...Criminal Justice System Paper Introduction In the field of Criminal Justice in America it is important to explore the parts of the criminal justice systems and the processes that occur. Many of the parts and processes in the Criminal Justice System shall be discussed in this work. Crime will be defined in relation to the law. Models of how society views acts as criminals will be reviewed. Choice theories will also be revealed in this work. The Instruments and government structure in relation to criminal justice shall be reviewed as well in this paper Criminal justice is exciting to review. Crime What is crime? Crime has an important definition with an important relation to the law. Crime is not defined by any one individual. It is important to explore what crime is defined as in society. Crime is, conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. There is no justifying or excusing these acts (Schmalleger, 2009, p. 7). Crimes definition plays a major role in determining which acts are criminal as well as the models that are presented. Government Structure The government is structured in such a way as to support the Criminal Justice System in America. The first part of that structure is the Constitution. The Constitution outlines laws, freedoms and power to several governmental agencies. Government first plays a role in making laws. Then insure enforcement...
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... The Justice System For my introduction I will be talking about how our criminal system is used and what they use the most for a crime that is made in the U.S. What our tax money is getting used and what it could be mostly used for in the U.S. What could be fixed or done differently for the crimes to be lowered and what can be used to possibly prevent the crimes from happening over again after another. The topic is about how there are many different criticisms of the United States criminal justice system. One major factor in our criminal system is Punishment. It is about how our primary method that is use in the United States for crime punishment is confinement. This is what the argument is really about. How the United States uses the criminal system to punish the individual and why hasn’t it been lowered if there being confined in prison. What could be done and what ways could the criminal justice system be helped and have new ideas to benefit them as well as the one that’s committing the act of a crime. It is also important that we see and know that the crimes aren’t lowered and that they are just arising day by day. We need to really know why and how are criminal system works so we as society could help prevent the actions towards our community and children if possible. This is what supports my topic and argument in the Criminal Justice System. Punishment in the form of social shaming such as censure also has a role in the U.S. criminal justice system but is largely...
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...It is often questioned as to whether the Australian justice system is fair, affordable and accessible. However, for many citizens, the legal system is failing on all fronts. Key issues faced by the justice system include equity under the rule of law, barriers to equal justice, eligibility for the poor or disadvantaged and financial burden placed on those seeking a just outcome through the Australian justice system. Each of these issues hinder individuals seeking justice. By understanding these issues and addressing them from a proper standpoint, improvements can be made and solutions can be found. It is a core principle of the rule of law that justice must be equally accessible by all Australians (Ellis 2013). The term ‘access to justice’...
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...Criminal Justice System CJA-204 June 01, 2015 Criminal Justice System Crime is “any act or omission in violation of penal law, committed without defense or justification, and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding” (Schmalleger, Hall, Dolatowski, 2010, p. 4). Laws are principles and regulations that are established to keep the people in some form of order. If the people stray from these regulations and principles, they may actually be committing a crime. Government Structure The criminal justice system is made up of agencies from the local, state, and federal levels. There are also three branches of government. These three branches of government include the Legislature, Judicial, and Executive branches. The legislative branch is responsible for making the laws. The judicial branch is responsible for determining if laws are constitutional and can also overturn prior rulings by other judges. The executive branch is responsible for signing and vetoing laws. A president is elected, by the people, to be the head of the executive branch every four years. Choice Theories Choice theories are explanations as to why crime is committed. These theories come in the form of eight general categories. These categories include classical, biological, psychological, psychobiological, sociological, social process, conflict, and emergent. Classical theory involves the individual’s exercise of his or her free will. Biological theory refers to genes that cause...
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...Criminal Justice System Criminal Justice System Crime is defined in different ways by different sources. I will show two different sources that define crime but ultimately they mean the same thing just worded differently. The definition of crime in The Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law; especially : a gross violation of law. Crime defined in the criminal justice field is defined as conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. There is a very unique relationship between crime and the law. If there are no laws then what constitutes a crime? There would be no crime because there would be no violations that would be punishable. This would cause mass chaos among the people. People would take matters into their own hands. Each individual would become their own judge, juror, and executioner. This is something that society could not handle and this is why there is a need for order by making laws and enforcing them. The two most common models that society deems what and which acts are criminal are the Consensus model and the Conflict model. The Consensus model is a perspective from the criminal justice field that it is assumed that all the components work together consistently to...
