...Courtroom work group Ronald A. Tonelli University of Phoenix The Criminal Justice System CJA/204 JEROME SIMPSON JR. Courtroom work group Across The United States of America and in every State, County and City criminal justice system, a Courtroom Workgroup has a familiar understanding between the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the judge. This concept of criminal justice describes the seemingly confrontational courtroom participants as colleagues serving within the criminal justice system. Eisenstein and Jacob in 1977 studied the interactions of court members at all levels they came up with the courtroom work group. The three individuals have totally different jobs and responsibilities than the other two, they work separately from one another toward their personal goal but work together for a common goal “justice”. The biggest change I would make in the system would be to add more judges and courts on all levels of the criminal justice system to help with the overload of today's society. With more courts, we would be able to ensure quicker court dates for the accused. This change would free up a lot of money due to people not sitting in jails, and the cost per day per person is around $234.00. Think of how much we could put into programs to help prevent crime with that amount of money saved. The judge ensures all follows the laws of the court and its procedures in the courtroom. He will address all objections place before the court either overruling or sustaining...
Words: 1157 - Pages: 5
...Courtroom Workgroup Paper The courtroom work group consists of the defense attorney, the state attorney, prosecutor and the judicial officer. And the purpose of this work group is to hold meetings prior to official court room trail hearings for a case, in which they assume that the defendant is guilty and negotiate and discuss potential pre trial plea bargains for the defendant. The purpose of these meetings is to save time in closing the case, because all of these procedures are done before the trial and court hearings, so that whatever is decided in the meeting can be negotiated with the defendant to see if the dispute can be settled without there being a need for a full fledged trial. But unlike most people think these work groups are not like they are depicted in the movies or in television, these work groups are actually very familiarized with each other and are not necessarily mortal enemies. Courtroom work groups actually interact with each other daily since there role in the criminal justice system is actually the same; to make sure that justice is served and that the defendants rights are not violated and/or ignored. Me personally, I wouldn't change anything in the way the courtroom work group system works right now. And this is because, to my perspective it is great that all the people involved in solving criminal cases in a specific jurisdiction have such a close relationship with each other, since it most likely help create a better flowing dynamic between all...
Words: 781 - Pages: 4
...Courtroom Work Group There are many parts of the courtroom and the process of convicting a criminal. The courtroom work group has a major role in convicting and finalizing a case. In the courtroom work group, there are three groups of people that hold the entire courtroom together. Without the work group, the courtroom would not flow, and coming to a conclusion to the case would not be as easy. The work group is made up of the Judge, the Defense Counsel and the Prosecution. They work together to reach a result, in the case by staying in contact on a daily basis. There are many roles in the work group, and if they are not all followed through with then the results could be different than what they should be. In this paper, we will look at the roles of the prosecutor, how the criminal justice funnel effects the courtroom work group and what will help eliminate the funnel and reduce the backlog of cases. The Work Group The courtroom work group is composed of various people who make the court systems work to the best of their ability. Each person has its position, and she/he is responsible for their part. We can start from the top, first we have a Judge, he/she is responsible for imposing the proper judging techniques in the courtroom, and they are to make sure the accused rights are not violated in the courtroom. Then we have a defense attorney, and the defense attorney is to defend his client against any wrongdoing by the court and prove his client is innocent of the charges...
Words: 1423 - Pages: 6
...What is a courtroom work group? How does this courtroom work group interact on a daily basis? What changes to the courtroom work group would you recommend? What is the role of the prosecutor? How does a prosecutor determine which cases to pursue? What would happen if the criteria for taking a case were more or less stringent? What are the effects of the criminal justice funnel and the backlog of cases on the court system and the courtroom work group? What are some solutions to help eliminate the funnel and reduce the backlog of cases? Provide examples One of the effects of the Criminal Justice Funnel System and back log of the cases is that the systems interferes with protection of the dependents rights and causes a longer wait time for the individuals verdict on their case, which cause the dependents to remain a suspect for a longer period of time. The prolonged process generates and continuously adds to the back logs of cases. Which interferes with an effective operating structure in the court system. While the Funnel system decreases the number of incarcerations and court trials which cases money and manpower. The backlogs of cases and delay at the court process also inhibits the Justice System process by helping theses offenders to get away with their cases. While there is a decrease number of incarcerations, more offenders are being put on probation and are only face with a direct punishment once they either commit an additional crime or violate their current probation...
