Practitioner Interview With Researcher in the Field of Criminal Law

Introduction

The individual interviewed for this paper is James Clover who is a researcher in the field of criminal law. His initial thoughts regarding the criminal Justice System were that a person who has been in indicted for a crime, arrested, or issued with a traffic ticket, understands that the process of the justice system can be nerve-wracking. Arrests, case investigation and the proceedings in court which follow are not usually unpleasant experiences. The procedures are very stressful even in the cases where the potential outcomes are apparent. People who fail to grasp what is happening clearly can have a tough experience which makes it more trying. James said that understanding the criminal justice system process can go a long way into alleviating stress when one comes face to face with it. He suggests consulting a lawyer is always in one best interest when one is faced with legal issues. According to James, the Criminal Justice System works through prosecutors, law enforcement officers, criminal courts, and correction officials.

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As learned crimes are acts prohibited by a law developed by the legislative branch of the government and for which criminal punishment is imposed in the form of fines, imprisonment or probation. According to Theoharis, (2018) crimes constitute offenses against the society or things the society has approved to be wrong and thus necessary to maintain order, protect individuals and ensure justice through the help of government systems and legislators. According to James, the criminal justice system involves two categories of individuals including the government or state representatives and members of the public. The representatives work for federal government at different national, state and local levels. They act as either prosecutors or law enforcement officers. Members of the public, however, are not involved in representing the interests of the state. These are the individuals indicted for committing different crimes by the state representatives. They are identified as criminal defendants. Therefore, the state is responsible for charging possible criminals while those accused are the defendants.

The individuals who represent the interests of the state in the justice system are placed into specific categories of prosecutors and law enforcement officials. The people working for law enforcement are responsible primarily for investigating potential criminal offenses, cuffing lawbreakers, and offering, analyzing or safeguarding evidence that can be utilized in court. Officers in law enforcement can operate within metropolitan police departments, state police agencies such as Texas Ranger, County Sheriff's Office, and national law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) (Theoharis, 2018). Also, the officers can operate in criminal investigative divisions of several federal and state agencies. James has worked with a considerable number of police officers to uncover statistics regarding criminal cases in the district.

The other category learned from the interview is prosecutors are attorneys who work for the government at municipal, state or national level and must prosecute criminal cases in specific courts. The prosecutors are required to determine if the present evidence is adequate to indict an individual with a crime. Also, they look into the crimes that relate to a particular set of situations and if filing charges are in the best interest of the criminal justice system within a state. Prosecutors are of varying types as the federal prosecutors who are responsible for meeting the mandate of the Justice Department and are also known as United States attorneys. There are also state prosecutors who work for individual states and have the role of enforcing the specific state criminal laws. Ultimately, the other category is the local prosecutor who works for municipalities or cities and is responsible for impeaching crimes against municipal regulations which are typically indicted as infractions or misdemeanors or violations that attract fines rather than prison or jail punishments. Attorneys in the United States have the role of imposing national criminal laws in their districts. The United States has 93 federal districts (Theoharis, 2018). The federal prosecutors file almost 80000 every year. State prosecutors are similarly assigned specific districts; the individual state prosecutors operate in particular regions such as lone counties. The state level has the highest number of criminal cases in the United States. According to the statistics from the Bureau of Justice, 100 million criminal cases are filed by state attorneys approximately every year with traffic felonies being the majority (Theoharis, 2018). The third category learned is corrections. It comprises of methods used to punish criminal offenses including parole, probation, or prison. Officials in corrections have the mandate of making sure the sentenced individuals fulfill the court's verdict. The correction officers moreover, are responsible for managing individuals who have been detained or those in being held in jail waiting for the court to decide on their cases. Other correction officials operate in parole or probation departments at the municipal, state or national level.