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...Criminal Justice System Jean H. Blanc CRJ 100 04/30/2013 Prof. McCarty Abstract According to Shae Irving, the word “criminal” is describe as “the society’s belief that certain act are unacceptable and that any perpetrator should be punish” [ (Irving, 2008) ]. Enter the American Criminal Justice System. This paper will give a brief description of the Criminal Justice System and its purpose, and describe the key component of this system. It will also discuss the purpose and function of each component and their main responsibilities. Criminal Justice System Definition and goal. As described by author Frank Schmalleger, the criminal justice system is “the aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice function” [ (Schmalleger, 2011) ]. For lack of a better term, it is the collective institutions through which an accused offender passes until the accusation have been lifted or the assessed punishment concluded. The criminal Justice system serves two purposes. According to Professor Kathleen Daly of Griffith University, the state is responsible to respond to crimes to secure benefits to the wider society, such as crime prevention and reduction. Professor Daly continued on to point out, that the state also has the responsibility to redress imbalances caused by those people who take illegal advantage of another or diminish their human dignity [ (Daly, 2012) ]. To sum it up, the criminal justice system’s purpose...
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...Criminal Justice System The definition of crime can be a conduct in violation of the criminal laws of the state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. A type of crime can differ in each state and will not always be persecuted the same way. Marijuana is an example, because in most states it is a crime to smoke marijuana, it is legal in some other states. The criminal justice system has three components, police, courts, and corrections. Each three of them have to work together to ensure the system is performed correctly and fairly. The police enforce the law, investigate crimes and apprehend the offenders. In the counts the jury and judge determinate if the defended is either guilty or innocent. If defended is found guilty, he or she may be incarcerated in correction facilities. These corrections not only help to protect the community from criminals but also rehabilitate criminals. * The criminal justice goals are deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation and restoration. Deterrence seeks to prevent criminal events by creating fear in criminals’ minds through punishments. Incapacitation is to take the offender’s ability to commit a crime; incarceration is one way of incapacitation. When a criminal is punished or pays victim compensation is called retribution. We normally believe that justice prevails only when an offender is punished. Rehabilitation is an important goal in the criminal...
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...The main point of this research when it comes to the Juvenile Justice System is to explore the effectiveness of new or alternative juvenile justice programs that are implemented in the United States in order to reduce recidivism for youth offenders. Recidivism is a concept in Criminal Justice. It refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime. Recidivism is measured by criminal acts that resulted in rearrest, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner's release. While incarcerated, these individuals should be provided the necessary tools and skills to help them remain out of...
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...Discretion is judgment, and in specific to the criminal justice system, the judgment exercised by applying principles, values and facts. The discretion of police and judges is of paramount importance but in reality, discretion is used from the planning of the crime by the offender, reporting the crime by victims and witnesses, to police investigation, the DPP role in taking the case to court, charge negotiation and judicial discretion. The rule of law is the basic premise that govern and guide the criminal justice. The rule of law create equality among everyone including authorities, criminals and accused. The police have a lot do with discretion under the justice system since they face different situation every day and no situation is the same. There are two type of police discretion which are individual and command. Individual deals with the police and command is the handle with the police administrator. Since no two situation are the same, most police use their judgment to solve the situation. A prosecutor have a lot to do with discretion too since a criminal may need a plea bargain, investigate if the accuse is guilty or not guilty. Whether to charge an accused or not to charge an accused is a critical factor in the discretion of the justice system. Also, do the accuse get a plea bargain and what are they offering and what will they get. The judges have a lot to do with it as well, from the individual release, sentence and what evidence to allow in the courtroom. Discretion...
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...Criminal Justice System Paper CJA/204 8/2/2011 Criminal Justice System Criminal Justice is known as a system of rules and institutions of governments focused on upholding social control, deterring or reducing crime, or dealing with subjects who violate laws with penalties and rehabilitation efforts. In order to have a system in place to counter crime and those who commit it, we must first understand what crime is. According to Eagle Systems Home Security (July 10, 2006), “A crime is an act that violates law of any person or social grouping. It is a violation of criminal law, which is the standard of bad behavior”. Subjects accused of crimes have certain protections against abuse of power during investigation and prosecution. The United States Criminal Justice System is broken down into three sections; Police, Courts, and Corrections. Each component is critical in achieving the goal of protecting individuals constitutional rights through enforcement of standards of conduct. The first component in the Criminal Justice System is Policing. The Police are at the tip of the spear in the system. Police are the first entity in the criminal justice system that an offender will come into contact with. Officers will conduct an investigation into suspected wrong-doing and make an arrest of the suspected offender. Police Officers in America are tasked with a wide-ranging mission that grows increasingly more dangerous. Never before in the history of the United...
