The Criminal Justice System

This course has truly opened my eyes in some ways as to how the criminal justice system is operated. The checks and balance system is put in place to safe guard the constitutional rights of the accused and to ensure that justice is dealt out fairly. And throughout this course it has been proven to be effective, but where there are human beings there will be errors. So after learning more about the criminal justice system my opinion has partially changed, but I still stand strong on the fact that I believe there a difference in how the system handles minorities.

Nevertheless, the segment that had the most impact for me was the discussion of sentencing and understanding the logic behind it. The contemporary theories of deterrence, incapacitation,

retribution, rehabilitation, and restorative justice gives the judge a way to determine the most effective means of punishment. Based on the history of the offender and the ability to be rehabilitated; which never registered to me that a person couldn’t be rehabilitated. Which I now know was a naïve perspective being that if a person is a career criminal they may have settled into that behavior versus a person who has only committed one crime. It would be the most plausible option to rehabilitate the person who isn’t too far gone versus the person who has settled into the lifestyle.

However, the component that swayed my opinion the most was the module about the courtroom participants and the trial. It really gave me a different perspective and a greater sense of respect for the court system. To gain knowledge about how the court system operates, how the jury is selected, and basically step for step about how a court trial proceeds. To see it broken down gave me an insightful view of how the criminal justice system provides a judicial forum for legal cases to be heard.