“A new dawn of leadershipis at hand.
To those who would tear this world down- we will defeat you. Tothose who speak peace and security-we support you. And to all those who havewondered if America’s beacon still burns bright-tonight we proved once morethat the true strength in our nation comes not from the might of our arms orthe scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy,liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope,” (Obama). In this quote from ourformer President Barack Obama we see the true power of words, and government.Without government there would be no leadership, and without leadership you don’thave stability. Stability in this nation comes from the heart of government itself,the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system is a group of multipledepartments, jobs, responsibilities, and rules, which are applied, to enforcelaws in America.
The basics of these laws even go as far back as the Bible, inthe book of Genesis. Furthermore, with all of the things the criminal justicesystem consists of the main purpose of the system is to uphold the different levelsof the law, maintain public order, and make sure there is always purpose amongactions taken to better America. The history of the criminal justice system began in thetimes before Christ. Back then there were still bad people who had to becontained. And with the fear of one hurting another, the one suspected of wrongdoing was locked away. According to a source, “…the Tullianum dungeon was one of thefirst prison’s in Roman times, and was a place of neglect, darkness, and stench,which gave it “a hideous and terrifying appearance,” and people whowere held in the prison never were given a chance to argue their innocence, accordingto Roman historian Sallust,” (Jeter). This is a perfect example of history forthe criminal justice system, and how far it has come since then. As time haspassed the system has created different levels one must go through to determinea verdict of innocent or guilty.
First comes investigation. The investigationof the accused is a scene of gathered evidence of possible attempts of a crime(Schmalleger). If evidence is found of a possible crime, arrest of the accusedcomes next. Arrest is the act of taking a person into custody of the law. Thismay involve an arrest warrant, which is where your rights will be read to you.The Miranda rights must be given before any questioning is done, or else thethings said before the rights were read cannot uphold in a court of law(Schmalleger).
After an arrest has taken place a procedure called, bookinghappens. This is where he or she will be documented and filed into the crimedatabases. Once all booking matters are handled court dates must be set.
In acourt room, he or she will be given an attorney where they will argue the innocenceof the accused. If the accused is proven guilty a sentencing will be set forthwhere he or she will spend a minimum amount of time in jail. Depending on thecrime the opportunity of parole is considered. With all of the components thatgo along with convicting a violator of the law we see that without history wewouldn’t have known how to begin the many branches that have to come togetherto create the criminal justice system. WithAmerican freedom come certain rights given to him or her by the Constitution. Theindividual and public right of a person has always been an issue in thecriminal justice system, and no one really knows where to draw the line. Aperson’s individual rights are explained in the First Amendment of theConstitution.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment ofreligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom ofspeech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, andto petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” (Bill of Rights). Weas American’s have the right to say, be, and pursue anything that we want in life;however our rights can only protect us so far. We cannot use our rights to slanderanother and then say, “Well I have a right as an American; this is my freedomof speech.
” There are also situations where people think protesting is theirright, which it is your right to rally, but when violence and riots break out iswhen that right is terminated. In addition, individual rights can be violatedin some situations if it is in public interest. For example, if you were in theprivacy of your own home while having a conversation on the phone about bombingthe White House your individual rights have now become public rights. This iswhere your rights have been taken into the publics hands in order to protect anothercause you are trying to hurt. This issue is a very confusingtopic where thick and then lines are drawn, and where no lines are drawn atall, but are implied. In my opinion, history has been no help in deciding whereto draw the line between individual rights, and public order. With that beingsaid the future for determining where to draw the line between individual rights,and public order is always going to be a question for the future.
As society ischanging so is the way American governs things. Even though actions must betaken to avoid this very complication the way the criminal justice system ishandling the issue now is good enough. Maybe allowing lines to stay vague iswhat needs to happen to maintain control in that particular area.
