...Criminal Justice System Paper Introduction In the field of Criminal Justice in America it is important to explore the parts of the criminal justice systems and the processes that occur. Many of the parts and processes in the Criminal Justice System shall be discussed in this work. Crime will be defined in relation to the law. Models of how society views acts as criminals will be reviewed. Choice theories will also be revealed in this work. The Instruments and government structure in relation to criminal justice shall be reviewed as well in this paper Criminal justice is exciting to review. Crime What is crime? Crime has an important definition with an important relation to the law. Crime is not defined by any one individual. It is important to explore what crime is defined as in society. Crime is, 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. There is no justifying or excusing these acts (Schmalleger, 2009, p. 7). Crimes definition plays a major role in determining which acts are criminal as well as the models that are presented. Government Structure The government is structured in such a way as to support the Criminal Justice System in America. The first part of that structure is the Constitution. The Constitution outlines laws, freedoms and power to several governmental agencies. Government first plays a role in making laws. Then insure enforcement...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...Justice System or Not? Jessica Anders Chamberlain College of Nursing Justice System or Not? According to the U.S. Justice Department, in 2003 about 10.4% of all African American men between the ages of 25-29 were incarcerated, as compared to 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% on non-Hispanic White men. What is going on here? Why are black men in this age group so much more likely to be in jail than are people of white or Latino descent? Topics discussed in this paper include the most affected ethnical population in regards to criminal behavior and convictions, the difference between convictions and when/how individuals of different ethnic background are sentenced, and what the consequences may entitle based on individuals of alternate ethnical upbringing. African Americans make up 13% of the general U.S. population, yet make up 40% of all incarcerated men. While whites make up 67% of U.S. population, yet they also only make up 40% of incarcerated men. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world compared to other nations ("Sentencing Project," 2013). There is clearly an abundance of African American men incarcerated in the justice system as compared to men of other ethnicity (Hartney & Vuong, 2009). “If current trends continue, one in every three African American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime…….,compared to one in every seventeen white males” ("Sentencing Project," 2013, p. 1) . As stated by Kirby, males of African American...
Words: 1383 - Pages: 6
...Justice System Position Paper Dorothy Brockington University Of Phoenix Introduction to Juvenile Justice Timothy Cariker March 5, 2011 Justice system position paper The purpose of this paper is to state my belief that juveniles should and can be rehabilitated. The goals and efforts of rehabilitation are to keep the juvenile offenders out of the correctional facility. Peers impact delinquency in several ways for instance; most teenagers follow their friends do to peer pressure. Some juveniles demonstrating behaviors that are inappropriate at times just to fit in. In some cases the peers that are under the influence of their friends tend to due things that they were taught not to do because they will feel as though they may lose the others as their friend. A lot of juvenile’s offenders don't have a positive older role model in their life they can turn to so they tend to turn to their peers for guidance and this is how juvenile delinquency begins. In many cases juvenile delinquents are raised by single parents. Some are subjected to an environment that is considered a high crime area in which promotes delinquent behavior. In some cases when juvenile’s become delinquent they feel as though because of their age there is no real consequence they would face because they are minors. Juveniles have often said “nothing will happen to me because I’m under aged”. Not all juveniles are a menace to society and should not be place in a juvenile detention. There are many cases when...
Words: 268 - Pages: 2
...Justice System Abstract This paper wills discuss how the verdict of the “Zimmerman Trail, a 28 year-old Hispanic male who was acquitted on murdering charges for the killing of a 17-year-old African American male. The trail caught the attention of many Americans around the country and which was amplified by the media rather race played a big part in the outcome of the verdict. The outcome of this case has become one of the most controversial issues among many Americans people today. Justice System On July 13th 2013, a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges in the February 2012 shooting and killing of 17-year-old African American male, Trayvon Martin. The verdict “Not Guilty” caused an outrage among many Americans, mostly African Americans. Many Americans sought for justice, believing that Mr. Zimmerman was indeed guilty of murdering Mr. Martin on the act of racism, and that the justice system had failed to protect the rights of African Americans. Zimmerman was cheered by those who agreed that he was acting in self-defense, whereas others believed Zimmerman had targeted Martin because he was African American. On February 26th, 2012, Mr. Martin was walking back home from a Convenient Store, where he was followed by Mr. Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman who was on the Neighborhood Watch Committee for his community, believed that Mr. Martin was suspicious because he was walking in the rain at nighttime. Mr. Zimmerman...
