There were twenty or more pre-trials or trials that day. The speed in which they were handled was surprisingly

Forcelli explains his displeasure of our broken criminal justice system when he states, “The sad part is that getting an innocent man out of jail is way, way, way harder than putting a guilty man in jail.” When detectives are constantly pressured to close cases and produce high conviction rates it can cause in accuracies in convictions. Garry’s case is a perfect example of how a case with minimal evidence can result in an innocent getting placed in prison. Garry has sat in prison for over 20 years waiting to appeal his case and plead his innocence. The ease of convicting an innocent man should be consistent with difficulty of exonerating an innocent man. In Garry’s case he awaits a decision from a judge where the judge has three options, to exonerate him, grant a retrial, or

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.

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 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)

I was still filled with anticipation and was quite surprised at the differences between my first and second experience. I was formally dressed and did not really blend in with anyone else sitting in the courtroom. The attorneys seemed to come and go as they pleased, with no deference or respect for the proceedings in session.

In the electronic world that we live in, every aspect of life can be broadcast across the country in seconds. This aspect is even more realistic when cameras are front and center in American courtrooms. Each morning and afternoon we turn on the television, reality television takes over and civil lawsuits or divorces are being broadcast on shows such as the Judge Judy Show, Judge Brown Show, Judge Greg Mathis Show or Divorce Court. Many people, young and old, are exposed to these reality shows believing what they see is the “real” criminal justice system at

Commentators charge that the system insulates the interests of the wealthy and the influential that can hire the services of top level counsel to be able to manipulate the members of the jury to secure an acquittal for their clients. In the same breath, compared to the rich and wealthy, the poor, African American, illiterate or with an inferior education are traditionally represented by overburdened public attorneys who cannot secure an acquittal from a juries predominantly composed of affluent individuals on the other end of the “societal ladder.”

Paulsen’s review in “Pre-Trial Release in the United States” examined “one of the worst episodes of racial disturbance in the history of the United States” when over 4,000 people were arrested and over half were charged with felonies in Los Angeles, California (1966, pg. 109). Paulsen provides a clear cut charge to a question many ask, “bail problems are constitutional problems in the United States” (1966, pg. 110). In this particular case, the prosecutors argued for denial of bail, “that the police needed more time to correlate information they had on persons in custody… that persons released on bail might resume looting” (Paulsen, 1966, pg. 110). The judge found that the defendants could be released on bail, but made bail $3000 higher than normal for the crimes they were arrested for (Paulsen, 1966). Paulsen’s conclusion was foreshadowing the effects that the bail system was having on America, “statutes in the next decade are likely to improve the administration of the bail system by providing the means for individualizing bail decisions and by providing release under various conditions other than bail” (1966, pg. 125). Paulsen does discuss the thoughts judges may have when they make their decisions, citing, “some trial judges are probably influenced by the fear that the accused will tamper with the evidence. Other judges believe that a ‘taste of jail’ before releasing the accused on probation is beneficial” (1966, pg. 114).

The foreman is dealing with a murder case. There are twelve juries present into the courtroom and the eighth juror is new and very nervous about this situation. The murder case is about a sixteen year old boy who knifed down his father. All the jurors are talking and getting to know each other as time passes. Some juries are doing their own thing.

Joy is a professor at the Washington in St. Louis. The authors are famous for their education and knowledge in legal ethics, criminal justice and trial practice. McMunigal is a professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of law. U.S. crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the subordination and subjugation of black Americans. The article is different from Cao (2015), Hickman, Powell, Piquero, and Greene (2016) and Joy (2009) articles. The authors focus on fact that attorneys need to comply with the rules of ethics and to give their best efforts to ensure that all witnesses within their control comply with the rules. The public have the right to be informed about the rules and policies whenever the media

The criminal justice system is made up of many complex components that all work together in order to maintain law and order in society. Of the different parts in the judicial system, criminal courts play a vital role in the execution of justice not only for the victim, but the community as well. Accordingly, criminal courts in the United States have been used to maintain social control of citizens and create social change within the population (Hartley & Champion, 2009). Because every state and the federal government have differing methods on how to prosecute criminals, the process seemingly becomes difficult to comprehend and follow. Some states utilize a standardized sentencing structure where as others afford the judge more leeway in deciding sentence terms. Criminal court is open to the general public for viewing; therefore, attending a session is presumably one of the more hands on methods of researching criminal justice in order to evaluate how the system works at the community level. The intent of this paper is to reflect on the criminal court proceedings witnessed at a local criminal court session, explain and understand the roles of all in the courtroom setting, and analyze cases in regards to the administration of justice.

One of the things that stood out to me in the first trial was the fact that the defendant had already spent 26 days in jail. I also found it interesting that a second prosecutor walked in, bowed, and continued to sit down in the middle of the trial. The judge continued her questioning of

That same day I headed down to the magistrate court I had been here before. This court is more of assembly line justice sine each case is probably like 5 minutes long. The judges name was locatell. The first case I heard was a male he was being charged with reckless driving. The judge then tells him that is a 5 day minimum in jail. At this point u enter a plea he entedred a not guilty plead. After he please there is a bench trail and there will be a posector and see what you sentence will be and the cop that issued the ticket will be there so that both stories can be heard. What I also noticed at this court is that you don’t have to be dressed up you can show up like you just rolled out of bed.

Issues of the mind were not really discussed and never came up as a mitigating to aggravation evidence. Because I was working at the court during the pretrial hearings and first arraignments, I did not have much interaction with a jury, family court, or actually witnessing a criminal trial in action. I did however grasp that it is plausible that racial bias and socio-economic status bias played a heavy part in how the courted treated them. Just as we discussed in class, the people I saw at OPD were usually men of color from low-income homes with little to no education pass high school. Bond setting was very subjective and depended on the judge’s mood. And while I could argue for it, I cannot factually say that Black men received higher bonds than Whites or that women were treated kindlier then men for the same crimes. Possession or intention to sell drugs and battery/assault were the most common charges, and many of the defendants were either homeless or unemployed. After the third week, it seemed as if police officers were looking for a specific type of people, especially since many of the defendants were picked up during “random” traffic stop

The purpose of this paper has several different agendas. Firstly, I will describe a firsthand experience of the justice system through the eyes of a friend of mine, whom I recently had the fortunate opportunity to sit down and interview him for his full story. Secondly, I briefly will examine the current justice system, using my friends experience. And finally, I will expound on some of my opinions of the current justice system after listening to my friends story, and discuss some of the new insight I received while doing this paper along with the readings provided in my class, 'Intro to Criminal Justice '. My friends name is Marshall Ward, he was a former inmate for less than a year as a result of him finding himself in the 'wrong place at the wrong time '. I also want to add that perhaps him being with the wrong crowd did not help his case at all. Marshall is a former co-worker of mine and we have managed to stay in touch over the years since my husband and I have moved out of state. I interviewed him via Skype last week, asking him not only for his side of the story alone, but to also listen to his views about the current justice system. I asked him if he felt it was an effective system, and what things could be changed for the better. I also took note on what he felt needed to be changed.