The Criminal Justice System

1 The Criminal Justice System 1. The Main Components of the Criminal Justice System The main components of the criminal justice system include the police, corrections, and courts. The police or law enforcement officers are the first point of contact for most people in the criminal justice system. They are the first responders after the occurrence of a crime. The police investigate crimes, arrest offenders, and detain them in the local jail (Burke et al., 2019).

Another component of the criminal justice system is the courts, whose main role is to establish whether offenders should be charged with crimes and the type of charges to be filed against them (Burke et al., 2019). A court case in the adversarial system of justice includes two teams, including the prosecutor and defense attorney (Moak & Carlson, 2014). The prosecutor's goal is to ensure that the accused is found guilty while the defense attorney tries to prove that he is innocent (McKee, 2015). The defendant can get a plea bargain if he pleads guilty, which refers to a deal for a reduced sentence. The judge imposes a sentence if the accused is found guilty.

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2 The corrections system is another component of the criminal justice system in which an offender who has been found guilty by the court carries out the sentence. It includes various criminal justice activities such as jail, probation, and parole (McKee, 2015). Offenders who get long sentences are sent to prison, while those with a sentence of less than a year serve time in a local jail. Offenders can also get community-based supervision such as probation. These individuals follow the probation officers' rules, and if they violate them, they may be sent to prison or jail to serve the rest of their sentence (Burke et al., 2019).

2. How the Components Are Interrelated Although the courts, police, and corrections perform different functions, they are interrelated because each component relies on the others to execute its roles. For example, the courts rely on the police arrest report and statements from the victims and witnesses to decide whether to go forward with the case and if the accused is guilty or innocent. Moreover, the corrections execute the punishment ordered by the courts (Burke et al., 2019). The three components are connected to one another, and changes in one directly affect the operations of the others. For example, if the police become more professional in their operations, more crimes will be detected. As a result, the courts will deal with more cases, and more people will enter the corrections system. Moreover, if the correctional system is ineffective in rehabilitating the offenders, they will commit crimes after leaving the system. Therefore, there will be increased cases of crime, leading to more arrests, court caseloads, and re-incarcerations (Waldron et al., 2009). Therefore, the three components are interdependent and essential in the criminal justice system.

3. How the Components Might Conflict

3 Although courts, corrections, and the police are interrelated and share the common goal of combating crime, these components can also be in conflict with each other. One of the sources of conflict is that each component pursues different goals. When these objectives are in conflict, it is difficult to determine the ones that should take precedence to achieve the overall goals of the criminal justice system (Waldron et al., 2009).

Moreover, each of the components may use different and conflicting methods to deal with crime. For example, the corrections and the police may disagree on the most appropriate method for dealing with particular offenders. For instance, the focus of the police may be to arrest drug offenders to get them from the streets. Conversely, the corrections system may be experiencing the problem of overcrowded prisons and may want to implement the early release of drug offenders (Waldron et al., 2009). Another example is that the police may want to easily identify parolees and probationers so that they can be more readily accessible for searches and interrogation than the other citizens. However, parole and probation officers may consider such actions by the police as counterproductive to their objective of ensuring that offenders adjust in the community (Allen & Sawhney, 2009).

4. Steps of the Criminal Justice Process The criminal justice process involves several steps, and the courts, police, and corrections play a role in each phase. The criminal justice process starts when crimes are detected by the police or reported by private citizens.

Investigation The first step is the investigation, which occurs when crimes are reported to the police. It consists of a preliminary and follow-up investigation. The preliminary investigation is conducted at the crime scene, and it entails securing the crime scene and identifying the perpetrators,

4 witnesses, and victims. The police conduct a follow-up investigation in complex cases (McKee, 2015).

Arrest After the investigation is concluded, an arrest is made, which involves the police taking the offender into physical custody. Arrests are made when there is sufficient evidence suggesting that the suspect is likely to have committed the crime.

Booking The next step is booking, which occurs after arrests have been made. It involves taking the suspects to the police station holding facility. Booking involves the police officially recording a person's arrest, including recording their personal details, fingerprinting, and photographing them (McKee, 2015).

Charging The next step is charging, which is done by the courts. The police give the offender's case file to the courts containing the arrest report and supporting documentation such as forensic laboratory reports, witness statements, and victim statements (McKee, 2015). If the prosecutor establishes that there is enough evidence, a charging document is filed.

