Criminal Justice System Summary

Chapter one focused on the criminal justice system, and the different components that make it work. The United States spends a lot of money on the criminal justice system. In order for the criminal justice system to operate, events have taken place to withhold the current situation. For example, on October 1, 2015, a shooting occurred at a community college located in Oregon, leaving eight classmates and a professor dead. Since that shooting, policies have been put in place, creating better precautions in school to make it a safer place. That is just one of the many jobs the criminal justice system is in charge of. The criminal justice system also steps in to enforce laws, maintain order, protect the public, identify offenders, and more; Overall

Behavior out of the norm is not always identified as crime. Deviant behavior is used to set apart the people who violate socially expected behavior. Deviance is defined as a violation of social norms. There comes a point when deviance becomes normalized and people accept the crime that is occurring around them. Crime is functional; Crime can progress a society to change. For example, criminals such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela are considered “criminals” but caused much change in the society due to their criminalistic acts. Apart from the normality and functionality of crime, the US congress passes legislation and creates strategies to fight and prevent crime. The United States criminal justice system is divided into three major parts-Local level, state level, and federal level. Although the criminal justice system works very well together, each agency contains jurisdiction, and at times the jurisdiction may conflict with each other. Overall the two most important functions are to investigate crime, and take suspects into

From a citizen’s initial contact with the law enforcement, up to receiving probation, to being paroled; That is all part of the criminal justice process. A defendant’s first appearance in the court is called an initial appearance. During this time the defendant-a person against whom a charge is brought in court-are informed of the charge(s), their rights, and to have bail terminated. Bail is a sum of money that the arrested person pays to guarantee that he or she will appear at the future hearings. If the defendant is charged with a felony the judge can schedule a preliminary hearing to determine probable cause: When a judge decides whether there is enough evidence to prove that the crime was committed. In most cases, they settle with a plea bargain negotiated with the prosecutor- the individual charged with carrying out the legal prosecution-rather than going to trial. In the case that they go to trial, defendants are guaranteed a trial by jury, but can request just the judge alone which is considered a bench trial. There are 2 outcomes, guilty or not guilty. If the defendant obtains an acquittal-a verdict of not guilty-they are released and the charges are dropped. If the defendant is considered