Words: 848 - Pages: 4
... The Justice System For my introduction I will be talking about how our criminal system is used and what they use the most for a crime that is made in the U.S. What our tax money is getting used and what it could be mostly used for in the U.S. What could be fixed or done differently for the crimes to be lowered and what can be used to possibly prevent the crimes from happening over again after another. The topic is about how there are many different criticisms of the United States criminal justice system. One major factor in our criminal system is Punishment. It is about how our primary method that is use in the United States for crime punishment is confinement. This is what the argument is really about. How the United States uses the criminal system to punish the individual and why hasn’t it been lowered if there being confined in prison. What could be done and what ways could the criminal justice system be helped and have new ideas to benefit them as well as the one that’s committing the act of a crime. It is also important that we see and know that the crimes aren’t lowered and that they are just arising day by day. We need to really know why and how are criminal system works so we as society could help prevent the actions towards our community and children if possible. This is what supports my topic and argument in the Criminal Justice System. Punishment in the form of social shaming such as censure also has a role in the U.S. criminal justice system but is largely...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...Justice System Position 1 Justice System Position Brandon Stockie Axia College of University of Phoenix Justice System Position 2 From a very young age children are taught that they are responsible for their own actions. They are taught that if they make a mistake then they will get punished for their mistake, but the parents also teach the child how not to make that mistake again and that it were rehabilitation comes in. This is a lot of people have a discussion on how to raise a child. Is it better to just punish the child with force? Or to rehabilitate the child by teaching the child what he or she did wrong? I say both works when they are used together. In this paper I am going to explain where I stand on the juvenile justice system. I believe by having the juvenile justice system be more focused on punishment it will see a decrees in crime. As a child if you did something wrong and you parents sat you down and told you not to do it again, and nothing else happened would you do it again? Children like to push and push to see what they can get away with, but by punishing them you are setting boundaries. By having a stricter punishments on juveniles we can prevent crime. It the juveniles know what type of punishment they will receive from committing a crime then it might be a deterrent from committing that crime. This works in high schools around the country. Twenty years ago it was not that uncommon for a juvenile to have a pocket knife in his pocket...
Words: 1540 - Pages: 7
...economic and social justice. The economically deprived people need either free or state sponsored legal assistance to get justice and fair trial. This will uphold human rights and equality. This is a component of rule of law for any society. It is not a charity, but a civil right of the citizens. It ensures equal protection of law. In a situation where one of the parties to litigation belongs to a poor and deprived section of the community, and does not possess adequate social and material resources, is bound to be at a disadvantage as against a strong and powerful opponent under the century-oldjustice system. The laws of most nations recognise the equal status of all people before the law, the presumption of their innocence (until proven guilty) and their right to legal representation. The Mobile Court, created to save time, reduce legal and other expenses, goes to the place of offence and provides justice speedily. Mobile Court is the best option today to get the lowest cost law services and fastest court judgment. Developed countries are even considering introducing mobile phone SMS Law and Order coordination between lawyers, judge and common masses, web page and technical solution systems. Mobile Internet Devices of proposed SMS law and Order programming through e-court will be a most advanced justice delivery system at very low cost. In 2007, Chief Justice of India inaugurated the mobile court as an endeavour to make the judicial system accessible to remote...
