Criminal Procedure Policy Paper CJA/ 364 Criminal Procedure May 29, 2012 Criminal Procedure Policy Paper The role the criminal justice system plays in society is expansive. Criminal justice is designed to keep the public safe, to stop wrongdoing, to punish wrongdoers, and to provide order to society. Given this broad role there will be times when criminal justice will not perform all roles well. This means, of course, that criminal justice will often fail to meet public expectations. Ultimately, the needs people have for criminal justice mean that they believe the criminal justice system should be designed to pursue goals that fulfill
It is difficult to hold prosecutors accountable for acts of misconduct. Since prosecutors are often viewed as the “good guys” by the public, many times unethical, as well as illegal acts will be tolerated by the courts and criminal justice system as a whole. Prosecutorial misconduct is considered any action taken by the prosecutor in a criminal case that is against the law and/or unethical. Prosecutorial evidence can be anything from harassing witnesses on the stand, pressing unfounded charges against defendants, tampering with evidence, withholding evidence, up to taking bribes. Prosecutors can sometimes get away with misconduct as it is extremely difficult to prove that misconduct had actually taken place.
Prosecutors are responsible to make sure the guilty person is prosecuted and that innocent people are protected from unwarranted prosecution. Prosecutors decide which types of plea bargains to enter and can ask the court to dismiss the charges. Prosecutors have more discretion than any other legal person including judges. A prosecutor’s position is much more difficult than portrayed on television. On television, the prosecutor, or ADA comes in tries the case and leaves.
The criminal justice policy process reflects what is best for society as a whole and not what is best for individuals. In the American way, the political system uses a democracy to voice concerns, goals, or objectives, especially with crime in order to persuade people and gain votes. Politics and criminal justice policy face public opinion and community influences all the time. Criminal justice policy focuses on issues that affect everyone. Once crime or a criminal problem is significant to be an issue, then action to alleviate the issue becomes important (Marion & Oliver, 2012).
Victim and Crime Evaluation Jessenia E. Martinez CJS/354 July 06, 2015 Kristin Mildenberger Victims and Crime Evaluation The function inside the criminal justice system cultivate together with a general goal in mind. Victimization is a respect with each function. The primary target of the criminal justice system and of each function is to guarantee justice is fulfilled, and victimization is narrowed. Each contributor inside the system has to contemplate the goals of sentencing, what alternative sanctions are suitable, if any, and the assessment of victims' rights. Roles and Functions Prosecutor - The prosecutor's position is to assemble the case contrary the defendant.
Criminal Law Foundations Evaluation If laws were not in place, individuals could not hold onto their individual properties. Social life would be impossible without laws to help control the way people behave, think and treat each other while in public and private locations. Criminal laws were designed to reflect the accepted behavior in a community, such as morals and the criminal act itself, or Mens Rea and Actus Reus. Thus when people break the law and are caught, the accused are provided certain constitutional rights. Criminal law consists of bodies of regulations and rules that will specify and define the punishments for the wrong committed against society or the state.
Both of these functions are important for the protection of the public safety and the operation of the system. Adjudication is one primary focuses of the courts today. This means that the courts have to decide who is going to have to answer for a criminal act. If there wasn’t adjudication, prosecutors would be filing charges in vain. Courts play an important part in determine who is and isn’t guilty.
These things are no joke. One of the greatest challenges facing the criminal justice system is the need to balance the rights of accused criminals against society’s interest in imposing punishments on those convicted of crimes. This tension is illustrated by the debate over whether defendants have the right to be represented by an attorney. Whether or not those accused of a crime should be vigorously defended by lawyers, and whether lawyers should even accept such a case in the first place goes to the heart of the issues in Criminal Justice: Opposing Viewpoints. The authors examine these topics and others in the following chapters: Does the Criminal Justice System Need Reform?
field note slide 1. . Each crime scene is different and may require a different approach to processing the scene. However there is a basic crime scene protocol that should be adhered to in all crime scenes. These basic functions or tasks are as follows: Interview is the first step in processing a crime scene. The crime scene technician must interview the first officer at the scene or the victim to ascertain the "theory" of the case.
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.