Preview

What Is The Purpose Of The Criminal Court System

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1043 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Purpose Of The Criminal Court System
Introduction
Criminal Court Systems are fundamental to the functioning of any state in the world. Criminal Court System is a system created with the aim of reducing crime rates by ensuring justice, encouraging public vigilance and winning the public confidence. Not only is the court system expected to be fair but also concerned with service delivery, transparency and accountability, thus birthing law-abiding citizens in a society. This essay thereby seeks to examine and evaluate the American Criminal Court System as it answers several questions outlined in sub-headings below.
Describe a Court and Its Purpose
A court is a place where disputes are settled and justice is administered. The court is further run by courtroom work group, which comprises
…show more content…
They convict and punish the guilty and help them stop offending while protecting the innocent. In addition, they interpret and apply laws in the name of the state. They provide a platform for resolution of disputes.
Anyone who goes to a court expects justice, liberty, social order, resolution of disputes, maintenance of law and order, equal protection and due process of the law. The role of the courts is to uphold the rule of law and create a forum for fairness and rationalism.
With reference to the American Criminal Court system, it is ruled that guilt or innocence can only be determined through the adversarial system. Secondly, the prosecutor is a lawyer who brings charges against a person or corporate entity. The duties of a prosecutor in the court are to explain to the court what crimes were committed and to also to present the evidence that has been found. Lastly, the defense attorney is the person that counsels the accused on the legal process, likely outcomes for the accused and suggests strategies. The defense attorney represents the interests of the clients, raise procedural and evidentiary issues and hold the prosecution to its burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable
…show more content…
This means that every state has its own judicial system. They have inferior courts, superior courts, intermediate appellate courts and a supreme court of the state. The diagram below shows the structure of the dual court system in the USA. While undertaking their rulings, the state courts fear overreaching federal power, thus their powers and jurisdiction are limited by the federal courts. Each court has its key role. This is what has brought about the dual court system.
In addition, the US Supreme Court is always at the top controlling all the state and federal courts. In addition, there are differences among the states in their laws, politics, and culture. Therefore, no two state court systems are the same here. The diversity of the court system across the country has both negative and positive effects on citizens. This depends on their situation. In other words, the diverse court system in the USA provides opportunities for an issue or interest to be heard. However, this may lead to case-by-case treatment of individuals, groups or issues that are not evenhanded across the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The role of the court is to determine whether or not a crime has been committed and impose a sentence where appropriate. In the first instance the alleged offender will appear in the magistrates court where it will be decided whether or not to grant bail or remand in custody…

    • 2382 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Checkpoint #6 Cjs/200

