Cja 204 Criminal Justice System Paper
The Criminal Justice System
CJA/204
August 8, 2012
The Criminal Justice System
The word crime is defined as 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 (Schmallager, 2011, p. 7). In other words crime is an action taken that violates local, state, or federal laws that is not legally justified or excused. Crime is related to the law because crime is in itself defined by the laws of the city, state, and country that we live. An example would be that it is illegal or a crime to smoke in any public area in the city of Burbank while in the city of Los Angeles it is perfectly alright to smoke on a public sidewalk. …show more content…
The police enforce the law, investigate crime, apprehend offenders, maintain public order, and more. The courts conduct fair and impartial trials, decide criminal cases, ensure due process, uphold the law, and more. Corrections carries out sentences imposed by the courts, provides safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders, protects the community, and more. These three components or agencies work together to ensure justice and enforce the law. The police apprehend a criminal and investigate the crime. Then the courts conduct a fair trial of the accused criminal and impose a sentence. Finally corrections carries out the sentence imposed by the courts, be it incarceration or rehabilitation (Schmallager, …show more content…
These two objectives are important because they ensure a safe community and a fair trial for all. The courts and the police work together to investigate a crime and apprehend the offender while at the same time ensuring that the accused has their due process. These two objectives can collide when the police want to get an offender off the streets and control crime by charging them even though there is not enough evidence for the court to fully convict. The police choose to control crime by removing an offender from the street and into the system even if it is only for a limited time. On the other hand the courts wish that they didn’t have to shift hopeless cases and get to series ones where a criminal has the potential of a conviction. The true way for these two components to work effectively together is to ensure a thru investigation of every
CJA/204
August 8, 2012
The Criminal Justice System
The word crime is defined as 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 (Schmallager, 2011, p. 7). In other words crime is an action taken that violates local, state, or federal laws that is not legally justified or excused. Crime is related to the law because crime is in itself defined by the laws of the city, state, and country that we live. An example would be that it is illegal or a crime to smoke in any public area in the city of Burbank while in the city of Los Angeles it is perfectly alright to smoke on a public sidewalk. …show more content…
The police enforce the law, investigate crime, apprehend offenders, maintain public order, and more. The courts conduct fair and impartial trials, decide criminal cases, ensure due process, uphold the law, and more. Corrections carries out sentences imposed by the courts, provides safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders, protects the community, and more. These three components or agencies work together to ensure justice and enforce the law. The police apprehend a criminal and investigate the crime. Then the courts conduct a fair trial of the accused criminal and impose a sentence. Finally corrections carries out the sentence imposed by the courts, be it incarceration or rehabilitation (Schmallager, …show more content…
These two objectives are important because they ensure a safe community and a fair trial for all. The courts and the police work together to investigate a crime and apprehend the offender while at the same time ensuring that the accused has their due process. These two objectives can collide when the police want to get an offender off the streets and control crime by charging them even though there is not enough evidence for the court to fully convict. The police choose to control crime by removing an offender from the street and into the system even if it is only for a limited time. On the other hand the courts wish that they didn’t have to shift hopeless cases and get to series ones where a criminal has the potential of a conviction. The true way for these two components to work effectively together is to ensure a thru investigation of every