Words: 377 - Pages: 2
...The juvenile justice system started off a little rocky but got better over time. It started in 1899 in Chicago Illinois; it was mainly nothing more than a minor speaking to a judge and the fact that the juvenile lacked legal representation. They wanted to avoid placing minors in the same jails as adults so the early juvenile courts created a probation system mainly to provide minors with guidance, supervision, and education. Over time every state had followed Illinois lead and created a juvenile court. In 1967, in the case of In re Gault, the U.S. Supreme court determined that juveniles have the same rights given to adults accused of crimes, also giving them the rights to an attorney, and the right to confront a witnesses against them. Later the Supreme Court also gave the youth rights to have a trial, and constitutional rights against double jeopardy. Most states consider delinquency as crimes that were committed by a child under the age of 18 at the time; most states also allow some minors to remain under supervision of juvenile court until they turn 21. Juveniles tend to slip up and get into some trouble that is why they should be allowed to have a different court system than the adult court system because minors do not have the capability to think as clearly as adults do. But in some cases juvenile will get treated as an adult depending on the nature of their crimes, states statutes identify the kinds of cases that a prosecutor can transfer to adult court. They will take...
Words: 497 - Pages: 2
...Criminal Justice System CJA-204 June 01, 2015 Criminal Justice System Crime is “any act or omission in violation of penal law, committed without defense or justification, and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding” (Schmalleger, Hall, Dolatowski, 2010, p. 4). Laws are principles and regulations that are established to keep the people in some form of order. If the people stray from these regulations and principles, they may actually be committing a crime. Government Structure The criminal justice system is made up of agencies from the local, state, and federal levels. There are also three branches of government. These three branches of government include the Legislature, Judicial, and Executive branches. The legislative branch is responsible for making the laws. The judicial branch is responsible for determining if laws are constitutional and can also overturn prior rulings by other judges. The executive branch is responsible for signing and vetoing laws. A president is elected, by the people, to be the head of the executive branch every four years. Choice Theories Choice theories are explanations as to why crime is committed. These theories come in the form of eight general categories. These categories include classical, biological, psychological, psychobiological, sociological, social process, conflict, and emergent. Classical theory involves the individual’s exercise of his or her free will. Biological theory refers to genes that cause...
Words: 904 - Pages: 4
...Criminal Justice System Criminal Justice System Crime is defined in different ways by different sources. I will show two different sources that define crime but ultimately they mean the same thing just worded differently. The definition of crime in The Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law; especially : a gross violation of law. Crime defined in the criminal justice field is defined as conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. There is a very unique relationship between crime and the law. If there are no laws then what constitutes a crime? There would be no crime because there would be no violations that would be punishable. This would cause mass chaos among the people. People would take matters into their own hands. Each individual would become their own judge, juror, and executioner. This is something that society could not handle and this is why there is a need for order by making laws and enforcing them. The two most common models that society deems what and which acts are criminal are the Consensus model and the Conflict model. The Consensus model is a perspective from the criminal justice field that it is assumed that all the components work together consistently to...
Words: 1214 - Pages: 5
...Criminal Justice System Jean H. Blanc CRJ 100 04/30/2013 Prof. McCarty Abstract According to Shae Irving, the word “criminal” is describe as “the society’s belief that certain act are unacceptable and that any perpetrator should be punish” [ (Irving, 2008) ]. Enter the American Criminal Justice System. This paper will give a brief description of the Criminal Justice System and its purpose, and describe the key component of this system. It will also discuss the purpose and function of each component and their main responsibilities. Criminal Justice System Definition and goal. As described by author Frank Schmalleger, the criminal justice system is “the aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice function” [ (Schmalleger, 2011) ]. For lack of a better term, it is the collective institutions through which an accused offender passes until the accusation have been lifted or the assessed punishment concluded. The criminal Justice system serves two purposes. According to Professor Kathleen Daly of Griffith University, the state is responsible to respond to crimes to secure benefits to the wider society, such as crime prevention and reduction. Professor Daly continued on to point out, that the state also has the responsibility to redress imbalances caused by those people who take illegal advantage of another or diminish their human dignity [ (Daly, 2012) ]. To sum it up, the criminal justice system’s purpose...
