I'll see you in court!

    


     The law enforcement field is not just the police officers you may see on the street patrolling. There are four components to the criminal justice system: Law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and corrections. The public sees more of police or "law enforcement". The next department is the prosecution or district attorney's office. The district attorney's office are the people who build a case and press criminal charges against offenders. The Prosecution depends on police officers to write reports of crimes well so that they can press charges. If the police officers do not write a good enough report or contaminate a crime scene, prosecution may have no evidence to work with so they would not be able to put together a sufficient case to press charges.

     Courts and Corrections are the next two components in the law enforcement field. When there is enough evidence an arrest is made and charges are pressed against the offender. The court trial is carried out and in the United States everyone has the right to a speedy trial. However, nowadays since the courts can be super backed up that often can mean that the offender has to wait months for their court date. In the mean time if the judge feels the offender is not a flight risk and depending on the crime a bail is set. The bail can be extremely high but if bail is made the offender can go back home but must be in court on the exact day.

     Their are different types of courts depending on if it is a criminal law broken or a civil law dispute. Criminal court is done in an adversary system which means "innocent until proven guilty" or "beyond a reasonable doubt". This would be the court a person would WANT to be in because the burden of proof is on the plaintiff not the defendant. The laws broken here are mostly actions that endanger a society or harm others. The other type of court is called the Inquisitory system. An Inquisitory system of court is based on "preponderance of evidence" or "more then likely". These cases are like Judge Judy or Judge Mathis. People go here if it is a civil dispute like payment of property damage, divorce hearings, custody, etc.

Corrections is the final component of the law enforcement system. Corrections is the "punishment". It can be jail time, extended time in prison, parole, or probation.