Reflection In Criminal Justice

As a criminal justice, major, I have taken on an American Criminal Courts Class. That is helping me to go more in-depth about the subject. With taking this class, I had the opportunity of going into an actual courthouse to do this assignment. I chose to go to the Chatham County Courthouse in Savannah, Georgia when I went home for Thanksgiving. On my adventure, there I learned a lot of new things. For example, the way they actors and actresses portray how it 's done is different than the way the textbook and how the actual courtroom did it while I was there. In this reflection paper, I will reflect on my experiences at the courthouse, which includes sitting in on an arraignment, bench trial, a sentencing, and even talking to a lawyer.
To start …show more content…
Once everyone sat down the first person got sworn in. There first few people needed translators, their offences included driving without a license or suspended license and got into and accident most of them pled guilty but one did not. She looked like a minor and she pled nolo contendere. She was driving on a permit, and she failed to yield at stop signal. Which in result created an accident. She did have insurance and payed for the damages. She was given a warning with a two hundred dollar fine. As time went on, another thing I observed was that the court room was more laid-back then what it is made out to be in the textbooks. A case I found more interesting than the others at the arraignment was that they brought out an inmate. He looked to be very young. It was hard to hear, but he had already three cases on him, what the cases where for where not stated. The young inmate had no council and was not sure if he was going to have a council. With every person that went, the judge read them their rights and asked them questions. For each person, it was the same. Some of the many questions included, “Do you know your Miranda rights,” “What is your plea,” and “Is this your signature written here on this paper.” Also after every person that went, after Judge Martian used a wooden gavel, he says “Enjoy yourself and take care.” After the arrangement was over I decided to come back for a …show more content…
One alike includes, charges that are similar to one another have the same amount of fine that has to be paid. I also learned many new things on adventure to the courthouse. I have learned that not every judge is the same. Some are more lenient and some are stricter. Not all courtrooms are the same. Not all bailiffs are the same either. While the arraignments where happening, I saw one on his cell phone. While in the sentencing before it even started one of the defendant’s family member had their phones out the bailiff had to tell them again to make sure their devices where turned off. The bailiff even said to us as we walked in to make sure we turn them off. So therefore, it seems like some care and some do not. Which I thought to be very unprofessional. Seeing this happen this has changed some of my views on the administration of justice. Another thing I learned is that every woman that worked in the courthouse had a blazer on, which I fit right in. With the armed robbery case I understand that he has committed a crime and that he needs to be punished, but twenty years is a lot. The young guy will be about forty-five years old. It will be hard for this man to be able to shape back to the form of society again, so how is he going to a productive person in society if he is in maximum security. This person was a church boy and believed to be under peer