Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system begins at the law enforcement level and ends where a convicted criminal is released back into the community. There are several steps in the criminal process. Details may vary between different states but there is uniformity in procedure in all jurisdictions in the nation. Law enforcement performs the primary role of investigating crimes and arresting criminals. These part of the justice system consists of the police or sheriff departments. The national policing organ is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A witness to a crime should report it to the police or in case of a federal crime, to the FBI. According to the National Research Council (1983), victims initiate criminal justice action when they decide to complain to the police. The police ensure that the complaints get to be heard in the court of law.

The first step in the criminal justice system arises with the decision to charge. This step determines whether there is sufficient evidence against someone to warrant their appearance before a court and officially charge them with a crime. All this happens before trial commences. This decision to charge considers three basic ways. For one, when a police officer observes a crime in real time, the process immediately proceeds to an arrest on the scene. The police officer then proceeds to file a complaint and the offender appears before the court as soon as possible. May et al. (2008) says that many crimes never result in arrest; 45.5 percent of violent crimes and 16.3 percent of property crimes known to the police are cleared by arrest. A huge percentage of crimes therefore remain unsolved. In many areas in the country, it is possible for the accused to go free by posting bail or bond instead of staying in custody until he first appears in court. Secondly, if a police did not see a crime being committed, then an arrest can only be made if police have reasonable or probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and that the person to be arrested is the one who committed the crime. The police may receive such complaints from concerned citizens, eyewitnesses, informant or other relevant sources. Finally, a victim may approach the police and file a criminal complaint against someone. There are cases where a citizen feels that a crime has been committed against them and the police have not made an arrest. This person may file a complaint with the clerk’s office, for later review by a prosecutor. This complaint is signed by a by a judge and serves as a warrant of arrest.

After an arrest has been made, the case is turned over to the prosecutor also known as the State’s Attorney. This office is the chief law enforcement entity in the community. The prosecutor takes evidence gathered by the police and determines the specific charges to be filed against the accused. After collecting the relevant evidence, he prosecutes the case at trial and attempts to secure sentencing of the accused. Neubauer & Fradella (2010) suggest that the prosecutor controls the doors to the courthouse. He or she can decide whether charges should be filed and what a proper charge should be. In as much as the law expects and demands prosecution for all known criminal conduct, this office has been given leeway by the courts in deciding whether to file charges or not. The prosecutor also has the ability to reduce a charge or enter into a plea bargain for a lesser charge. It should be noted that this freedom is never challenged by the courts. This is because the prosecutor’s office is part of the executive and is therefore independent of judicial control.

The next step involved in the processing either a felony or a misdemeanor is the accused appearance before a trial court for formal arraignment. This is a proceeding where the accused is formally made aware of the charges against him, his constitutional rights and his plea is heard. If the accused pleads guilty then he is sentenced by the court. The court may immediately sentence the felon or set a later sentencing date.

Most states offer an option of bail for the accused or defendant. Offering bail has two purposes. The obvious reason is to allow the accused to stay free until the trial commences. The second purpose is to provide an assurance that the defendant will not flee before trial commences. The amount of value at which bail is set considers individual factors such as the accused criminal past record and the weight of the charges. If an accused is considered dangerous to the society, bail is denied and he is held until the trial.

A pre-trial is the next phase of the criminal justice system. It is also referred to as a preliminary hearing or a probable cause hearing, takes place shortly after the arrest. The prosecutor is expected to present adequate evidence to convince the court that there is probable cause to assume a guilty verdict for the accused. In a pre-trial, the accused or his lawyer may cross-examine prosecution witness to try disapproving the credibility of the evidence offered against him or her. To show probable cause, the evidence presented before the court should be such that a reasonable person would look at it and conclude that crime was perpetrated and the accused committed the offence. Unless the accused enters a guilty plea, various preliminary hearings are held before the actual trial. A victim’s testimony may be required and he or she is informed earlier in the form of a subpoena. This is a written order to appear stating the time and place of appearance. In the pre-trial, the judge ascertains the accused state of mind to determine whether they are fit to stand trial or be committed to a psychiatry facility. A pre-trial also decides whether a juvenile offender is to be tried as an adult or otherwise. Some offences can be considered adult when a juvenile is involved. Therefore, “most American jurisdictions provide by statute for waiver, or transfer, of juvenile offenders to the criminal courts” (Siegel, 2009 p.669).

Plea bargain is an arrangement between the prosecutor and the accused to avoid a trial. The prosecutor may agree to reduce the charge, to dismiss pending charges or even make a concession in exchange of a guilty plea. This practice has been criticized by victims and other people opposed to leniency for criminals simply because it results in a reduced sentence. Neubauer & Fradella (2010) believe that plea bargaining allows defendants to avoid conviction for crimes they actually committed. This has been seen as being unfair to victims especially those who experienced violent crime. If this criminal were to undergo a trial, chances are that they would experience a harsher judgment than what the plea proposes. On the other hand, it is beneficial to victims who would not like to be subjected in a long strenuous trial in a case that could eventually be dismissed. An effective plea will therefore suffice.