Words: 362 - Pages: 2
...Autonomous Work Groups The dynamics of a workforce is ever changing with management, diversity, and the collaboration between management and employees. With all the changes it is important that employees and management, as well, remain motivated. Therefore there must be a workflow design that works well for both management and employees. It must create an alliance, collaboration, a line of trust, decision making, and create a sense of empowerment. Autonomous work groups offer this and so much more. There are pros and cons about autonomous work groups and why they work and do not work, but it is a work design that many companies are beginning to consider based upon research. The Effectiveness of Autonomous Work Groups Autonomous work groups, also known as self-managing work teams, are a team of employees granted autonomy or independence over the work they do within an organization (Kokemuller, 2014). This autonomy includes independent decision-making related to a specific work function, project or job and independent freedom to assign individual members specific tasks within the group (Kokemuller, 2014). An autonomous work group (AWG) can hire, fire, and make the necessary decisions for their department. An AWG replaces the role of having a boss and usually someone is elected to stand as leader to help facilitate within the group. What makes AWG effective groups are that they are able to work together toward a common task or project goal. They typically come up with broader...
Words: 816 - Pages: 4
...Courtroom Players Response There are several components or key players that work together to make a courtroom function; each role is needed to successfully complete a trial. There are two categories of participants in a trial: professionals and outsiders or nonprofessional courtroom participants. The group of professionals is what is known as a courtroom work group. A courtroom workgroup includes judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys, and many others who earn their living by serving the court (Schmalleger 2012, p.312). A courtroom work group must interact with each other on a daily basis in order to keep the courtroom functioning properly. The group must work together in order to form stable working relationships and work toward the common goal of effectively delivering justice. “Stable and familiar relationships among the group members are more likely to lead to close working relationships. This often leads to better negotiations, less reliance on formalities, more utilization of informal arrangements, and the creation of cooperative relationships. Group interactions play a significant role in the way that one group member responds to another” (Mays, Chapter 3, 2011). One of the major key players in the work group is the prosecutor. Schmalleger (2011) stated, the prosecutor is “an attorney whose official duty is to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the state or the people against those accused of having committed criminal offenses” (p. 315). The prosecutor...
Words: 828 - Pages: 4
...Courtroom Players Response John Doe CJS 200 March, 13, 2012 Jane Doe Courtroom Players Response In the past week’s I have been learning the history of the American court system and courtroom work group. There are two kinds of court functions in the American criminal justice system. The system is called a dual court system consisting of federal and state court systems (Schmalleger, p. 308, 2011). In order for the court system to operate there has to be a courtroom work group. A courtroom work group is made up of the judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, bailiffs, court clerk, expert witnesses and others who earn their living by working for the courts (Schmalleger, p. 312, 2011). A judge is a public official who is appointed or elected to govern a court of law, authorized to hear and conduct trials, and may be allowed to decide a case (Schmalleger, p. 312, 2011). The bailiff is an armed law enforcement officer who duties include making sure order is maintained in the courtroom, announcing the judge presents, calling witnesses to the stand, supervising the jury, and preventing the defendant from escaping (Schmalleger, p. 325, 2011). Court administrators are hired to make sure the court system functions run smooth by performing duties such as budget management, track long cases, and analyze case flow (Schmalleger, p. 326, 2011). The court reporter takes record of everything that happens inside the courtroom. Some of the things the courtroom reporter records are the...
