preview

Three Components Of The U.s. Criminal Justice System

Decent Essays

There are three components of the U.S. Criminal Justice System today, law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Anyone who is arrested will go through all three aspects without even being found guilty. However, one that most people seem to remember the most as a defining factor would be when they were in court, during this time there are many rules, procedures, and codes of conduct to follow. These are in place to allow a trial to proceed more efficiently and fairly for both the defense and prosecution. Whether the charge is a felony or a misdemeanor the defendant is entitled to a fair trial in front of an impartial, honest judge or jury. Consequently, this is not always the case. Most of the courts have flaws where most public defense …show more content…

All they care about it winning because it will help make a name for themselves. The Office of Professional Responsibility, also known as the OPR, found more than six hundred and fifty infractions through the freedom of information act and over four hundred were major infractions between the years 2002-2013 (Hundreds of Justice Department Attorneys). Proving the fact that the system is flawed. There is one attorney that was described, “as a talented, effective prosecutor willing to bend the rules to get results” (Hundreds of Justice Department Attorneys); doesn’t exactly sound correct since everyone has the right to a fair trial given by the sixth amendment (Schmalleger, 2016).
However, attorneys are not the only ones in the court procedures that have done something wrong. There is an increasing number of judges that are getting caught as well. Most of them are getting caught accepting bribes in some form. There was an Arkansas judge that reduced the amount of money the nursing home had to pay the plaintiff because they donated money to his campaign (Former Judge Sentenced). Another judge had accepted about $2.2 million to send kids to the juvenile facility, putting about 2,000 “juveniles” there that didn’t deserve it.
It is hard to believe that a system that is supposed to promote fairness wouldn’t be so corrupt. However, there are ways to help this section of the Criminal Justice System become less flawed. For the public defense attorneys, an increase in

Get Access