Hall Of Justice Connotation
Barragan 1!
Michelle Barragan
Professor Salgado
CJ 435
19 March 2014
Hall of Justice
A visitation to the Hall of Justice on 850 Bryant Street is usually does not have a positive connotation, unless of course you work there. The Hall of Justice currently serves as the San
Francisco Police Department operational headquarters. The complex serves as the main San
Francisco County Jail and is the base of operations for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department.
In addition it is also the criminal justice center for the San Francisco County Superior Court,
Office of the San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner and city morgue. (Justice, 2014)
As a first timer at the Hall of Justice Court House my expectations were to be something like on television or movies …show more content…
As I walked out of the court room, it lead me to a question that was how long does this process take? It is barely their preliminary hearing and the crime was committed almost 8 months ago.
Our final stop was the Probation Department building located just a few block from the
Hall of Justice. We go to talk to Probation Officer, Armando Martinez and got a tour around the new building. Officer Martinez gave us a quick description of the programs they do to help felon and how to stay on the right path. Being in prison for any amount of time is difficult and having to start your life again after is even tougher. At this location they help felons find a job, finish school, receive food, and other types of help.
Barragan 6!
Many people believe that by putting people in prisons, completing their sentence, they are able to be in the real world perfectly fine, but fact of the matter is, it is not that easy, which leads me to the flaws in the Criminal Justice system that I noticed after visiting the court house.
Throughout my visitation and after hearing guest speakers, Yali (Public Defender) and Armando
Martinez (Probation Officer) there was several flaws I noticed such …show more content…
For example, in Oakland there is so many people they handle them in groups. Is this correct?
• Is it unfair for non-native speakers to have to wait longer for their trial because they cannot speak the language? How can race and language affect your trial? Is it systematically fair?
• Why was there 3 Public Defenders in the case but only 1 District Attorney? Why not 3 as well?
• Why doesn’t every felon get a probation program that will help them in remaking their lives?
There is many flaws that I believe the Criminal Justice system needs to fix in order to make it work properly. People are also not fully aware on how the system works or cases are managed.
Unawareness leads to confusion which can may things can affect individuals in trials.
Reformation of the Criminal Justice system needs to happen. As a whole we need to start focusing more on where the problem is being created. Although San Francisco has stepped up and started creating programs such as Community Court, there is yet many places that are not doing anything to fix the system but instead just making the problem escalade. It is how one judge once said, “Fairness has departed from the system.”
!
!
Barragan
Michelle Barragan
Professor Salgado
CJ 435
19 March 2014
Hall of Justice
A visitation to the Hall of Justice on 850 Bryant Street is usually does not have a positive connotation, unless of course you work there. The Hall of Justice currently serves as the San
Francisco Police Department operational headquarters. The complex serves as the main San
Francisco County Jail and is the base of operations for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department.
In addition it is also the criminal justice center for the San Francisco County Superior Court,
Office of the San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner and city morgue. (Justice, 2014)
As a first timer at the Hall of Justice Court House my expectations were to be something like on television or movies …show more content…
As I walked out of the court room, it lead me to a question that was how long does this process take? It is barely their preliminary hearing and the crime was committed almost 8 months ago.
Our final stop was the Probation Department building located just a few block from the
Hall of Justice. We go to talk to Probation Officer, Armando Martinez and got a tour around the new building. Officer Martinez gave us a quick description of the programs they do to help felon and how to stay on the right path. Being in prison for any amount of time is difficult and having to start your life again after is even tougher. At this location they help felons find a job, finish school, receive food, and other types of help.
Barragan 6!
Many people believe that by putting people in prisons, completing their sentence, they are able to be in the real world perfectly fine, but fact of the matter is, it is not that easy, which leads me to the flaws in the Criminal Justice system that I noticed after visiting the court house.
Throughout my visitation and after hearing guest speakers, Yali (Public Defender) and Armando
Martinez (Probation Officer) there was several flaws I noticed such …show more content…
For example, in Oakland there is so many people they handle them in groups. Is this correct?
• Is it unfair for non-native speakers to have to wait longer for their trial because they cannot speak the language? How can race and language affect your trial? Is it systematically fair?
• Why was there 3 Public Defenders in the case but only 1 District Attorney? Why not 3 as well?
• Why doesn’t every felon get a probation program that will help them in remaking their lives?
There is many flaws that I believe the Criminal Justice system needs to fix in order to make it work properly. People are also not fully aware on how the system works or cases are managed.
Unawareness leads to confusion which can may things can affect individuals in trials.
Reformation of the Criminal Justice system needs to happen. As a whole we need to start focusing more on where the problem is being created. Although San Francisco has stepped up and started creating programs such as Community Court, there is yet many places that are not doing anything to fix the system but instead just making the problem escalade. It is how one judge once said, “Fairness has departed from the system.”
!
!
Barragan