Five Components Of The Criminal Justice System

From module one I learned various components of the criminal justice. Most criminal justice systems have five components which are law enforcement, prosecution, defense attorneys, courts, and corrections. The law enforcement officers are the ones who take reports for crime that happened in their areas. Officers work on gathering and protect evidence, they also may arrest offenders and give testimony during the court process. Prosecution are lawyers who represent the state or federal government throughout the court process. Defense attorney’s job is to defend the accused against the government’s case. The Courts are run by judges, their job is to make sure the law is followed correctly. “Corrections are officers supervise convicted offenders …show more content…
The report is usually wrote by the first officer at the scene, and may obtain information by witnesses or other parties. During the investigation officers gather as much as information to find enough evidence to arrest the suspect that may be responsible for the crime. Officers may make an arrest or issue a citation to whoever they think is the suspect. I also learned that sentencing law is defined in three types of crime which are felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions. A felony is the most serious type of crime, and the criminal may be sentenced to state prison under certain circumstances. A felonies consist of robbery, burglary, murder, and rape. A misdemeanor is a less serious crime which the offender can pay a fine, assigned to probation, or sentenced to jail. Finally, an infraction is the least serious offence that is usually punished by a …show more content…
Punishments have changed over time, incarceration was not the only way to punish criminals. Before incarceration there corporal punishments, forced labor, and social ostracism punishments. “Even if someone is convicted of a non-violent offense, chances are they can serve a jail sentence”. (Walter, 2013) I also learned that the United States have the higher rate population of prison in any country on earth. The U.S. have twenty five percent of prison population, which is over 2 million people. In comparison, China and India the U.S. leads with most people incarcerated. The three strike law mandate to increase sentences to offenders after three serious felonies. It is said the thanks the three strike law, brought crime down and made the streets safe. Something interesting that I learn from the videos was that criminals come, go, and come back from prison because the lack of hope. Criminal record will stay in the offender’s record forever therefore a lot of people lose hope on getting job opportunities, housing, and loans. From the video “Juvenile Prisons” I learned that there are lots of juveniles locked up living a life compared to adult prisons. There are also lots of juveniles who want to turn their life around in a positive way. The only thing there is in these juveniles prisons is hope for a progressive