Evaluation of the criminal justice system

Evaluation of the criminal justice system

Introduction

The Criminal Justice system is one that practices justice through various government institutions directly responsible for maintaining, deterring and mitigating crime and sanctioning those who violate the law with penalties. The criminal justice system is composed of three major components, Law enforcement that is responsible for investigation of crimes and arrests the suspects composed primarily of the police. The law enforcement is responsible of maintaining the wellbeing of people by keeping the wrongdoers behind bars. The second component of the justice system is courts. Courts are a form of tribunal that has the authority to resolve legal disputes. Prosecutors are responsible for assessing a crime and considering which cases require trials. The trial process begins with the arraignment process in which the judge goes over the details of the case and asks the defendant his verdict. If the defendant does not plead guilty the case is set for trial before a jury.The last component of the justice system is correctional facilities that include prison, rehabilitation and probation. Once a case has been trialed if the defendant is found to be guilty they will be sent to any correctional facility depending on the case (Kelly, 2012)

Discussion

The past, present and future of the Court

The US court system is composed of many different courts located in the country all fall under the US Supreme Court.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court was created by the article III of the US constitution and its jurisdiction is set by the US code, the court is responsible of developing the rules governing the presentation of cases. Under the Supreme Court the following courts fall:

Federal court of appeal

Whenever a case is appealed for from district courts, they go to the federal court of appeals, there are no juries or witnesses in these courts neither is any new evidence provided the Federal courts of appeal makes its decision based on lower court records.

Federal District courts

Federal courts were all created by the congress; there are a total of 94 federal district courts located within the country. These courts are the only ones in which juries listen to the testimonies. Federal district courts are all bound by legal precedents created by the Supreme Court. In most cases the Federal district's decision is the final verdict.

State Court

Every state has a separate court system that is independent from the federal courts, State courts have trial courts. State cases can appeal to a federal court

Courts of military Appeals

This court is responsible to hear appeals of military court martial's.

Court of claims

This court is responsible to hear cases in which the government of the United States is being sued.

Courts of International Trade

All cases regarding US customs and customs offices are brought up to the Court of International trade (Anonymous, n.d)

Past Trends of the US court System

According to the constitution of the United States It was predefined that there will only be one Supreme Court. where the newly developed judiciary was to be followed by the establishment of the ...