Function of Criminal Court

Basically the criminal law can be defined in many ways, but all breaks down to meaning really the same thing. The purpose of criminal law is to maintain society. The law is providing people with a guideline of what not to do. It also will tell you what the consequences are if you should break the law. The two main functions of criminal law are legal requirements of a society, and the second pertains to the need to maintain and promote social values. Some of the written sources of American criminal law are the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to inform us of what our rights are under democracy. The definition of the US Constitution is the power of the court. Everything that I have just talked about breaks down to be really simple. Across the United States of America there are laws, and you break them, you will then be punished and it is the courts decision on what your punishment will be. “Break the law pay the price”, that is what Dad always said. The sad part about this is everyone in America is born with common sense, and everyone knows what is wrong and what is right, but for some strange reason people feel the need to commit crimes everyday. Even knowing what the consequences might be. It is a fact that all jails across the US are starting to become over populated. More people are committing more crimes and that means more jails being built.

Criminal responsibility may be limited due to fact of some defenses. For example infancy which means the accused may be too young to be held liable for what he or she is being accused of. The reason why these steps are being used is because like said the accused may be too young to be held liable due to fact that they are to young to know any better. Another one used is insanity. This would mean that person being accused of a crime is or was not in the right mental mind frame. For example someone being crazy. Now on the other hand there is a story about a mother being sentences for murder and has to due over thirty years in prison for the murder of her child. The reason why she was found guilty and is found liable for the murder is she should have known that her boyfriend was capable of such an act. The only thing that I really don’t get about this is how would she have known that her boyfriend could have done such a thing. If you meet someone or have known someone for years how could you know that they are a murderer. I do agree and disagree with certain aspects of this topic. I agree with the insanity and infancy part, but I do not agree with the responsibility part. The weird part about this is anyone in the world is capable of murder.

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Some of the safeguards that protect the American Constitution rights are the Bill of Rights and Due Process. There are many angles and rights that we as citizens of this United States of America have to help protect us against being wrongfully accused. According to “Charter of Freedom”, during the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered. Due process is the idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair. The Constitution guarantees that the government cannot take away a person's basic rights to 'life, liberty or property, without due process of law. Courts have issued numerous rulings about what this means in particular cases. The fourteenth amendment actually talks about due process. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the deprivation of liberty or property without due process of law. A due process claim is cognizable only if there is a recognized liberty or property interest at stake. Like a lot of other things sometimes I disagree. I think that even though Due Process helps the innocent, it can and has also helped criminals get out of trouble.

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