What is the relationship of the police, courts, and department of corrections in your jurisdiction? In what branches of government are these departments located? Who regulates the office of the prosecutor and public defender?
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The criminal justice system includes police, the courts, attorneys and the department of correction. The police initiate most arrests and criminal investigations and are usually part of the executive branch of government. The courts act as the neutral which authorizes warrants. A judge also can exclude evidence based on an improper search or confession and is involved in empanelling both grand and petit juries. Fairness to both sides is ensured by a judge who must rule on various matters throughout and after a trial. A judge must also rule on a motion for a new trial. Due to the Sixth Amendment and other guaranteed rights afforded criminal defendants by the Supreme Court, the role of both prosecutor and defense attorney is more paramount in a criminal case than in a civil one.
A prosecutor serves a dual role in the system. As a public official, a prosecutor must be an advocate of the police, from the time of investigation to trial. But the prosecutor must also ensure procedural justice for defendants. Criminal defendants may be represented by private defense counsel, or, if unable to afford an attorney, one will be appointed. The right to counsel is constitutionally protected for all crimes, federal and state, for which a term of imprisonment may be imposed. Public defenders are generally compensated by the judicial department while prosecutors are part of the executive branch of government.
Corrections refers to that department of government responsible for the incarceration and supervision of offenders. If one is not sent to jail, a probation officer is assigned who oversees the criminal’s conduct and supervises permitted activities. When one is released from jail by a parole board, then a parole officer is in charge of supervising the defendant with re-entry into the community.
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