Define criminal justice system, and describe how the police and courts have considerable discretion in dealing with offenders

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The criminal justice system refers to the local, state, and federal agencies that enforce

laws, adjudicate crimes, and treat and rehabilitate criminals. The system includes the

police, the courts, parole offices, and corrections facilities. The criminal justice system

is made up of many bureaucracies at different levels of society. Each system has

considerable discretion in how decisions are made. Discretion refers to the use of

personal judgment by police officers, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice

system officials regarding whether and how to proceed in a given situation. For

example, the police have the power to selectively enforce the law and have on many

occasions been accused of being too harsh or too lenient on alleged offenders. The

problem of police discretion is most acute when decisions are made to use force (such

as grabbing, pushing, or hitting a suspect) or deadly force (shooting and killing a

suspect). Generally, deadly force is allowed only in situations in which a suspect is

engaged in a felony, is fleeing the scene of a felony, or is resisting arrest and has

endangered someone's life. Criminal courts determine the guilt or innocence of those

persons accused of committing a crime. In theory, justice is determined in an

adversarial process in which the prosecutor (an attorney who represents the state)

argues that the accused is guilty and the defense attorney asserts that the accused is

innocent. In reality, judges wield a great deal of discretion. Working with prosecutors,

they decide who to release and who to hold for further hearings and what sentences to

impose on those persons who are convicted. Prosecuting attorneys also have

considerable leeway in deciding which cases to prosecute and when to negotiate a plea

bargain with a defense attorney. As cases are sorted through the legal machinery, a

steady attrition occurs. At each stage, various officials determine what alternatives will

be available for those cases still remaining in the system. About 90 percent of criminal

cases are never tried in court? instead, they are resolved by plea bargaining, a process

in which the prosecution negotiates a reduced sentence for the accused in exchange

for a guilty plea. One of the most important activities of the court system is establishing

the sentence of the accused after he or she has been found guilty or has pleaded guilty.