The Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice 1












The Criminal Justice System

Criminal Justice Today
An Introductory Text for the 21st Century

Brenda I. Harvey

Professor Sanchez

8 April 2012





















Criminal Justice 2


The Criminal Justice System
      Our Crime Justice System exists because people commit crimes; rules have been established to provide, maintain order and freedom.   It is also the structural basis used to maintain social control. The criminal justice system refers to the collective institutes through which the accused person goes through until the accusations have been determined or the assessed punishment has been established (decided).   “The criminal justice system consists of three (3) main components: (1) Law Enforcement (police officers, sheriffs, marshals), (2) Courts (judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers), and (3) Corrections (prison officials, probation officers and parole officers)”(USLegal Site, 2001-2012).   There is no single criminal justice in the United States but many similar, individual systems; how each area of the criminal justice systems works really depends on the jurisdiction that is in charge (i.e. city, county, state federal, tribal government or military installation). Every jurisdiction has different laws, agencies and ways of handling criminal justice processes.

      One of the fundamental rights is that those on trial are innocent until proven guilty.   Because of this the rights to a fair trial are upheld for offenders on trials; these laws are in place to make sure the offenders are not abused or cruelly punished.

Criminal justice systems have been in place throughout history to ensure the safety of citizens.   “From its inception, the U.S. criminal justice system has upheld the concept of

Criminal Justice 3

checks and balances.   To prevent authoritarian rule, the Founding Fathers separated power of the nation so that one person would never be in complete...