Words: 996 - Pages: 4
...The False Promises of the Juvenile Justice System One of the most controversial topics in America concerns the justice system and its policies. Under this category is the juvenile justice system which deals with delinquent children and rare cases of serious juvenile offenders. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the justice system promises to make juvenile contact with the system “rare, fair, and beneficial.” It also states that its goal is to use “effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs.” The statement ends with a pledge to assist juveniles by providing the “necessary treatment and rehabilitative services.” Many people have their own sentiments regarding how the justice system...
Words: 1021 - Pages: 5
...Criminal Justice System The definition of crime can be a conduct in violation of the criminal laws of the state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. A type of crime can differ in each state and will not always be persecuted the same way. Marijuana is an example, because in most states it is a crime to smoke marijuana, it is legal in some other states. The criminal justice system has three components, police, courts, and corrections. Each three of them have to work together to ensure the system is performed correctly and fairly. The police enforce the law, investigate crimes and apprehend the offenders. In the counts the jury and judge determinate if the defended is either guilty or innocent. If defended is found guilty, he or she may be incarcerated in correction facilities. These corrections not only help to protect the community from criminals but also rehabilitate criminals. * The criminal justice goals are deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation and restoration. Deterrence seeks to prevent criminal events by creating fear in criminals’ minds through punishments. Incapacitation is to take the offender’s ability to commit a crime; incarceration is one way of incapacitation. When a criminal is punished or pays victim compensation is called retribution. We normally believe that justice prevails only when an offender is punished. Rehabilitation is an important goal in the criminal...
Words: 656 - Pages: 3
...Juvenile Justice System History of the juvenile justice system The first juvenile court was established in Chicago in 1899. Leading up to this point children over the age of seven were tried in the regular criminal court which lead to many problems in the rehabilitation of juveniles. According to United States Courts (n.d.), “Gerald (“Jerry”) Gault was a 15 year-old accused of making an obscene telephone call to a neighbor, Mrs. Cook, on June 8, 1964. After Mrs. Cook filed a complaint, Gault and a friend, Ronald Lewis, were arrested and taken to the Children’s Detention Home” (para. 1). The Court closely examined the juvenile court system, ultimately determining that, while there are legitimate reasons for treating juveniles and adults differently, juveniles facing an adjudication of delinquency and incarceration are entitled to certain procedural safeguards under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act of 1968 and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, both stress the importance of separation between noncriminal (status) offenders and those who are accused with criminal offences in terms of legal treatment. In addition, the Acts call for deinstitutionalization of those “light” offenders and demand that convicted juvenile will be removed from adult jails and prisons. Treating young offenders as adults has proved counterproductive and raised questions about the fundamental...
Words: 783 - Pages: 4
...Criminal Justice System Paper CJA/204 8/2/2011 Criminal Justice System Criminal Justice is known as a system of rules and institutions of governments focused on upholding social control, deterring or reducing crime, or dealing with subjects who violate laws with penalties and rehabilitation efforts. In order to have a system in place to counter crime and those who commit it, we must first understand what crime is. According to Eagle Systems Home Security (July 10, 2006), “A crime is an act that violates law of any person or social grouping. It is a violation of criminal law, which is the standard of bad behavior”. Subjects accused of crimes have certain protections against abuse of power during investigation and prosecution. The United States Criminal Justice System is broken down into three sections; Police, Courts, and Corrections. Each component is critical in achieving the goal of protecting individuals constitutional rights through enforcement of standards of conduct. The first component in the Criminal Justice System is Policing. The Police are at the tip of the spear in the system. Police are the first entity in the criminal justice system that an offender will come into contact with. Officers will conduct an investigation into suspected wrong-doing and make an arrest of the suspected offender. Police Officers in America are tasked with a wide-ranging mission that grows increasingly more dangerous. Never before in the history of the United...
Words: 909 - Pages: 4
