Criminal justice system

SIGNIFICANCE: The American criminal justice system is a multilayered complex that interconnects courts, law-enforcement agencies, and corrections of federal, state, and local governments in the common goal of reducing crime, punishing wrongdoers, and rehabilitating criminals.

Crime is found in all societies, and every culture develops its own mechanisms to control and prevent it. The ways in which the different peoples of the world confront crime vary considerably. Great dissimilarities can be found in the very definitions of what constitute illegal acts and in the variety of methods used to judge and punish criminals. The ways that a society employs to confront crime often reflect the society’s political and cultural values.

The United States is a democracy, and the ways in which Americans control crime reflect the national political philosophy. The usual meaning of a democratic government is a representative one in which those in authority are periodically elected by the people. The basic philosophy of an elected government should thus reflect the will of the people. However, on many issues, the people may disagree with their government. Even when they agree, they may differ among themselves on how the majority opinions should be put into effect.

AA key element in a democracy is the consent of the people. Democratic governments operate on agreement and not on the basis of coercion. It is understood that a democracy’s citizens concur as to its existence. If not, then its citizens are free to withdraw from the society or to work within the system for change. Another element of democracy is that of participation. Democratic governments allow and encourage their citizens to participate in making policies and, at times, executing them as well. In a democracy the dignity of the people will be assumed along with all citizens being treated with fairness and justice. The foundation of American democracy traditionally holds the value in the confidence and consent of the people as the primary basis for justice.

The governmental system that deals with the nature of crime in society, as well as analyzing the social agencies and formal processes, has come to be known as the criminal justice system. The word “system” implies an integrated process that works to control crime; some scholars consider criminal justice to be more of a process than a coordinated system working together to control and prevent crime and prefer the term “criminal justice process.” However, the term “criminal justice system” has become accepted when discussing the process of handling crime through the legal channels to arrest, convict, and punish criminals.

Framework of the Criminal Justice System

The basic framework of the American criminal justice system is found in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. The legislative branch defines the laws determining criminal conduct and establishing criminal penalties. Appellate courts interpret laws and review their constitutionality. The executive branch has administrative responsibility for criminal justice agencies and program planning. Also, public agencies such as police departments and parole boards function as parts of the government and are established to implement specific legislation.

All three branches of government generally work together to direct the criminal justice system. The legislative branch is not completely independent of the executive branch, nor is the judiciary branch independent of the other two branches of government. For example, if a legislature passes a criminal statute making conviction for possession of a handgun a mandatory prison sentence, both the judiciary and executive branches are involved in the law’s implementation and influence the criminal justice system. A gun law may be the product of the executive branch, requiring legislative approval and eventually judicial review.

The criminal justice system has three separately organized components: law enforcement, the courts, and corrections. Some scholars consider the juvenile justice system to be a fourth component of the criminal justice system. The primary reason for this is that juveniles who commit crimes are handled in noncriminal procedures. Terms from civil law, and not from criminal law, are used when juveniles are accused of criminal offenses. The philosophy of the juvenile justice system is completely different from that of the adult system. Since the creation of the first juvenile system by the Illinois legislature in 1899, the philosophy of juvenile justice has been to “save the child.” In contrast, the goals of the adult criminal justice system have been either to punish or to rehabilitate criminals.

Each of the three components of the criminal justice system—law enforcement, the courts, and corrections—has distinct tasks. However, these components are not independent of one another. What each one does and how it operates have direct bearings on the work of the other components. For example, courts can deal with only those whom the police arrest, and correctional institutions handle only those who are sentenced to incarceration by the courts. Moreover, the successful reform of prisoners by correctional institutions determines whether the criminals may again come into contact with law-enforcement officers and influence the sentences judges pass. In addition, law-enforcement activities are scrutinized by the courts, and court decisions establish law-enforcement procedures.

The concept that the agencies of justice form a system has become increasingly popular among academicians, practitioners, and other professionals involved in the criminal justice field. The term, theoretically, refers to interrelationships among all the agencies concerned with the prevention of crime in society. Generally, it has become acceptable to some students of the criminal justice system to assume that if a change occurs in one of the major criminal justice components, that change will affect the other components. This approach implies that coordinating of policies and procedures occurs among the various components composing the system.

Yet while the various elements of the criminal justice system—law enforcement, courts, and corrections—are all related, this is only to the extent that they are influenced by each others’ policies and procedures. They are not always well coordinated. Adjectives such as “fragmented,” “divided,” and “splintered” are often used to describe the criminal justice system in the United States.

Ultimately, criminal justice is a field of study, an interrelated system of agencies, and a system that involves moving criminals from the arrest stage to the release stage from a correctional institution. The goals of the system may be broken down into two basic categories: theoretical and practical. Theoretical goals include retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Practical goals include crime prevention, diversion of criminals from the criminal justice system, fairness in handling criminals, and efficiency in criminal justice operations.

