Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation
Ericka Espiru
CJA/394
April 08, 2013
Ronald Bayne

Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation

The criminal justice system has evolved greatly, throughout the years, and has made great progress. We have gone from English law, where people would get corporal punishment, to having a constitution that ensures each person is given their rights. When going through our criminal justice system, as any party, there are always laws established to protect your rights. The criminal justice system we have today is adversarial system. The adversarial system is where the parties to a controversy develop and present their arguments, gather and submit evidence, call and question witnesses, and, within the confines of certain rules, control the process. The fact finder, usually a judge or jury, remains neutral and passive throughout the proceeding ("Adversary System ", 2013). Although our criminal justice system works very well, it is not perfect. Every day we see changes in every aspect of the criminal justice system. We see new trends established from the courts, to probation, to policing.
Our criminal justice system all started with the early American colonists, after coming to America from Europe. The early criminal justice system was very similar to those in England, France and Holland. We used the common law system, and were basically a set of rules that were to solve problems in society. Instead of law making codes, like we have today, common law was based on previous decisions judges had made. The common law system made two distinctions between crimes, felonies and misdemeanors. Common law had a grand jury determine if there was enough evidence for prosecution in more serious crimes. In common law, there was no district attorney, or prosecution. The victim of the crime would finance the prosecution and instigate it. There were no professional legal we now have an adversary system where two parties come before a judge, and jury ("History Of Criminal Justice", 2013). The jury hears the evidence and arguments. In a bench trial, the judge decides whether the defendant is guilty and determines the sentence. In a jury trial, the jury decides if the defendant is guilty and the judge determines the sentence. Basically the colonist learned as they went there was no set criminal justice process as we have today. For example the criminal justice members that did exist then, had many undefined duties. The sheriff’s duties consisted of collecting taxes, running and supervising elections, and other business in the community. The sheriffs also acted as reactive officials responding to community complaints, and would not have a salary; they would get paid by fees collected. Judges, or magistrates, were not professionals; they were religious or political leaders. The magistrates had full control of their courtroom. The legal process was definitely not what we have now. When someone was accused of a crime, the judge would interrogate the accused. Usually, the interrogation happened at the judge’s home with just a couple of sheriffs. Then, the judge would decide, whether or not, he believed the accused committed the crime ("History Of Criminal Justice", 2013). If he did, the accused would then go through the trial process. Since the same judge that interrogated the accused initially is the same judge that presided over a case, most of the verdicts were guilty. The main purpose of trial was for the accused to confess and show repentance. The punishment used in colonial times was also very different from punishment we use today. Some of these punishments included public humiliation, like whipping, hanging, and adultery marks. Jail time was almost never used because they had no resources to maintain a jail. Jails were only used to hold people awaiting trial ("History Of Criminal Justice", 2013). Our criminal justice system definitely changed from colonial times. We have an adversary system, where it is believed, defendants are innocent until proven guilty. They no longer get questioned by a judge at their home; a police officer must have probable cause to make the arrest. Once the arrest has been made the defendant does have many rights that are extremely important. If those rights are not granted, more serious issues can evolve, including dismissal of a case. There are many roles in the criminal justice system. We have the police officer that makes the arrest, this is very important because the police officer must make sure the defendant’s right are not violated. Once the police officer files the charges, the prosecution decides if there is enough evidence to prosecute the defendant. Depending on the decision of the prosecutor, the case can be dismissed, go to trial, or plead out. Most of our cases in the criminal justice system are plead out. We do not have the resources to prosecute every single case. Through all this process, all of the rights given to us by the United States Constitution are granted to each and every defendant. The punishment that is currently given can be probation, prison time, restitution, community service, but no more public humiliation, or corporal punishment, like before. As the twenty-first century arrived the criminal justice system went through emerging changes, facing problems that we never thought we would face. The public and legislators started demanding accountability and protection of public safety. Since, most police departments have established what is called COMPSTAT (computer-aided police management systems). They also developed specialized departments, like domestic violence crisis response and driving under the influence enforcement units (Muraskin & Roberts, 2009). Police departments are now becoming more community oriented and involved in strategic planning. Although these technological systems have improved the crime rate, it is still to be seen whether new technology can help crime. Visions of the future are marked by expectations and challenges (Muraskin & Roberts, 2009). There are many promising strategies for the future, but the most promising include, electronic tracking devices, artificial intelligence systems, the use of bionic eyes and ear drums, microprocessors implanted in persons could relay information to central monitoring station, implanting behavior altering drug in the back of sex offenders and alcoholic can be activated automatically (Muraskin & Roberts, , 2009).. One of the biggest challenges with all this evolving technology is the right to privacy. Some of these new technological ideas can violate the right to someone’s privacy. Another issue of policing is the fact that there is a lot of crime that needs to be monitored. For example, every nine seconds a woman is battered by her current partner. Although many women may have been battered previously, more women actually report it now, is a more recent trend in the criminal justice system. Since the issue of battered women came about police departments developed a domestic violence units, and it much more accessible to obtain a restraining orders (Muraskin & Roberts, 2009). We have also adopted a lot of rehabilitation programs and re-entry programs for inmates being released from prison. The focus is to ensure that the inmate does not commit a crime again. We also see more females in the work place and with more rights than ever. Now, a female is no discriminated for any job or advancement opportunity. As time has passed and our criminal justice has evolved, we have seen many changes. We started with the colonial criminal justice system which was very open, and now we have a criminal justice system that explains every single law in detail and specifies sentences applicable. We have gone from the sheriffs collecting taxes, to community policing. Community policing has put a big focus on the community and being involved with its members. We also have evolved through probation. Before, probation didn’t exist, now probation also focuses on helping and rehabilitating the probationer, same goes with corrections and its inmates. We have technology that was never even though possible before and it is only getting better. We are going to advance the technology we use day by day. Our criminal justice system is always going to be changing its trends and evolving to make it better and more efficient.

References
Adversary System . (2013). Retrieved from http://legal dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Adversary+System
History of Criminal Justice. (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_criminal_justice
Muraskin, R., & Roberts, A. (2009). Visions for Change. Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century (5th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database..