Case processing in the Court System

Case processing in the Court System

Student’s Name

Institution

Case processing in the Court System

Judiciary is an essential body of a nation that includes the judicial authorities which are the key in the court system. It is through judiciary that court proceeding is heard significantly enhancing the maintenance of peace and unity by listening to related cases as well as making a judgment with regards to the stipulated laws governing the country. The criminal justice system is the body recognized by the government in taking control over delinquencies as well as imposing applicable penalties to the lawbreakers are divided into state and federal systems. State criminal justice systems deal with the delinquencies committed at the state level and within its boundaries, while on the other side the Federal justice systems are involved with lawbreaking cases touching federal properties as well as the ones involving more than one state.

The Federal Court System is categorized into three levels which include the Supreme Court, Circuit Court of Appeals and the District Court of United States. This different structure of the court system carries out various functions making the nation’s judiciary system effective in performing its mandate. The significant components of the criminal justice system include courts, law enforcement, defense attorney, prosecution and corrections (Pound, 2018). They are all vital in enhancing the efficient running of the court proceedings in the critical act of facilitating justice. While processing a case in the court system, there are legal proceedings which are supposed to adhere to following the steps stipulated by the law. In this discussion, the case processing will be discoursed into an in-depth extent putting into consideration the legal process followed and the major components involved in legal case proceedings in the court of law.

Initially, before looking at the process involved in processing case at the court system, it is essential first to understand the major components of the criminal justice system. At the law implementation stage, the law enforcement officer has the responsibility of taking reports regarding various delinquencies occurring at the specified locality. The officer must investigate the crime; well gather and look after the related information that can be used as evidence. If recommended the law enforcement officer puts the suspects in custody, carries out a further investigation if stipulated by the court of law and can contribute to providing testimony during the court proceedings.

The other important component of the criminal justice system is a prosecution, where the prosecutors represent the government all through the process of court hearings; from the initial attendance of the accused in the court until the defendant sentenced or acquitted as per the national law. The decision of whether the prosecutors determine the dropping of filling the case after scrutinizing the evidence brought forward by the law enforcement body. It is the role of the prosecutors to question the witnesses, carry out presentation of the evidence and make decisions on whether to consider plea bargain negotiations from the accused (Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). The prosecutors have freedom and mandate that allows them to decide on the direction to follow in taking legal action against the case. The defendants have the right to contact the prosecutor’s office to get prior information about the prosecutor who handles their case as well as seeking any relevant information regarding the situation and informing the prosecutor on whether the defense lawyer has communicated with the accused.

The defense attorneys are another part of the judicial system who have the role of representing the accused through the act of defending the defendant against the government’s case. They are acquired through hiring where the charged have the capability of getting one or assigned to the defendant when he or she cannot afford a lawyer. The fourth segment regards courts led by the judges who have the mandate of overseeing the happenings in the court as well as making sure that the law is followed to the point. Additionally, the judges have other functions such determining whether to release the suspect before the trial, administer trials, accepting or rejecting plea agreements and they are the ones to make final sentence against the accused. The other part of the criminal justice system is the corrections where the stipulated officer supervises the sentenced suspect in prison, jail as well as in the community on parole. The correction officers have the responsibility of ensuring safe and secure facilities and environment to the accused defendant. Also, in some cases, the correction officer can prepare a pre-sentencing report which profoundly provides information that can be used by the judge in determining the sentence sentences. These officers oversee the daily imprisonment of the offender.

In the act of case processing the court system follows a specified sequence of events from the reporting of the delinquency to the final jury act. The series of events is not observed at all the times as it can differ from one case in consideration of some factors such as jurisdiction, whether the victim is a juvenile or an adult as well as the level of the crime’s seriousness (Feeley, 2017). In the society, it is evident that some cases are not reported to the legal authorities while others do not have adequate information regarding evidence for the prosecutors to develop the case. The variations among various cases make it difficult for all the instances following all the legal steps. The sequence of events for a case processing include the entry into the system, prosecution and pretrial, adjudication and the post-trial.