Words: 625 - Pages: 3
...Courtroom Players A courtroom work group refers to the professional key players in a courtroom. These professional key players include the judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, public defenders, and other member who make a living serving the court. The judge is the lead player in the court room and holds all the authority. “The prosecuting attorney represents the government or the interest of the community in a criminal trial.” (University of Phoenix, 2011). The defense attorney is a trial lawyer that is either hired or appointed to represent a person accused of a crime and to make sure that the rights of the defendant are not violated by the criminal justice system. If the defendant is unable to afford a lawyer than a public defender will be appointed by the court to represent the defendant in court. The bailiff role is to maintain order in the court, call witnesses, announce the present of the judge, prevents the defendant from escaping and to supervise the jury. The courtroom reporter keeps records of all the activity that takes place during a trial. The courtroom clerk “maintains all records of criminal cases, including all pleas and motions made both before and after the actual trial. The clerk also prepares a jury pool, issues jury summonses, and subpoenas witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense. During the trial, the clerk (or an assistant) marks physical evidence for identification as instructed by the judge and maintains custody of that evidence...
Words: 794 - Pages: 4
...Courtroom Players Response Tasha Lynch CJS/200 December 14, 2012 William Patton Courtroom Players Response A courtroom work group refers to the professional key players in a courtroom. These professional key players include the judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, public defenders, and other member who make a living serving the court. The judge is the lead player in the court room and holds all the authority. “The prosecuting attorney represents the government or the interest of the community in a criminal trial.” (University of Phoenix, 2011). The defense attorney is a trial lawyer that is either hired or appointed to represent a person accused of a crime and to make sure that the rights of the defendant are not violated by the criminal justice system. If the defendant is unable to afford a lawyer than a public defender will be appointed by the court to represent the defendant in court. The bailiff role is to maintain order in the court, call witnesses, announce the present of the judge, prevents the defendant from escaping and to supervise the jury. The courtroom reporter keeps records of all the activity that takes place during a trial. The courtroom clerk “maintains all records of criminal cases, including all pleas and motions made both before and after the actual trial. The clerk also prepares a jury pool, issues jury summonses, and subpoenas witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense. During the trial, the clerk (or an assistant) marks physical...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...The Roles of Courtroom Atari Dunn CJA/204 August 13, 2012 Katina Semien Roles of a Courtroom The structure of a courtroom workgroup consists of a Judge, Jurors, and Bailiffs of the Court, clerk of court, court reporter, expert witness, lay witness, victim, defendant, prosecutors and defense lawyers. This specialized team of individuals work together to successfully prosecute criminal court cases. The courtroom work group thrives to construct a safe and care free environment of justice. However, each party work diligently in order to achieve a quality of fairness to all criminal cases presented. The courtroom work group also consists of the bailiff of court, the clerk of court, and the reporter of the courts. Each courtroom work group has these officials, and is needed so the courts can properly run as structured. Each representative has their own specific job that is carried out on a daily basis. One of most important person in the courtroom work group is the Judge. The judge is elected or appointed by the state to review and facilitate disputes presented through arguments of prosecution and defense during a trial. Judges are presumed to be unbiased in their application of Criminal Law when reviewing the facts and arguments presented by all parties, such as the defendant, claimant, lawyers, and the people in the courts. The judge informs the jury on the laws that are applicable to the crime committed. It is also the judge’s job to let the jurors know that the...
Words: 1141 - Pages: 5
...Courtroom Workgroup Bobbi Knapp CJA/204 August 3, 2015 A. Michael DeFranco Courtroom Workgroup The courtroom work group entails courtroom personnel including the judge, the bailiff, the court reporter, the clerk of court, the local court administrator, prosecuting attorney, the defenses counsel and expert witnesses. This group of individuals have frequent an ongoing interactions on a daily basis. As each member of the courtroom workgroup fulfill the duties their profession expects, they are bonded by their unanimous singular goal; to see justice prevail. All workgroup members are influenced by other members and have influence on other members of the workgroup. Stable and familiar relationships among members of the group are more likely to lead to stable and familiar close working relationships. This is more likely to lead to fewer formalities, less formal arrangements and better negotiations. The prosecutor is an imperative member of the courtroom workgroup. The prosecutor, more commonly known as the district attorney, is responsible for presenting the state’s case against the defendant and with the considerable prosecutorial discretion the position affords, singularly decides to bring charges or not against an individual in the first place. Before a prosecutor can present the state’s case, they first must decide to formally charge the accused. The codes and standards that govern the position of prosecutor hold the upmost importance on seeking justice for victims...
