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.
The Bill of Rights is what contains most of the perimeters of authority that the government has to control the people (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2010). These rights are for the protection of the people from not only the government but from each one of us. Jurisdiction for the laws is contained not only in entire country but is broken down by federal, state, county, and city governments. The basis if any laws comes from the Constitution as a clear foundation of all laws. Laws protect the people wherever we roam in this country.
In our society today, our everyday lives are governed by a set of laws and rules inwhich we view as the correct way to act. Our daily lives are based on this, and even the effect how we act around one and other. However, those who step away from these 'Norms' are viewed as weird, strange and different by the conforming majority. These individuals who break away from these social nomalities risk being prosecuted, but why do they do this? What compels them to resist these pressures and follow there own independant path?
Melvin (2011) “Law is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having legal binding force.” (Melvin, 2011, Chapter 1). Taking a less technical approach to the definition, it is essentially a set of rules that are enforced by a designated group of people with regulated authority. Law sets certaing standards in society and
Also, there are judicial boundaries in the sense that any crime committed in one jurisdiction, even though a person lives in another, has to be tried in that area where the crime was committed. Certain communities of the city have an organized Neighbourhood Watch to maintain peace and
They think that parts of society work together as a whole to form a complete system. Fuctionalism begins with the observation that behaviour in society is structured and conformed. This means that relationships within society are controled by rules, norms and values. Norms are expected behaviours within a society or group of people; for example, how you are expected to dress and behave for a funeral or at a party. Values are less specific than norms, they provide general guidelines for behaviour and overall beliefs of what is good and bad.
Civil Service Observation The criminal justice system is the structural foundation made up of a collection of federal, state, and local public agencies used to maintain social control and order for the laws set in place by congress or state officials. The system has components that work together to provide justice for the victims and criminals. The criminal justice system has three central components: police, courts, and corrections. Police roles are enforcing the law, apprehending offenders, preventing crime, predicting crime, preserving the peace, and providing service to the public. In addition, police officers utilize preventive patrol, routine incident response, emergency response, criminal investigation; problem solving is an important
Policing in American Society Shelly Alexander CJA/214 November 12, 2012 Ray Cuellar Policing in American Society The term policing refers to a subset of law enforcement that applies to the process of regulating the general health, safety, welfare, and morals of society. The policing function in the United States is primarily observed through the operation of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice systems works in the prevention, detection, investigation, and the prosecution of crimes. There are four methods to law enforcement that dictate the roles and functions of the police officer. The law is paramount and is the guide for behavior of all citizens comes from the legal viewpoint.
“The criminal justice system includes courts, police, and corrections. The formal channels are the strict procedures defined by the policies of the organization. The informal channels consist of the undocumented sharing of information. Both channels share in the efficiency and inefficiency of information sending and receiving” (Sinclair, 2011). Examples of formal communication channels include procedures, assignments, and various job descriptions.
Each culture have different norms within their society. Norms are the established standards of behavior maintained by a society. There are two different types of norms, which are formal and informal norms. Formal norms are generally written down and specify strict punishments to violators. These are usually laws written up or policies put in place to obey rules.