Law Enforcement

The functions and goals of the different components of criminal justice all differ from one another. The law-enforcement component consists of all police agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Included at the local level are county and municipal agencies. Law-enforcement agencies are part of the executive branches of government and work toward deterring and preventing crime. Their mission is to reduce crime or to eliminate the opportunities for criminal acts.

The police have the function to apprehend and arrest criminal law violators. They are responsible for investigating crimes, collecting and preserving evidence, and preparing criminal cases for prosecution. The police play an important role from the investigative phases of criminal acts through the arrests and prosecution of cases against criminals. Without sufficient evidence collected by the police, prosecutors will not prosecute cases against suspects charged with crimes.

Another function of police is protection of life and property. The strategies of this have included crime prevention, crime repression, apprehension of criminals to protect society, and the performance of specialized services to maintain public safety.

Law enforcement functions at all three levels of government—local, state, and federal. According to a 2022 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2018, there were more than 17,500 local police agencies in the United States. They vary in size from a single police officer to the approximately 36,000 officers of the New York City Police Department. Most police officers serve as patrol car officers; in some instances, they walk beats. The largest departments contain many specialized sections. These may include investigation units, planning units, drug units, juvenile units, traffic units, and special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams.

Several counties in the United States have established county police departments to police unincorporated areas of the county. County police departments are given law-enforcement duties when local sheriff’s departments have limited jurisdiction. Among the best-known county police departments are those of Maryland’s Baltimore County and New York’s Nassau and Suffern Counties. All three are counties with urban populations of sufficient size and resources to provide full law-enforcement services.

State constitutions generally provide that sheriffs are the chief law-enforcement officers of counties. Services provided by sheriffs’ offices vary from county to county and often from state to state. Some sheriffs may have virtually no fixed responsibilities at all, or they can be responsible for a full range of law-enforcement services.

The federal government’s role in law enforcement evolved during the twentieth century. Until the 1960s, the federal government emphasized that federal law-enforcement agencies should concentrate on enforcing federal laws. In 1968, the US Congress passed the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, which was designed to provide resources to local law enforcement for equipment, training, and personnel. Local law-enforcement officers are now often incorporated into federal task forces directed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

There are approximately fifty federal law-enforcement agencies. Most of these agencies have specific powers and their investigative powers are specified by federal legislation. In 2002, several federal investigative agencies were placed under the new Department of Homeland Security.

In the twenty-first century law enforcement faced increasing scrutiny and criticism on a variety of issues. Concerns over police brutality, and especially violence against people of color, had built since the late twentieth century, as evidenced by the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of police officers who had been filmed beating Rodney King, a Black man, the previous year. Several high-profile police shootings of young, unarmed Black men in the 2010s led to the development of the Black Lives Matter movement, which helped make police conduct a major topic of public debate. Other interrelated issues that drew controversy included general racial profiling and the increasing militarization of police departments. Many activists called for fundamental reforms to law enforcement, and some even suggested radical action such as defunding the police, particularly amid the nationwide mass protests following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota, police in 2020.

State Courts

The second criminal justice component, the court system, includes those judicial agencies at all levels of government. The courts ensure that the accused receive fair and impartial trials under the relevant laws of the jurisdictions in which they are charged with criminal offenses. There two basic types of courts: trial courts and appellate courts. All criminal crimes take place in trial courts.

The names of the state trial courts differ from state to state. In Kansas, for example, they are called district courts. In Pennsylvania, they are called courts of common pleas. The federal court system calls its trial courts district courts. In jurisdictions, trial courts have the responsibility of determining by the evidence presented whether defendants should be convicted of crimes. The trial courts review all evidence presented by prosecutors and consider its relevance and admissibility, while examining and reviewing the circumstances surrounding the crimes.

The trial courts have the responsibility of protecting the rights of accused criminals. They review the actions of the law-enforcement agencies to ensure that the police have not violated the constitutional rights of the accused. Upon conviction, the trial courts examine the backgrounds of the defendants and consider sentencing alternatives. Since the trial courts have a duty to protect their communities and repress criminal behavior, they have the task of imposing specific penalties. When imposing penalties, the trial courts usually take into consideration the circumstances of the crimes, the characters of the criminals, and the potential threats that the criminals may pose to public safety.

Federal Courts

Article III of the US Constitution provides that “the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” The United States has a “dual court system” meaning that there is one federal court and fifty state courts. The fifty-one court systems are independent of one another and are not hierarchically related, except for the fact that the constitutional decisions of the US Supreme Court are binding on both state and federal courts at all levels.

The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. Although it can conduct ordinary trials, it functions primarily as an appeals court. The Court hears cases appealed from either the federal court of appeals or from the highest courts of appeal of the individual states. Below the Supreme Court are thirteen US courts of appeals, each of which handles appeal from its own designated region of the country or its territories. These courts hear appeals from federal district courts, the trial courts of the federal government. The district courts conduct trials in ninety-four districts scattered throughout the United States and its territories.

Most states have appeals courts comparable to the US Supreme Court. Their various names include Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Appeals, and Supreme Judicial Court. Below the states’ highest courts of appeals lie intermediate courts of appeals and trial courts.