Initial Appearance The next step is the initial appearance in court, which involves bringing the accused before a judge a few hours after the arrest is made. During the initial appearance, a judge makes the suspect aware of the charges against him, informs him about his rights, and decides whether there is sufficient evidence for continuing to hold him for further processing.

Preliminary Hearing and the Grand Jury

5 The next phase is the preliminary hearing and the grand jury. The federal courts and some states use the grand jury, which reviews the evidence and determines whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Other populous states stopped using the grand jury system as it was time-consuming. Instead, the prosecutor files a charging file known as information, and a hearing is held to establish the presence of probable cause (McKee, 2015).

Arraignment The next step is the arraignment which involves the defendant's appearance in court for the reading of the formal charging document. The defendant enters a guilty or not guilty plea. If the accused pleads not guilty, a trial is scheduled.

Pretrial Detention or Bail The next stage is pretrial detention, which involves keeping the accused in jail until the date of the trial. Many offenders are released on bail before trial. Bail refers to an amount of money paid by the accused to ensure that they will return to court on the agreed day. Failure to show up results in the forfeiture of the bail, and a bench warrant of arrest is issued (McKee, 2015). Bail can be denied to individuals determined to be a flight risk.

Plea Bargaining The next stage is plea bargaining, which refers to a negotiated agreement between the defendant and the prosecution. The defendant can enter a plea bargain by pleading guilty in exchange for a lenient sentence or for some charges to be dropped.

Trail The trial is the next stage whose goal is to determine the defendant's guilt or innocence in court. During the trial, the prosecution tries to prove that the defendant is guilty, while the

6 defense attempts to prove his innocence. A person is found guilty by a jury or judge based on evidence. The guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sentencing The next stage is sentencing. After the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty at trial, a judge or jury hands down a sentence. The sentence can be incarceration in a prison or jail, monetary fines, probation, or a combination of incarceration and supervision. The court sentences the accused after considering the evidence produced at trial and all the other relevant details provided by the defense attorney and pretrial services officer (McKee, 2015). The sentence imposed must be proportionate with the gravity of the offense (Harding et al., 2017).

Appeal The next stage after sentencing is the appeal. The offender can appeal the court's decision in a higher court. If the appeal is successful, the trial court is asked to conduct a rehearing of the case and fix the problems identified in the first trial. An appellant must prove that the trial court made a legal error, which affected the decision.

Corrections The next stage is corrections, which involves rehabilitating or punishing the criminals and protecting the public. If the court of appeal still finds the accused guilty, he is sent to corrections facilities such as jails, prisons, or community-based supervision.

Release from the System The last stage in the criminal justice process after the criminal has served a sentence is the release from the system. The prisoner can also be released on parole after meeting the set conditions (McKee, 2015). Offenders released on parole have some limitations placed on them,

7 while those who have completed their sentence can go back to their normal lives before entering the criminal justice system.

(McKee, 2015) 5. How the Interrelatedness and Interactions Affect the Administration of Justice In my opinion, the interrelatedness and interactions among the courts, corrections, and the police positively affect the administration of justice. Each component relies on the others to make fair decisions about the accused individuals. For example, if the courts do not rely on the evidence collected by the police, they can make an unfair decision regarding the defendant's guilt. Moreover, the courts depend on the police evidence to give the appropriate sentence to the defendant. Furthermore, the corrections system relies on the sentence given by the courts to hold the criminals in their facilities. Therefore, the corrections cannot unfairly hold the criminal for a period longer than that specified by the courts.

8 References Allen, J. M., & Sawhney, R. (2009). Administration and management in criminal justice: A service quality approach. SAGE. Burke, A. S., Carter, D., Fedorek, B., Morey, T., Rutz-Burri, L., & Sanchez, S. (2019).

Introduction to the American criminal justice system. Open Oregon Educational Resources.

Harding, J., Davies, P., & Mair, G. (Eds.) (2017). An introduction to criminal justice. SAGE. Mckee, A. J. (2015). Criminal justice: An overview of the system. Booklocker.

Moak, S. C., & Carlson, R. L. (2014). Criminal justice procedure. Routledge.

Waldron, R. J., Quarles, C. L., McElreath, D. H., Waldron, M. E., & Milstein, D. E. (2009). The criminal justice system: An introduction. CRC Press.