CJ204 Courtroom Work Group
Courtroom Work Group The courtroom work group is known to keep the courtroom in order, and to successfully help bring the procedure to a close. Courtroom work groups are made up of professionals such as a judge, prosecutor, defense attorneys, public defenders, and others such as bailiff and court reporters. These players work together and help to prosecute those who’ve committed crimes for the overall wellbeing of society. This work group also serves to deter criminals from becoming repeat offenders, or from committing other crimes. The most important function of the courtroom work group is to make sure that the court is responsible for using laws created by the government to help the wellbeing of the citizens within society. In some cases, similar beliefs help the courtroom work group to carry out certain sentencing. Haynes (2010) “In addition, the relationships between individuals involved in sentencing—the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney—may be important because of shared beliefs about what constitutes appropriate sentencing. These individuals, who together form the courtroom workgroup, share a common task environment and work together to achieve the common goal of disposing of cases.” Trial Judges are appointed to ensure justice in courtroom proceedings. Judges are also responsible with safeguarding both rights of the accused, and interests of the public. By doing so, this keeps the prosecutor grounded by making sure guilt is established of the accused as required by criminal law. The workgroup interact with each other daily. While the judge oversees the procedure, the prosecutor, defense attorney, and public defenders help to create a visual that is easy for the judge to see what happened. Prosecuting attorneys are the primary representatives of the people, by virtue of belief that the accused violated a criminal law and that the public knows about it. The defense attorney represents the accused by making sure that the defendant’s civil