Cases generally enter the federal and state judicial systems at the trial court level. In these courts, defendants are either convicted or held to be innocent. Losers in the cases may appeal the verdicts to the appeals court. Appeals courts do not re-evaluate the evidence presented in trial courts. Instead, they determine whether errors of law have been made and provide remedies for prejudicial errors. The federal and state court system merges at the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court reviews only claims and defenses found in the US Constitution or laws enacted under its authority.

Corrections

Corrections, the third component of the criminal justice system, comprises the executive agencies of the federal, state, and local government that are responsible both directly and indirectly for housing and controlling persons convicted of crimes. The first duty of corrections is to maintain prisons, jails, and halfway houses. The purpose of corrections is to provide protection for law-abiding citizens by isolating criminals in secure facilities. The confinement of criminals prevents them from committing further crimes.

At various periods in the history of American corrections, consideration has been given to reforming criminals. Reforming criminals consists of providing services that will assist them to be released and returned to society to lead law-abiding lives. The trial courts also encourage crime deterrence by incarcerating convicted criminals. This act may deter potential criminals from violating the law by the threat of the loss of their freedom of movement.

The federal government’s Bureau of Prisons was established in 1930, under the Department of Justice. Facilities within the federal system consist of correctional institutions, detention centers, medical centers, prison camps, metropolitan corrections centers, and penitentiaries.

All fifty states maintain their own corrections systems. State departments of corrections generally divide their facilities according to their levels of security: minimum, medium, and maximum. Large states, such as New York, Texas, and California, operate a wide variety of units, encompassing all levels of security and beyond. Smaller states generally have fewer and less-specialized facilities. Altogether, federal and state operations are known as the prison system.

Jails are another type of corrections facility that are used for temporary detentions at the local level. Depending upon the jurisdiction, jails may be called lockups, workhouses, detention centers, or stockades. Many jails are overcrowded. They usually employ minimal staff, who are often poorly paid and poorly trained. These limitations can result in giving inadequate attention to prisoner needs and the mistreatment of the prisoners by the jailers. Similar problems have been documented in the prison system, and the United States has a much higher incarceration rate than most countries. Much debate has centered around jail and prison reform, including criticism of what has been labeled the prison-industrial complex.

An important part of the corrections component is community-based corrections, which involve activities and programs within local communities. Emphasis in community-based corrections programs is on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Rehabilitation may include education, employment, and social services. Community-based corrections sometimes include diversion programs that remove criminals from the direct application of the criminal law process. Criminal proceedings are stopped in favor of noncriminal dispositions.

Probation and parole are other forms of community-based corrections. Probation is a conditional release from a prison upon conviction of a crime provided the probationers follow the guidelines established by the court. Parole provides for prisoners to be released early, then follow the guidelines established by their parole boards.

Juvenile Justice

The fourth component of criminal justice deals primarily with juveniles who have not reached the age of majority. Because of their age, juveniles are deemed to have a special status. The philosophy of the juvenile justice system holds that children should be treated in ways that protect them and correct their misbehavior.

The state of Illinois established the first juvenile court system in 1899. Under Illinois law, all children were placed under one jurisdiction. The juvenile court was given jurisdiction over dependent, neglected, and delinquent children. The first juvenile court was established in Cook County, which included the city of Chicago. All juveniles under the age of sixteen alleged to be delinquents came under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, which were created by the legislatures as courts of limited jurisdiction.

Illinois’s juvenile courts were designed to protect and correct the inappropriate behavior of juveniles accused of a crime. These courts were to provide protective services, which included placing youths accused of a crime with families that would function as surrogate parents. The intent of the Illinois legislature was for juvenile court settings to be informal and for proceedings to function in a civil manner rather than in a criminal-court manner. The hope was that humane judges would function as substitute parents who would prescribe and apply individual treatment based on the needs of the children and the communities.

Juvenile courts differ from adult criminal courts in several ways. First, their judges are assigned to handle juvenile cases. Also, records of juvenile courts are separated from those of adult criminal court; juvenile court records are confidential. Juvenile courts employ more informal court procedures than adult courts, and their courtrooms are physically separated from courtrooms used in adult cases. In theory, juvenile courts do not consider juveniles defendants or criminals and regard them as children in need of care, protection, and rehabilitation.

In contrast to procedures in adult criminal court, juvenile courts do not readily recognize due process for the juvenile defendants. Juvenile courts have the power to punish juveniles for specific offenses and the responsibility to determine if the juveniles are immoral, wayward, in need of supervision, incorrigible, or living in unfit homes.

The chief objective of juvenile courts is to promote the rehabilitation of juveniles and to assist them to become useful citizens. To achieve this goal, judges are appointed specifically to deal with juvenile cases, and probation officers are hired to supervise the juveniles. Juvenile court facilities are separated from adult courthouses and usually offer physical environments that are less severe and threatening. Juvenile judges sit behind desks rather than benches, and terms such as “intake hearing,” “petition,” and “adjudication inquiry” are used in place of “hearing,” “arrest,” and “arraignment.”

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