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. Criminal laws are enforced on state, federal, and local levels. Criminal laws are in place to maintain some type of standard of conduct more acceptable in society, and to safeguard society from criminals. The purpose of criminal laws is to set a no tolerance standard for criminal behavior, also meaning no crime committed will go unpunished thus an attempt to keep the community crime free and safe. When
The duty of a police officer is to enforce the law, investigate the crime that has been committed, apprehend the offender, reduce and prevent crime from occurring, maintain public order, ensure community safety, provide emergency and related community services and protect fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals.” (Schmalleger, F., 2012, chapter 1 page 10). A police officer will tend to be the first to respond to a call about a crime being committed. After the officer has assessed the situation of the crime and has determined if there is probable cause, they will then apprehend the defendant and take them into be processed. From their the defendant will wait in jail until the their arraignment, which usually happens within 48 hours. A District Attorney is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state or the federal government in court in a particular district (Hill 2005).
During the preliminary hearing, a magistrate will determine if a crime had been committed, if the crime committed occurred in the court’s jurisdiction, and if there is probable cause to believe the person committed the crime(s). If the magistrate does not find probable cause then the case will be dismissed. After the facts are heard from both the persecution and defense, the magistrate determines if the person will be allowed to leave the court on his own recognizance or if the subject will be held in custody until the arraignment. The defendant makes their first appearance in the courtroom during the arraignment. In this process, the defendant enters their plea of either guilty, not guilty, or no contest.
You could find yourself getting into trouble with the police if you carry out an arrest that is incorrect. In order to make a citizen’s arrest, they must come under any of the three sets of guidelines, these are: * arrest for an 'indictable offence' under PACE * arrest of a person’s committing, or about to commit, a Breach of the Peace under common law * Use of reasonable force to prevent crime or arrest offenders or persons unlawfully at large under the Criminal Law Act 1967. A citizen’s arrest is still a really important law in the UK as these powers of arrest belong to Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). There are lots of differences between a citizen’s arrest and a police arrest... 1. If you believe a crime is about to be committed, you cannot make a citizen’s arrest; only if there has or is a crime being committed.
Criminal Justice System Paper The criminal justice system contains three components to criminal justice structure (Schmalleger, 2011, pg 17). The components are; The Police, Courts, and Correctional Agencies. The police implement the law to apprehend offenders to maintain public order and safety for everybody. Law enforcement are responsible for finding, capturing individuals who break the law set forth by the state, local, federal law to bring charges against the perpetrator and ensuring the cases are strong enough to make to the courts (cliffsnote). Once the criminal gets arrested, the individual get book which he or she will be taking a picture and finger print to keep on file and will have the information of the individual that has been charge.
Functionalist define crime and deviance as functional and necessary to society as a whole, with just the right amount of crime to avoid anomie; normlessness. Durkheim (cited in Haralambos and Holborn: 179) suggests that “societies need both crime and punishment to highlight society’s norms and define moral boundaries” (Haralambos and Holborn 2009). Functionalism strive for what is best for society so as not to strain the current system in place. If too much or too little change was to occur, society would be in a state of anomie, were common values are no longer understood and accepted. Merton (1968) in the study of his ‘American Dream’ theory
D. Arrested Charges could be filed against the youth once it reaches juvenile court. The youth can also be arrested with probable cause. The officer arrest the youth and take them into custody. Formal charges is also known as petitioning the court. II.
Due Process CJA 224 February 13, 2012 Introduction The due process model is a model of the criminal justice system that believes freedom is important that every attempt must be created to make sure that criminal justice decisions are based on trustworthy information. Due process stresses the adversarial process, the rights of defendant and formal decision-making procedure. For an example because people are poor witnesses of ominous events, law enforcement, and prosecutors may well be wrong in assuming a defendant to be guilty. Therefore, people should be classified as criminals only on the base of firm evidence. Abstract The criminal justice process varies from state to state.
They let them know if there is enough information and evidence to charge a suspect with the crime. They also determine what charges will be filed against the offender, interview witnesses, review search warrants, and subpoena witnesses. In preparation for trial should a plea bargain not be offered or accepted. When and if the case goes to trial, they represent the government in pretrial hearings and motion procedures, enter into plea-bargain negotiations with the defendant and his or her counsel. The prosecutor will try the actual case, make sentence recommendations, upon the defendant being found guilty, and represent the government in appellate court, should an appeal be filed.
It would be absurd to think that there is a need to criminalize a conduct if an individual’s feelings are hurt or an individual is offended by another’s actions. The harm done must be towards protected interests and conduct that are not just offensive in nature. In response to the Report, Devlin argued that criminal law was not just for the protection of individuals but also for society as a whole. The society, Devlin felt, was a community of shared ideas about how people should live their lives. As such, the law is entitled to create laws that protect the society even if it means infringing on an individual freedom to make his or her own decisions.