Three Components to the Justice System

of the justice system The Criminal Justice System James E. Boyd Strayer University Douglas Brinkley The Justice System Criminal Justice is a phrase that refers to the collection of the three criminal justice systems. The federal, state, and local public agencies deal with the crime problem. These agencies process suspects, defendants, and convicted offenders and are interdependent insofar as the decisions of one agency affect other agencies. The three components of criminal justice are Law Enforcement, Courts, and Corrections.

While all independent, they all must work together towards a common goal. The goal is to establish order and peace for all citizens of this great nation. Police The first component of the criminal justice system, perhaps the most dangerous, is law enforcement. Police departments are public agencies whose purposes are to maintain order, enforce the criminal law, and provide services. This includes the local police as well as the federal and state departments.

They head the criminal justice system because they are the ones that find and capture individuals who break the laws set forth by the state or federal government. Law enforcement personnel are also responsible for ensuring the cases are strong enough to stand up in court. They cooperate with prosecutors in criminal investigations, gathering evidence necessary to obtain convictions in the courts. Court The second component of the criminal justice system is the court.

Courts are tribunals where persons accused of violating criminal law come to have their criminal responsibility determined by juries or judges. The court system includes prosecution, defense lawyers, judges, and juries. Judges hear the cases and preside over the participants to make sure that all laws are followed while the cases are being tried. Some cases are tried in front of a judge only, while others have a jury of 12 citizens who determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant based on facts brought forth during a trial.

A jury may also make a recommendation of what a sentence should be. A judge ultimately decides a sentence unless there are pre-determined sentencing guidelines that need to be followed. Sentencing guidelines are more prevalent in the federal justice system. Corrections The third and final component of the criminal justice system is corrections. The role of this component is to uphold and administer sentences handed down by judges. Corrections include probation, parole, jail, prison, and a variety of new community-based sanctions, such as electronic monitoring and house arrest.

The corrections system, which is tightly intertwined with the previous two components, is very important and quite large. The corrections component includes jails, prisons, correctional officers, probation officers and parole officers. The purposes of correctional agencies are to punish, to rehabilitate, and to ensure public safety. References. Schmalleger, Frank (2010) Criminal Justice Today (11th Edition) : An Introductory Text For The Twenty- First Century, Chapter 1, Pgs. 16 & 17. Judiciary Judiciary Police Police Corrections Corrections