaptive responses. One of the six is believed to effect the various implications for administrative and political actions.

The criminal justice system and the criminal justice process has shaped the laws of this country into what they are today from the concerns of politicians and government leaders as far back as the 1800s with crime control. Basically, the criminal justice system was designed to ensure the safety of individuals whom are citizens of this country. Essentially, the criminal justice system is “the structural basis used to maintain social control” (Education Decisions, 2010). The criminal justice system has many components that work together to provide justice for criminals and victims of crimes. This enables violators of the law to be prosecuted in a fair trial. The legal definition of a crime is a wrong doing