My Perception of the Criminal Justice System
Understanding that sin resides in us all, and we in the world, it has never been difficult to understand the need for a criminal justice system. In fact, Fischer (2016) further explained “the presence of sin and the need for (limited) government” supported in Gen. 3:6-13. Nevertheless, the functioning of the criminal justice system had been a little unsettling because of extensive hate crimes and unprofessional behavior amongst those of authority. Knowledge of the structure of the criminal justice system was Greek to me, but in this course, I learned that their three main sub-systems, work together to protect and preserve the rights of the individual. Moreover, as stated by Hendrix (2013) it is
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Under this sub-system, it was important that these officers use discretion at a traffic stop, during an arrest, search and seizure and when to use force. As per Hendrix (2013) “the Fourth Amendment is the primary rule guiding the investigative and arrest activities of the police” (p. 147). Proverbs 2:11, confirms the benefits of wisdom and discretion “discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you (New International Version).
The second of this sub-system is the courts. Although, there are various types of courts, their purpose is to settle controversy and conflicts impartially. In addition, I learned that the courts are made up of different sections under the courtroom group that function hand in hand to uphold the law. Likewise, Fischer (2013) reiterates the importance of “separation/sharing of powers” to function as a whole.
The third of this sub-system is the correctional system. The purpose of the American correctional system is “...to house and supervise offenders who are either awaiting trial or serving sentences and to protect the public and apply the punishment determined by courts across the nation” (Hendrix, 2013, p.
According to the video “The Criminal Justice System Myth v. Reality: Crime has been steadily increasing” during the late 1980's early 1990's the crime rates overall had gone up because of the increased number of juvenile crimes and homicide rates for youth. It’s these kinds of trends that caused population growth in prisons. Additionally juveniles being sent from juvenile courts to adult courts and changes in policies such as mandatory minimum laws that required time in prison for drugs and crimes related to homicide.
If given this prompt at the beginning of this semester I would have answered with a resounding yes, the criminal justice system is racist. The classes I have previously taken at LSU forced me to view the criminal justice system as a failed institution and Eric Holder’s interview in VICE - Fixing The System solidified that ideology. The system is man-made, created by people in power, and imposed on society, so of course there will be implicit biases. The issue is that these internally held implicit biases shaped the system, leading the racial and class disparities. VICE – Fixing The System addressed heavily the outcomes that we see in today’s society based on these implicit biases. Additionally, this documentary focuses on the ways that mainly
First, according to justice.gov, “The federal court system has three main levels: district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.” The courts all have a different role to play in the judicial system. Court systems exist to provide justice for all. Now, the district court system is the beginning of the judicial system. A good amount of the cases handled by the district court system are either criminal or civil trial cases.
The degree of force that officers use is heavily influenced by police discretion in real-world situations rather than espoused by a certain agenda. Discretion can be classified into four different categories where administrators, the community, and the individual police officer exercise differing degrees of influence in decision-making. What is needed to help officer discretion is a central ethos that will guide discretion when all other rules fail to help.
The Supreme Court and Federal court have the same authority as in the Constitution. This system is called checks and balances which prevents the sole power of any one of the three branches. In addition, this power can be divided between the states and Federal government. The Federal government’s role in “domestic and foreign affairs and how they have grown” (Fe...
Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as “the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events” (Boivin & Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011). Most police officer discretion is exercised in situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984).
In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with
The criminal justice system is composed of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate laws. The way criminal justice systems work depends on the jurisdiction that is in charge. Different jurisdictions have different ways of managing criminal justice processes. The components of the criminal justice system are law enforcement, prosecution, defense attorneys, courts, and corrections.
Police discretionary practices vary from officer to officer and every officer is differently trained by departments. Without the proper use of discretion out on the field, police officers are left open for legal suit actions however, if the officers are trained and exercising the use of discretion in a good manner, each individual officer can be held accountable. The second disadvantage of use of police discretion is that it allows the police officers to have too much power on making decisions which can affect the life, safety or liberty of an individual (Bargen, 2005). Police discretion presents a clear danger to society because the average officer can make a poor decision and affect the life of a person or persons. If discretion in law enforcement is used in a wrongful manner, it has great potential for being abused out of the field. Discretion allows police officers to “perform a duty or refrain from taking action” (Gaines & Kappeler, 2003, p. 251). Police officers are supposed to enforce equality under the law, people in society all should have equal rights and should be treated the same. However, discretion allows police officers to misuse it by treating offenders of different genders, race, class, ethnicity, religion, age and more inappropriately (Pepinsky, 1984). Law enforcement officers are
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
This article discusses new policies for the Los Angeles school system in order to reduce arrest rates. Students have been getting arrested for on-campus fights and damaging school property for years in Los Angeles. Recently, school officials adopted a new set of policies to decrease the number of students feeding into the juvenile court system. The goal of these new policies is to reduce the arrest rates in Los Angeles’ schools. Once these policies are implemented, students who deface school property, are involved will not be given citations from the Los Angeles School Police Department but will instead receive disciplinary action from within the schools. Given that the Los Angeles school system is the second largest in the nation it is concerning that researchers have found students at these schools are far more likely to receive a criminal citation than students in other areas infamous for delinquency such as Chicago, Philadelphia or New York. In addition, black and Latino students are more often subject to harsh disciplinary procedures.
Laws and procedures are the most common basis for officers choosing not to allow offenders to remain free based on their discretion, a study by Mendias and Kehoe (2006) has found. The study found that laws or responsibilities were the main reason for a decision to suspend discretion in eighty-two percent of cases involving an arrest. The study also found that keeping the peace and procedural implications were the primary justifications for ex...
Crime and Punishment written by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a Russian novel about a handsome, yet very poor man in his twenties who believes that all men are separated into two groups, “ordinary” and “extraordinary.” The “extraordinary” man owns the right to commit any felony he wishes upon. The “ordinary” man is forced to live his life strictly in obedience, has no right to violate the law, and his only purpose is to merely exist. The reasoning for these “extraordinary” men to have the right to break the law is because if they are not alleged to a greater standard, they will no longer be great. To be great means that one is capable of breaking free from common laws. Raskolnikov shows his theory throughout the book, starting when he commits two murders and he feels that this is an acceptable thing for him to do because he believes he is an “extraordinary” man. But soon after Raskolnikov commits the crime, guilt quickly creeps up on him. His mind becomes surrounded with paranoia and he feels as if he will be caught any minute of any day. Even though Raskolnikov wants to see himself as an extraordinary man, he is faced with two sides: the giving/caring side and the “extraordinary” side. Symbolization, diction, repetition, and allusion are various aspects of Dostoevsky’s style that helps support one of crime and punishment’s major themes, identity crisis that’s caused by two conflicting views of oneself.
Prison was designed to house and isolate criminals away from the society in order for our society and the people within it to function without the fears of the outlaws. The purpose of prison is to deter and prevent people from committing a crime using the ideas of incarceration by taking away freedom and liberty from those individuals committed of crimes. Prisons in America are run either by the federal, states or even private contractors. There are many challenges and issues that our correctional system is facing today due to the nature of prisons being the place to house various types of criminals. In this paper, I will address and identify three major issues that I believe our correctional system is facing today using my own ideas along with the researches from three reputable outside academic sources.
Police decisions can affect life, liberty, and property, and as guardians of the interests of the public, police must maintain high standards of integrity. Police discretion concerning how to act in a given situation can often lead to ethical misconduct (Banks 29).