Words: 581 - Pages: 3
...statements of right/wrong, and they should not be used as grading elements. Also, at present, WritePoint cannot detect quotations or block-quotes, so comments in those areas should be ignored. Please see the other helpful writing resources in the Tutorials and Guides section of the Center for Writing Excellence. Thank you for using WritePoint. Courtroom [Make sure paragraph indentation is five to seven spaces or one tab stop] Work Group Mary C. Thomas CJ\204 October 15, 2012 Kimberly Haney Courtroom Work Group This paper will [Doctoral-level comment (but recommended for any collegiate writer)--Avoid anthropomorphisms (attributing human characteristics to nonhuman or inanimate objects). Consider that no paper can...
Words: 1952 - Pages: 8
...Court Room Players Carl Gregory CJS/200 July 28, 2011 Court Room Players The courtroom work group is the professionals listed in the courtroom such as the courtroom staff which is the, bailiff, court reporter, the judge, prosecutor, and the defense attorney. The group interacts daily, if a defendant enters a plea of guilty. The courtroom work group will hold negotiations to discuss a plea bargain. The defendant and his or her attorney can discuss a plea that will most likely have a sentence, however would not have to go to trial. The role of the prosecutor is to represent the government or the interest of the community in a criminal trial. The prosecutor’s role is to persuade and prove to the jurors that a defendant has committed a crime and is guilty. They must also ensure that no innocent person is wrongly convicted. The prosecutor must first have all of the evidence. The prosecutor analyzes the case to determine that it is legally sound and fit for trial with the outcome of a conviction. In order for the prosecutor to select the case there must be no violation of the defendants constitutional rights, no tampering of any evidence and that the defendant has no mental defects. Once they have all of these resources the prosecutor must decide if the case is a low or high priority to his or her office and will result in a conviction. The prosecutor then will decide to pursue the case. If the criteria for taking a...
Words: 334 - Pages: 2
...Courtroom Workgroup Rick Jordan Courtroom Workgroup According to research outside the chapters in our textbook Criminal Justice Today, what I have found surprised me. The majority of my research suggests that the courtroom workgroup is comprised of an informal arrangement between the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the judicial officer. The basis for this is to keep the judicial funnel flowing and to avoid a backlog of cases. Their goal it seems is to keep the cases from going to trial and reach a guilty plea. By means of a plea bargain, convincing the defendant that he would face a greater sentence if convicted, or by reducing the charges in hopes that the accused will plea out. Because the prosecutor may not be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. The courtroom workgroup according to our textbook has two separate entities. The professional courtroom participants and the nonprofessional participants. The professional courtroom participants consist of the Judge, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, bailiff, clerk of the court, court reporter, and the expert witness. The judge holds the ultimate authority and is responsible for maintaining discipline in the courtroom. Also, hands down the punishment once a guilty verdict is rendered. The prosecuting attorney is the state’s attorney and is responsible for presenting the case for the state. The defense attorney is responsible for defending the accused, and to make sure his civil rights are not violated. The bailiff...
Words: 980 - Pages: 4
...Courtroom Players Response Ginger Robinson CJS/200 November 30, 2014 Lee Rankin Courtroom Players In most courtrooms, there are groups of essential players that work together on a regular basis. They are composed of a combination of professionals. These professional are the ones which understand all phases of a criminal trial, and they all work together in fulfilling the functions of the court. These courtroom workgroups are all of the professionals that aid in a court process. These professionals include the judge, the prosecuting attorneys, the defense attorneys, public defenders and all other persons which may work for the courts. These individuals work collectively with the basic purpose of conducting successful courtroom proceedings. Each of professional in the courtroom workgroup has their own set of responsibilities. The prosecutor is accountable for exhibiting the state’s evidence as well as presenting and preparing the state’s case against the accused. It is also the prosecuting attorneys responsibility to decide which matters should be tried or not. It is the prosecutor who makes these determinations based on a several sets of criteria. Most prosecutors will study the evidence against the accused, study the crime, as well as many other factors. If the criteria for taking a case were less stringent our society would be in for some extremely hard days because as it stands now prosecutors plea bargain so many instances and criminals get to serve less time or...
Words: 280 - Pages: 2