The first step is the entry into the system where the report is submitted, the investigation is done, and an arrest or citation might follow. The law enforcement officer will receive the report from the involved bodies such as the witnesses, the victims and other parties who have the information. After receiving the report, the law enforcement officer will take the step of investigating the delinquency where he or she will be much focused on getting precise information and evidence that is enough for the arrest of the postulated suspect. If the officer finds enough evidence to arrest the suspect, he or she is out on custody or be given a citation on when specifically to appear in the court of law at a particular time (DeLisi & Vaughn, 2014). The law enforcement officer makes decisions as per the nature of the crime among other varied factors, and the case is left open if there is no suspect or relevant evidence regarding the crime.

Prosecution and pretrial is the other step in the line of following legal proceedings in the court system. Here the prosecutor scrutinizes the evidence gathered by the law enforcement officer and decides on whether to release the accused without prosecution or to file the written charges. After the prosecutor’s act of filing legal charges, the defendant will appear on the court of law at the first time where he or she will be precisely informed about the changes as well as the individual’s rights. Here it is the judge who decides on whether to release the accused or if there is enough evidence to hold the charges. At this point, the defendant is supposed to have an attorney, and if he or she cannot afford one, the court system will provide one to represent the accused. If there is enough evidence of the crime, the court may decide to imprison the victim or release him or her on bond, bail or own recognizance. With bail, the defendant has to hand over valuables or cash to the court as it acts as security to signify that the defendant will be committed to attending the court’s trial. In determining on whether to jail, release or release the victim inboard, the judge will put the following into consideration; employment, drug abuse family ties and residence among other aspects.

It is legal for the public to have their rights where their cases listed by a grand jury signifying that the prosecutor has to reread the report for the jury to decide whether there is enough evidence or not. If the jury finds enough evidence, he or she submits a written document containing the crime charged against the defendant (Cole, et al. 2018). Afterward the defendant at a preliminary hearing where the judge might hear the evidence and whether to release or be formally prosecuted. The next step is alignment where the accused appears in the court to be informed about the charges as well as his or her rights. The act of the defendant pleads guilty with no contest and not guilty signifies that he or she admits the penalty without accepting guilt. If the offender pleads guilty and no challenge, the accused is sentenced later. In the case of a negotiable plea, there will be no trial held in the court.

Afterward, the trial process also referred to as adjudication follows which comprises of plea agreements and the trials. Here the plea agreements are mostly used to solve issues which signify that the accused has accepted to accept pleading guilty with one or more charges. The trial is done after the judge, bench trial or jury trial has been done in consideration of seriousness among other factors. The lawyer available and the prosecutor present the evidence and ask the witnesses the relevant questions. If the judge finds the defendant guilty a date for the sentencing is given and if not guilty the victim will be released. The last phase in the process is the post-trial where there is sentencing and parole or probation. After being proven guilty, the accused are given time to enable them to prepare for the ruling (Butters, et al. 2018). The penalty will depend on the on the seriousness of the crime among other factors where trials such as probation, jail, death penalty and fines. Parole refers to the act of a judge deciding not to imprison the victim but provide an outside imprisonment whereon supervision is done in the community. People detained under this kind of jail sentence can under this condition be released under parole. The defendants who go against then probation end up being imprisoned.

As illustrated above the legal criminal justice system is structured in an efficient in dealing with all sorts of delinquencies that may be experienced in the nation. According to the law an individual is treated and regarded innocent unless proven guilty by the court of law. The court system is vital in maintaining peace and unity in the nation as well as socio-economic and political stability as people do things as per the law. Therefore, it is essential to eradicate all harmful vices such as racism and corruption which might lead to deprivation of the court system and be oriented on making positive changes which will facilitate transparency and honesty to enhance societal development.

References

Butters, R., Prince, K., Walker, A., Worwood, E. B., & Sarver, C. M. (2018). Does Reducing Case Processing Time Reduce Recidivism? A Study of the Early Case Resolution Court. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 0887403418789465.

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018). The American system of criminal justice. Cengage Learning.

DeLisi, M., & Vaughn, M. G. (2014). Foundation for a temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior and criminal justice system involvement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), 10-25.

Feeley, M. (2017). Two models of the criminal justice system: An organizational perspective. In Crime, Law and Society (pp. 119-137). Routledge.

Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2018). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. Cengage Learning.

Pound, R. (2018). Criminal justice in America. Routledge.