After the pre-trial comes the trial proceeding. The first step is to select a suitable jury. A trial by a jury is constitutionally obligatory but the defendant may waive his rights to a trial in this manner. The judge, prosecutor and defense attorney ask several questions to potential jurors to determine who is suitable to try a case. This process is called voir dire. Questions may be about their background, employment, previous experience in criminal justice, relationship to any of the parties involved, biases they may and whether they are willing and able to serve. After the questioning, the jury panel is asked to leave the courtroom and the attorneys select a jury.

Trials are usually in public. This is to ensure that no arbitrary rulings are made when the trial process is under public scrutiny. The accused must be present in court but he is not under any obligation to testify. The prosecutor through out the trial tries to prove that the accused is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. The judge may end a trial if he or she feels that the prosecution has failed to offer enough evidence. The judge might opt to reserve the ruling on motion to dismiss and wait until the whole case is tried even after the jury has returned a verdict.

During a trial, varying witnesses including the victim, testify by answering questions asked by the prosecutor, defense attorney and sometimes even the judge as they try to understand the criminal acts that were committed. Court proceedings are typically ill arranged for the witnesses. The courts ask the witnesses to arrive early in the morning yet their testimony may not be required until later in the day or even the next day in some cases. It makes serving as a witness be more inconveniencing than it should be. Being a witness is time consuming and expensive. The victims and witnesses have to pay for their transport to the courthouse, incur childcare costs and even lose wages. In the event a witness’s life is in danger, the witness is subject to go under the witness protection program. This program is used to curb intimidation tactics on witnesses that are sometimes employed by dangerous criminals.

After both sides have argued their points, the jury has to go, deliberate, and deliver a verdict. The verdict may go either side, guilty or not guilty. In order to convict an accused, the verdict has to unanimous. If all jurors find the defendant not guilty, then the defendant is immediately released. If the jury fails to make a decision, then it is hung and has reached no verdict. In that case, the prosecutor may decide to try the case again. They prosecutor may also decide to let the accused go since pursuing the case further may have the same results.

If the accused is found guilty or he pleads guilty, a sentencing hearing is scheduled. Sentencing in most states in America is the responsibility of a trial judge. For felony cases, a probation or pre-sentence investigation (PSI) is usually conducted and a report summarizing the results is then presented to the judge. Victims are permitted to reveal to the court the impact of the accused actions have caused. The defendant has an opportunity to have character witnesses speak on their behalf so that a judge can be lenient when delivering a sentence. The judge must adhere to the guidelines provided by law to deliver a sentence. These guidelines were established by the United States Sentencing Commission, which was made possible by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The Guideline’s fundamental objective was to alleviate the disparities observed in sentencing at the time.

A sentence may lead to incarceration or probation for period specified by the judge and the depending on the felony committed. Probation simply means that one is free but monitored in the sense that a crime committed within the probation period may lead to incarceration. Incarceration simply refers to jail term. One may be released parole if the conditions set for early release have been met by the convict. Release on parole is a decision made by a parole board. A convict believed to be reformed is released. The freedom is however supervised by a parole officer who ensures that they do not get involved in crime further. Otherwise, a convict should be released when they complete their time in jail. One may also be subjected to a residential program commonly referred to as house arrest. The final stage in the criminal justice system is the appeal. Defendants may appeal their sentence to a court higher than the one he or she was convicted. If the next court denies revisiting a sentence, then the person moves to the next highest court.

The American justice system is considered the best in the world. However, even the best systems have room for improvement. One major contention about the justice system is that it is racially motivated. It is believed that minority races are more in prisons than the majority race. Johnson (2008) agrees when he suggests that throughout American history, laws have been used to oppress racial minorities. He continues to say that America has been engaging in a so0cial control movement that can be best described as “mass incarceration”. If this is the case in America, radical reforms need to be undertaken in the criminal judicial system that rehabilitates its criminals in a better way other than incarceration. It is hard enough that a convict has a difficult time getting a job after going through the system, it is worse when one is a minority.

Reference

Johnson, J. L. (2008). The construction of mass incarceration as a means of marginalizing Black Americans. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.

May, D. C. (2008). Corrections and the criminal justice system. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Pub.

National Research Council 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington DC 20418. (1983). Research on Sentencing – The Search for Reform, Volume 1. United States.

Neubauer D. W., Fradella H. F. (2010). America‘s Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Independence, KY: Cengage learning.

Siegel, Larry J. (2009). Introduction to Criminal Justice. Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth Pub Co.