The Criminal Justice System In The United States
. In the United States, the criminal justice system is an important tool used to provide justice for all. The criminal justice system creates a median for protecting societies innocent civilians and punishing the guilty who committed heinous acts. To follow understand our justice system, we need to look at laws created throughout history that became influential to our modern law as we know it today. For our laws have been adapted from historical societies, whose thoughts and ideas were way before their time. When we look back at history, three laws come to mind that shaped modern law as we know it: The Code of Hammurabi, Roman Law, and the Magna Carta.
The Code of Hammurabi, was formed by King Hammurabi of Babylon, was created to promote
the welfare of the people by creating a system of restitution based on vengeance and cruelty. The over 200 laws created by Hammurabi were carved on an 8- foot high moment for his citizens to see (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Hammurabi laws were known to establish the “eye for an eye” approach, which we can see adaptions of this in our modern laws today. The Code of Hammurabi, was known to have harsh punishments such as the cutting off of one’s hand or putting someone to death who steals the minor son of another man (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Our modern law does take the idea of an “eye for an eye” but has a more modern approach to it. For instance, capital punishment can be considered an example of an eye for an eye approach; however, in society today an offender will not be sentenced to death for taking another man’s son but if the offender happens to kill the son of a man then there is a high chance they will be sentenced to death. America’s capital punishment shows a direct relation the Code of Hammurabi. All in All, the Code of Hammurabi is the earliest example of proven innocent until guilty and letting both the offender and victim provide evidence, for both of these aspects we see in our modern law today.
Roman law, also known as The Law of the Twelve Tables, was a response to the plebeians protest due to discrimination caused by patrician judges using impunity while governing legal disputes that were known only orally (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). The Law of Twelve Tables essentially formed the fundamentals of the Roman Republic legal procedure. Each table touched on the rights of citizens and a on procedures. Each table discussed its very own distinct issue such as civil procedure, theft, and torts. For instance, table 8 discussed tort laws, which created the framework for our modern-day tort laws.
Finally, the Magna Carta is known to be an influence on our constitution in a numerous amount of ways. To begin with, during its creation the Magna Carta was able to grant the basic rights for all British Citizens (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). In 1787, The U.S. constitution was formed and established individual rights for citizens, which it adapted from the Magna Carta (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). It was essential to protect the rights and liberties of citizens against the power delegated to their governments, which in turn created limitations among all powers of the government, legislative , executive, and judicial ( Hazeltine, 1917).
The Code of Hammurabi, was formed by King Hammurabi of Babylon, was created to promote
the welfare of the people by creating a system of restitution based on vengeance and cruelty. The over 200 laws created by Hammurabi were carved on an 8- foot high moment for his citizens to see (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Hammurabi laws were known to establish the “eye for an eye” approach, which we can see adaptions of this in our modern laws today. The Code of Hammurabi, was known to have harsh punishments such as the cutting off of one’s hand or putting someone to death who steals the minor son of another man (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Our modern law does take the idea of an “eye for an eye” but has a more modern approach to it. For instance, capital punishment can be considered an example of an eye for an eye approach; however, in society today an offender will not be sentenced to death for taking another man’s son but if the offender happens to kill the son of a man then there is a high chance they will be sentenced to death. America’s capital punishment shows a direct relation the Code of Hammurabi. All in All, the Code of Hammurabi is the earliest example of proven innocent until guilty and letting both the offender and victim provide evidence, for both of these aspects we see in our modern law today.
Roman law, also known as The Law of the Twelve Tables, was a response to the plebeians protest due to discrimination caused by patrician judges using impunity while governing legal disputes that were known only orally (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). The Law of Twelve Tables essentially formed the fundamentals of the Roman Republic legal procedure. Each table touched on the rights of citizens and a on procedures. Each table discussed its very own distinct issue such as civil procedure, theft, and torts. For instance, table 8 discussed tort laws, which created the framework for our modern-day tort laws.
Finally, the Magna Carta is known to be an influence on our constitution in a numerous amount of ways. To begin with, during its creation the Magna Carta was able to grant the basic rights for all British Citizens (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). In 1787, The U.S. constitution was formed and established individual rights for citizens, which it adapted from the Magna Carta (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). It was essential to protect the rights and liberties of citizens against the power delegated to their governments, which in turn created limitations among all powers of the government, legislative , executive, and judicial ( Hazeltine, 1917).