James shed light on criminal courts suggesting that criminal laws are in response to the court's authority. Criminal courts form to share in the criminal justice system and are a separate and distinct body from the other government sections within the criminal justice system. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and corrections officers form a considerable part of the government branch known as the Executive whereas the criminal courts are part of the judicial government branch. Criminal courts are found at all levels; federal, state and local. Local courts oversee trivial cases like those dealing with traffic tickets, violations of regulation and misdemeanor felonies. State courts like those in district or county levels are the principal courts in their dominion. They hear the majority of the criminal cases at the state level arising in their regions. Federal criminal courts the only hear criminal cases stemming from federal criminal violations. Magistrates or judges run criminal courts and are assisted by others such as bailiffs, legal clerks, and record keepers. Courts act as impartial intermediaries amid the state reps who put crimes on trial and defendants of different criminal offenses.

As learned here, the criminal justice system works under specific regulations which are then grouped mainly into two which are the laws that develop the pathway through which the criminal justice system operates and laws that prohibit particular crimes (Theoharis, 2018). These procedural laws or processes safeguard the rights of the public and make sure that the state protects the interests of the justice system. The two sets of laws operate concurrently in any criminal case. Criminal laws tend to be focused and specific while procedural laws are harder to define. According to James, the ambiguity is the reason why majority of procedural laws are almost wholly made in court. He adds that the moment the court listens to cases involving unclear or unanswered questions regarding the law they need to interpret the meaning of those laws when used in certain circumstances or situations. This kind of court declarations does then turn into laws.

The criminal justice system in some scenarios it does not work according to James as he has viewed numerous families separated, communities sapped of resourceful individuals and lives changed for the worse by the criminal justice system which focuses more on punishment than change. As a researcher into the criminal justice system he has spoken with prosecutors and criminal justice lawyers and noted that the courts fail some people especially the minorities. Some prisons are overcrowded, lack an adequate number of staff and fail in providing culturally appropriate and responsive services and support tailored to all people. He believes the United States has created a criminal justice system that requires punishments and certainty as well as swifter trials. According to Musk, (2018), the increasing numbers in prison are powered by unwarranted policies and laws involved in for instance; retributive bail laws, imprisonment for low level and misdemeanor offenses and mandatory sentencing. He believes that the criminal justice system can do better especially when it comes to minority groups especially African American who are highly arrested over drug-related criminal charges.

James thoughts regarding the future of the criminal justice system include a further increase in the seismic shift in political and social attitudes regarding the criminal justice system. He recommends that the criminal justice system need to be geared to helping rehabilitate people. The governments should modify the justice system to be more inclusive, offer alternative responses and become adaptive that can ensure fair and just outcomes. What he reiterates seeing research that supports an increase in the rates on incarceration leads to a decline in crime. However, the magnitude is uncertain. His observation is supported by Zoukis, (2017) who from research concludes that locking up more people for more extended periods do not reduce crime.

Conclusion

James has researched the influence of technology in criminal processes and believed the in future the justice system embraces it. The technology aims at providing potential contributions to the justice system by improving data quality, decreasing crime and reducing racial disparities. Improving methods of electronic monitoring can replace incarceration (Zoukis, 2017). According to Doleac, (2017), instead of imprisoning the criminal offenders can be penalized to substantial home surveillance with GPS monitoring, cameras, monitoring of alcohol-blood concentration and audio recording installed. It is possible this kind of punishment could have less of a deterrent impact than prisoners, especially for low-level offenders. Data quality can be improved by incorporating computer algorithms that learn and predict and can evaluate numbers and records much faster compared to the human mind (Doleac, 2017). This can reduce error that results from human biases. It can be help conclude if an offender needs to be arrested before trial or another for facial identification that recognizes individuals who have warrants when viewed by police officers body-worn cameras.

References

Doleac, J. (2017, May 11). How Technology Is Impacting Our Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com

Zoukis, C. (2018, January 17). The Future of Criminal Justice Reform Is Bleak. Retrieved from: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_14188238

Theoharis, M. (2018). How the Criminal Justice System Works-Courts & Procedures. Retrieved from: https://www.moneycrashers.com/criminal-justice-system-works/

Musk, S. (2018, March 26). I know our criminal justice system inside out, and it is being misused. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/i-know-our-criminal-justice-system-inside-out-and-it-is-being-misused