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First I will start off with the one who has all the authority, the judge. The judge is the one who makes all the rules. Next is the prosecuting attorney. The prosecuting attorney may also be known as the district attorney, state’s attorney, county attorney, commonwealth attorney or solicitor. The prosecuting attorneys duty is to conduct criminal proceedings on the behalf of the state or the people against those accused. The three main roles of the prosecutor are investigating crimes, to decide whether or not to instigate legal proceedings and to appear in court. All of the duties of a prosecutor may become too much for one person to handle so they supervise a staff of assistant district attorneys who do most of the work in the courtroom. The prosecuting attorney determines which cases to pursue by the amount of evidence that they gather. If the attorney cannot find enough evidence to get a conviction then they may make the decision to drop the case. Next is the defense attorney. The defense attorney is the one who represents the one being accused of a crime. Public defenders also represents those accused of crimes, however they are state employed lawyers.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The United States has two types of court structures which are called a dual court system. Each of the judicial systems has their separate systems one for each of the states and the other for the Federal system. The U.S. Supreme is the only place where the two judicial systems connect.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The courts are responsible for interpreting laws and how they should be enacted without violating the Constitution (About the Judicial Branch, 2017). Since the courts are interpreting the laws and determining whether what is brought before them is constitutional they are able to keep the Legislative and Executive branches in check and make sure they are not abusing their power. Additionally they will preside over court cases after an individual has been tried by a jury and will hand down verdicts and…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their main goal is to obtain the complete dismissal of the charges brought against their client or obtain a not guilty ruling by the jury of their peers or the judge. The criminal justice system is a 3 part system which includes the judge and jury, the prosecutor, and the defence lawyer. Each part of the system is there in order to prevent abuse of power, and make sure each person receives a fair and equal trial. If the accused did not have a defense attorney they would have noone to fight for them and their rights, this would cause the system to be even more corrupt and unbalanced, as every person presented to the court would already be guilty because they have no one to show the contradicting evidence in their…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The prosecutor has a very important role as a member of the courtroom workgroup. The prosecutor may also be known as the district attorney, states attorney, or the commonwealth attorney (Schmalleger, 2011). The prosecutor is responsible for making and presenting the case of the state against the accused. In their own way the prosecutor speaks on behalf of the people, for the law or laws broken by the defendant. The…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Appellate Courts v. Lower Courts State Court Systems have a unique two tier structure, which is broken down into specialized courts. Each branch of these structures have their own unique set up and hear different types of cases. Some have different guidelines, boundaries, and laws they must abide by, but ultimately the highest court in a state is the Supreme Court and the lower being a mayor or magistrate court. Federal Court have their own system with a similar tier structure to it, but is made up of fewer court.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A prosecutor has many duties but the main goal is being the “people of the state”; ensuring the crime fits and is carried out against the suspected criminal. Prosecutors makes recommendations about sentencing, engaging in selecting jurors for trials, present facts to a grand jury for further going of a trial and other duties to ensure that the law is carried out.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many parts to the duties of the defense attorney. While representing the accused throughout the case, they may engage in diverse…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Both courts have Due process, court proceedings, and sentencing and appeal. They differ in the fact that federal courts are managed in every federal district, while all states manage individual laws and governance within the state itself. For an example federal courts can be divided into two kinds of courts which are known as Article III and Magistrate court. State courts normally form city/municipal courts that deal with issues on more of a local level while federal cases begin in U.S. District courts. There are a total of 94 district courts in the county. In addition state courts often always hear criminal cases. It should be noted that both courts were designed by the U.S. constitution in order to share power through an organization of federalism. As mentioned above all courts seek to conclude legal disputes and enforce laws for the safety of…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Court History and Purpose

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The court system in America has been around since the middle of the 1600’s and has played a crucial role in the development of how things are done when it comes to the criminal justice side. From today’s federal court and our typical state court, these dual court systems came about from a mutual agreement presented from our nation’s founders. In the last 200 years, states’ rights have gradually waned relative to the power of the federal government, but the dual-court system still exists. Even today, state courts do not hear cases involving alleged violations of federal law, nor do federal courts get involved in deciding issues of state law unless there is a conflict between local or state statutes (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2010).…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nevada State Court System

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Judicial system in the United States is made up by the Federal court and State court system and each court is responsible for hearing certain types of cases. The major goals of the both court systems are to solving legal disputes and vindicating legal rights. The State court system is made up with the two sets of trial courts that are the trial court of limited jurisdiction and trial court of general jurisdiction.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dual Court System

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Constitution gives specific powers to the federal (national) government. All power not delegated to the federal government remains with the states. Each of the fifty states has its own state constitution and governmental structure” ("Federal Judicial Center", 2011). The United States Court system has provided order and justice for the United States of America. The system has since been refreshed and updated for modern times. The criminal court systems were intended to ensure all citizens are receive a fair and neutral trial in spite of gender, race, color, national origin, or religion.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The second component of the criminal justice system is the court. The court system includes prosecution and defense lawyers, judges and juries. These individuals have the responsibility to make sure criminals are provided with fair trials. Judges have to hear the cases and make sure that all laws are followed while the cases are being tried. Then, assess all that has been said and come up with a verdict. There are cases where they are only tried in front of a judge only. In other cases, a jury of 12 citizens who have been chosen to determine the guilt or innocence of a defendant based on the certainty brought forward during the trial. A jury can also make a suggestion of what a sentence should be but the only the judge can decide a sentence.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Texas Court System

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Federal court system has 3 levels. The US district courts was established by Congress to handle the civil and criminal cases involving the government. US district courts are the general trial courts for the federal government. Matters that would be seen in the US district court include disputes between states, issues with the Department of Education and the Department of Treasury. (Kadian-Baumeyer, 2013). The federal district courts also try cases involving bankrupcy, copywrite and patents. (undefined, undefined). The Federal District Court System is similar to the state district court system with the main exception being jurisdiction. Federal district courts can hear cases involving both state and federal laws but state district courts can only hear cases involving state laws. (2016)…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays