United States Criminal Justice System

The speaker argues that the criminal justice system in America treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.

Since the policy was enacted in the early 1990s, three strikes laws have been one of the most controversial issues facing the American criminal justice system. In general, advocates believe that locking up criminals will protect society. Critics believe that three-strike policy can only be effective with offenders that are on their last strikes (Worrall, 2008). However, other critics explain how three-strike laws don’t significantly reduce crime because most criminals mature out of the criminal lifestyle (Worrall, 2004).

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,

America’s Criminal Justice system, it keeps America safe and the criminals at bay. Without any sort of criminal justice system America would be complete chaos. People would commit crimes because there would be no consequences for their actions. However, our laws didn’t just appear out of nowhere, they were created and molded to colonial America.

Criminal justice is defined as a social institution that has the mission of controlling crime by detecting, detaining, adjudicating, and punishing and/or rehabilitating people who break the law. There are three major institutions in the criminal justice system. There is law enforcement, courts system, and corrections. With these three institutions they work together to prevent and punish deviant behavior. When a person or group of people violate the rules of society to the point that someone is harmed or the interests of that society are harmed is called a crime.

The American Criminal Justice System is one of the best in the world, as it works relentlessly to find a balance between Herbert Packer’s suggested crime control model and due process model. Throughout the course, we have analyzed the different levels of the criminal justice system and have broken down where the criminal justice excels, such as the different courts for juveniles that work to meet the needs of children, and other areas that need improvement. Though the Criminal Justice System is a fundamental part of our nation and was created to protect society, while ensuring that certain rights are given to prisoners, defendants, and other actors, there are flaws within the system that need to be fixed. If appointed Czar of the Criminal Justice

There are many aspects of the criminal justice system that must be considered when determining the most important. Each area of the criminal justice system has its place and plays an important role in the process. For example, an arrest cannot be made without the police, the case cannot be reviewed or adjudicated without the courts, and the convicted individual cannot be placed into supervised confinement without corrections. However, the courts are the most important aspect of the criminal justice system because the decisions made in and outside the court system can serve as a guide for the other areas of the criminal justice system to follow. More specifically, judges and prosecutors hold tremendous power and can shape how laws are enforced,

Officers in a Texas McDonald’s parking lot saw a black man and a white man in the process of exchanging seats on a road trip from Florida to California, while leaving the parking lot; the officer implied that the man driving did not use his right turn signal. The men alleged that their privacy was invaded when the vehicle was searched without a warrant or permission from the driver. When one of the men attempted to video tape the incident on a cell phone he was told to stop. The term “driving while black has been used to describe the practice of law enforcement officers to stop African American drivers without probable cause” (Weatherspoon, 2004). The United States Justice System is based upon a flawed designed through miseducation of students in the school system, maintaining of a slave mentally in the prison system, and the perceptions of African Americans in America.

The criminal justice systems in Bolivia and the United States have different structures with some similarities. I was born in La Paz Bolivia and we will be taking a look into Bolivia and the U.S’s governmental and criminal justice systems. Bolivia is a republic with a democratic government. The U.S. also has a democratic government. The Napoleonic code (civil code) and Spanish law compose Bolivia’s legal system, whereas the US is based on common law. The U.S. and Bolivia may have their similarities and differences, but one key difference is the instability of the Bolivian nation throughout its history, while the US has shown to be more stable as a nation (except for the civil war). Throughout this paper, we will be comparing and

A number of people do not know how the criminal justice system functions. Their assumptions of how it may, how it may work is shaped by the way that the media along with reality-based television shows portray the justice system and the crimes involved in the episodes. These programs show real events that have or had happened during the arrests of crimes or the first step that an individual takes when entering the criminal justice system. A number of different programs focus on one type of crime while others show quite a variety of different ones, but they are all tied into an individual being inducted into the justice system.

The criminal justice system, in the United States, is fragmented with regards to the many different courts which exist, and the roles that they play in the administration of justice. Before any police officer can make an arrest, or any court try a case, there must be laws to enforce. Law on the books refers to the written law and rules society must live by in order to be acceptable members of that society (Neubauer & Fradella, 2008). This differs from the law in action, which is how those laws are actually enacted, and enforced with regards to the real people of any given society.