Contemporary Issues Criminal Justice System Essay

The criminal justice system has the major aim of protecting people in society and ensuring abidance to law and order. The system also deals with offenders who break the law or infringe on the rights and freedoms of other people. The course caused a reflection and better understanding of criminal justice per the various state laws and federal statutes. Amendments in previous laws and legislation of new ones have led to major issues with the contemporary justice system.

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I learned that the criminal justice system has the mandate of enforcing the law according to the constitution. Without a proper criminal justice system, law enforcement would be done on a personal level. Personal enforcement of the law would be prone to bias, different interpretations, emotional influence among other problems. To avoid the aforementioned problems, a justice system was put in place to point out instances of breakage of the law, arrest, judge and correct criminals (Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). The justice system comprises mainly the law enforcement, the courts department, and the correctional facilities. The courts examine evidence gathered from a suspect's activities and offer and in a calm and rational manner, offers an unbiased ruling. The course taught that the courts operate on an "innocent until proven guilty" clause, which protects the suspected offender and determines a way forward in a civilized manner. The correctional facilities have the role of isolating criminals from the society. Once the courts rule that a suspect is guilty and a threat to society, the correctional facilities imprison the criminal with the aim of rehabilitating him or her.

A major contemporary issue in the Criminal Justice System is the subject of police brutality. The police department has been in the spotlight for a number of instances where they are accused of overstepping their mandate (Cole et al, 2018). Police harassment and use of excessive force have been prevailing subjects in debates. To remedy the issue, the Criminal Justice System investigates the suspected officers and charges them in courts of law. Another contemporary issue is the validity of the Eighth Amendment. The amendment prevents the enforcing of cruel judgments such as unusual punishments. Execution has been a form of punishment since the beginning of civilization. However, debates have risen on whether execution is constitutional since it goes against the right to life and the Eighth Amendment. To validate execution, it has been argued that dangerous criminals can be denied the right to life since their continued existence poses imminent threats to the lives of those involved with them. As of 2017, capital punishment was only practiced in 31 states (Neubauer & Fradella, 2018).

Conclusion

The course can benefit other people by making them aware of their rights and freedoms as well as the institutions put in place to protect them. The mock trial project provided insight into the real world practice of law. The trial allowed application of theoretical knowledge learned in class to a practical field revealing major attributes that one should have such as content mastery and confidence. I liked the mock trial most. This is because it provided a real-world scenario complete with a judge, prosecutor, defendant, and suspect. I liked how the trial encompassed all information from the course into a practical basis in a 'courtroom'. The mock trial served as inspiration and revealed the various entities involved in a courtroom setting. I think the course is conclusive and includes virtually everything there is to know about the Criminal Justice System.

References

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

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