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...The Criminal Justice System in Modern Day Society According to Schmalleger (2015) the American experience with crime during the last half century has been especially influential in shaping the criminal justice system of today. Crime is defined as “conduct in violation of the criminal laws of the state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse,” (Schmalleger, 2015). Therefore, what constitutes a crime is regulated by local, state and federal laws. Moreover, what is deemed a crime in one state may not be a crime in another state; this is because each unit of government is charged with defining what is classified as a crime within that particular jurisdiction. Likewise, each governmental agency is responsible for the detection and subsequent prosecution of crimes that are committed. Society determines which acts are criminal by using two models known respectively as the consensus model and the conflict model. Schmalleger (2015) suggest that the consensus model is based on majority of the people within a society sharing the same values and beliefs. This group of people determined what is considered right and what is considered wrong. If a member of the groups acts in opposition of the agreed upon norms, and the act threatens the safety of well being of the group, the act is considered illegal and therefore is subject to reprimand. The conflict model seems to suggest that criminal acts are...
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...Do you think young people should be treated as adult criminals when they commit a crime? There are debates whether the juvenile justice system should treat young people as adults or should our legal system attempt to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. The juvenile justice system should treat young people as adult criminals. Some young people think like adult criminals. For example, in the Serial Podcast Sarah Koenig says “…Jay can retrieve the shovels and wipe the handles clean in case of fingerprints.” This example shows that young people are capable of covering up a crime they commit. This is important because young people can be just as guilty as adult criminals who similar crimes. In sum, young people who cover up the criminal acts they did...
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...justice system is ignoring these aspects and is focusing their attention on the rehabilitation principle. They are redefining the meaning of justice, and are letting criminals escape the punishment they are supposed to serve. Juvenile rights advocates argue that juveniles can learn the mistakes of their ways if given the opportunity. They believe that if they are able to rehabilitate these juveniles than they can decrease future crimes. Although this aspect of rehabilitation can be effective in fighting crime it has not been. Instead of this program decreasing future crime, it has in fact risen over the past decade. In the book “Statistics and Trends in Juvenile Justice and Forensic Psychology” it states that the number of juveniles in jail...
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...Criminal Justice System Kristi (Michelle) Flemig CJS/200 November 18, 2012 Tracy Walker Townsend Criminal Justice System The role of the criminal justice system is to respond to crimes in the name of society. It is not confined to one level of government. It spans the federal state and local governments. The lines of authority and distinction between agencies are not always clear and may need to be negotiated according to the jurisdiction of the case. The police, courts and corrections facilities are supposed to work together as a system to implement criminal justice functions. The broad scope and size of the process can make efficient and effective goals, and different agencies within the system emphasize different goals. Sometimes the difference in these goals creates conflict. The five criminal justice goals are not mutually exclusive. Deterrence occurs with an offender is caught, punished, and decides not to engage in further criminal behavior because he or she now understands the consequence of that behavior. Retribution involves the act of taking revenge on a criminal perpetrator. Types of retribution include incarceration, victim compensation, fines paid to public agencies, community service and/or public humiliation or embarrassment. Restoration involves the attempt to make the victim “whole again.” The goal of restorative justice is to repair the harm crime has done to the relationship between the offender and victim and the offender and the community...
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...The Criminal Justice System and Process The criminal justice system and process refers to violations of the criminal laws put in place to apprehend and punish violators. The criminal justice system intends to protect the innocent through fair treatment with three main parts in the systems that consist of agencies as law enforcement, courts, and corrections. These agencies work together following the rules of law and maintaining these rules. The first part of the criminal justice system is policing investigate suspects for any wrong-doing. When the violator is arrested he or she is processed for booking and put in the system. A warrant can be issued for the violator where law enforcement officers can apprehend the suspect for arrest. The main purpose of law enforcement is to protest the public and keep social order. Law enforcement also has the duty to provide emergency and services in protecting the rights, individual freedom, and maintaining order. The next procedure is the court system. The criminal courts system provides impart and fair trails to ensure due process, decide the violators’ innocence or guilt, decide the cases on imposing a guilty sentence, provide fairness throughout the process, and provide protections of the rights of the individual. The criminal justice personnel have duties by courts to provide fairness, integrity, impartiality, and professionalism in criminal case proceedings. The courtroom has important people ensuring...
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