Discretion plays in important role in balancing the rights of the community with the rights of the victim and offender. Discretion is judgement which is exercised in criminal investigation by people in authority, such as police, the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and in the trial process by magistrates and judges. In Australia the role of discretion within the criminal investigation system and trial process has many advantages and disadvantages in the way authority deals with achieving justice for individuals. Police powers play a crucial role in the criminal investigation process as they have discretionary legal powers of arrest. The NSW police force is given special legal powers under the law which enable them to carry out their duties effectively, majority of these powers are contained in the law enforcement (powers and responsibilities) act 2002 in order to investigate crimes, make arrests, and gather evidence against the accused.
THE WAYS THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS USED IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY. Nikita Adams Everest University Criminal Justice is a system use to deter crime or to keep it from occurring by the use of incarceration or other forms of punishment or rehabilitation. There are many ways to deter crime through the probation system which allows certain conditions to be set by the court or through other institutions as incarceration where a person will be incarcerated until bond has been set by a judge that allows them to be released until a trial date is set. (www.study of laws.com) Criminal Justice is the system of law enforcement, the bar, the judiciary, corrections, and probation that is directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution; defense, sentencing, incarceration and supervision of those suspected of or charged with criminal offenses. Criminal Justice is to protect individuals from crimes by controlling them.
Sentencing Paper Josefina Aburto, CJA/234 October 3, 2011 Darnell Stroble Sentencing Paper Sentencing Paper The justice system’s main objective is to enforce the laws. One way the system enforces the law is to punish offenders. Should offenders be punished? Society thinks so. Society argues that criminals should be punished with lengthy jail terms for the security of society.
Sentencing There are five philosophical reasons for sentencing criminals. They are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration. Retribution is a penalty imposed for a crime that is designed to provide some form of compensation to a victim while also penalizing the offender. It can also potentially send a warning to people considering similar crimes. Acting as a deterrence to future criminal activity by alerting members of society to the fact that if they commit crimes then they can face a similar punishment.
When offenders are sentenced to the department of corrections, in most states they are transported to a classification facility for an assesment and to be processed for the offenders needs. Security levels are an issue with imprissonment. Individuals will recieve a security level to decide the type of prison to be introduced to--depending on the crime commited. There is a range of security levels from minimum to supermaximum security facilities. the offender is then assignened a custody level when introduced to the prison to show the prcuastion that needs to be taken while working with them.
We must insist on humane and more cost-effective methods of punishment and prison management. Prisoners and detainees in many local, state and federal facilities, including those run by private contractors, confront conditions that are abusive, degrading and dangerous. Soaring prison populations due to harsh sentencing laws—which legislators have been reluctant to change—and immigrant detention policies coupled with tight budgets have left governments unwilling to make the investments in staff and resources necessary to ensure safe and humane
Sentencing Throughout history there have been different degrees of correctional goals, but the one goal that has prevailed throughout history is punishment. Punishment is the formal penalty for committing an act that violates the law. Punishment should be certain, quick, and appear to be more severe than the crime itself. Andrew Von Hirsch (1976), one of the leading writers on punishment states “the sanctioning authority is entitled to choose a response that expresses moral disapproval: namely punishment” (p. 49). Many individuals who choose to commit crimes are rational individuals; they choose to commit crimes.
However, this has had more disadvantages than advantages, the main advantage being the induced fear in people of committing a crime with the thought that they will be caught and it won't be pretty afterwards. Disadvantages of new prisons however are a little more complex, because each has a purpose, a conflict, and a possible resolution. A good reference article about these kinds of prison, including life inside a prison, is detailed in the article of "Why Prisons Don't Work", by Wilbert Rideau. Rideau takes an admiring step into describing their problem and its relation into life and social perspective. Let’s take for instance the first situation he presents.
And of course none of these are good escape routes from poverty and we all believe in the term "poverty causes crime". But it’s not always the poor who commits crime. Mostly the poor or the middle class people will go after crimes to fulfill their temporary desires. For example raping, stealing and sometimes murder too. Since the low class poor people are not usually educated, they often easily “pushed” into the crimes by the high class people.
In our society it is assumed we are all treated equally, but in fact many times this is not true. Minority individuals have a disadvantage in the criminal justice system because of the lack of money, and effective resources. This is very damaging to society and may be a root cause for so many disparity issues today. Factors of Racial Disparity Society cannot be run for the privileged and allow a substantial proportion of the population to be an allowance beyond what is needed. This impacts the quality of life for all of us if we have to “throw away people.”A justice system that tolerates injustice is doomed to collapse (The Sentencing Project, 2000).