Criminal Justice Distinctions

[Blue Bandit]

Howdy everyone!

I'm writing a college paper for a criminal justice class that requires the opinion of the general public. So I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer the following question.

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?

In other words, do you consider the Police, courts, and jails to be separate entities, or do consider them to be one giant entity?

This paper is due by the January 13th

Thanks in advance! :smallcool:

[Keld Denar]

I make a distinction for police, but tend to lump courts and corrections together.

Maybe its because I watch more cop shows (CSI, NCIS, L&O) than court shows, and corrections isn't very well represented in TV outside of Oz and a handful of movies.

Or maybe its because I like police officers as a whole, more than people from other avenues of the legal/corrections system.

[Teddy]

I mostly consider them separate entities under the general headline of the legal system. :smalltongue: Since I am, however, quite obsessed with facts, knowledge and classifications, my distinctions are supposed to be overly convoluted like this.

[Moonshadow]

Well, if you want to get literal, I'd say that criminal justice would be when say, the mob orders a hit on one of their guys who they found to be a snitch or some such :smalltongue:

[RandomNPC]

I know the police send you to court and the courts send you to jail.

I also know an officer does not decide your guilt, they just collect evidence, only a judge may decide.

So I accept they are different, however I see they work together.

[averagejoe]

The Mod They Call Me: This thread comes very close to being inherently political. Most discussion of these topics beyond answering the question will almost certainly be inappropriate. As always, when in doubt err on the side of caution.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I see police as separate and I lump courts and corrections together. This is because I see them as pursuing different goals - courts and corrections punish, while police "serve and protect" to use a cliche.

[Jack Squat]

It depends on the context, but generally I tend to lump together LEAs and corrections, as LEAs are the ones who tend to run the correction centers (although there are a few privatized ones), and have the court system separated as a sort of check against the LEAs/corrections system.

[Abies]

Since the three are seperate entities, that is how I perceive them.

The question seems better suited to determine how poorly informed the general public is as opposed to thier perceptions of the justice system.

[Blue Bandit]

The Mod They Call Me: This thread comes very close to being inherently political. Most discussion of these topics beyond answering the question will almost certainly be inappropriate. As always, when in doubt err on the side of caution.

I'm sorry averagejoe, I wasn't considering the fact that this topic might turn political in nature. I'll try to be more careful when making threads.Again sorry:smallfrown:

On another note, thanks everyone for your input. you've giving me a solid base to right my paper on!!

[averagejoe]

No need to apologize, it's just a reminder to everyone that this is potentially rules-breaking ground, and that they shouldn't get carried away.

[Syka]

I tend to consider them three separate entities who make up part of the judicial system. Kinda like how we (US) have the three separate government branches (executive, legislative, judicial). Separate entities, one system.

If that makes sense? It may also be 'cause I have a number of friends who work for local law enforcement, another batch of friends in law school, and know a few corrections officers. Personal involvement with a system likely leads to considering the different bits on their own rather than as a group.

[pendell]

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?



I distinguish between the court system and the police (law decisions vs. law enforcement) but I do not distinguish between the police and corrections. From my perspective as a citizen, it is a distinction without a difference. Both branches of enforcement are in charge of punishing violators of the law (established by legislation, a branch of government you left out) and punishing those found guilty by jury (in the US, distinct both from judges AND legislation AND enforcement). Once a person has been processed by this system and given a sentence, it is then the job of corrections to see that the sentence is carried out.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[rayne_dragon]

I view jails as part of the police entity as I see them being run as part of the mandate of police responsibilites. Police are to protect society and jail is where you (in theory) put the people from whom society needs protection. Courts I view as distinct. They have a very different personnel: judges and lawyers aren't essential to the running of police stations and jails. They also have a difference of purpose in that they exist more to determine facts and arbitrate disputes, which I don't see as the primary function of police.

[Winter_Wolf]

I tend to lump police and corrections into the same group, and the courts as a separate (for the most part) entity. My reason for this is the way in which they handle their respective roles in the process. Like pendell said, a difference between enforcement and decisions.

[Salbazier]

I make distinction between police and court. Correction... never thought much of it. I guess I lump it together with the court.

[Emperor Ing]

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?

In other words, do you consider the Police, courts, and jails to be separate entities, or do consider them to be one giant entity?

I take it on a complex basis. I consider the courts, jails, and police, in general to be part of the criminal justice system (emphasis on "part," especially when it comes to the courts) but I know enough to easily tell the difference between the three. Police is Enforcement, Courts is Judgement and Jail is Containment.

[RS14]

I tend to view them as separate entities.

[Blue Bandit]

Thanks everyone for all your replies !! It allowed me to form a survey that I included in my paper. I just finished the assignment tonight and submitted it for grading.

I'm taking an online class, so we use a discussion board similar to this one for posting assignments.

Thanks again!!:smallcool:

[snoopy13a]

Howdy everyone!

I'm writing a college paper for a criminal justice class that requires the opinion of the general public. So I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer the following question.

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?

In other words, do you consider the Police, courts, and jails to be separate entities, or do consider them to be one giant entity?

This paper is due by the January 13th

Thanks in advance! :smallcool:

I consider the courts to be a separate entity than the police and correctional officers. The police and corrrectional officers represent the People.

Overall, the courts of made up of four parties:
A) Judge--> neutral arbiter of law
B) Jury--> neutral arbiter of fact
C) Prosectuting attorney(s)--> officer of court representing the People
D) Defense attorney(s) --> officer of court representing the defendant(s)

The courts are designed to be neutral and are supposed to reach the truth (not necessarily a conviction) via the adversial method.

[Bhu]

separate...

[Kallisti]

Howdy everyone!

I'm writing a college paper for a criminal justice class that requires the opinion of the general public. So I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer the following question.

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?

In other words, do you consider the Police, courts, and jails to be separate entities, or do consider them to be one giant entity?

This paper is due by the January 13th

Thanks in advance! :smallcool:

I consider police separate, but tend to lump courts and jail in together. I don't think they're actually operated by the same subdivision of the government, but for some reason they just feel like one unit.

Good luck with your paper!

[SDF]

Corrections and law enforcement are both executive branch in the United States, while the courts are judicial. At least in this country they are separate by definition, which is the entire point.

[golentan]

Neither. I view them all as distinct components of a unified apparatus.

It's like asking "Are the gears in a watch individual items or all part of the same machine."

[thubby]

separate, because they are.

[Mikhailangelo]

<--- Law student, separate, and my opinion is no doubt irrelevant due to geography and the fact that I think that today is the 13th

[Coidzor]

Both? There are elements of each that bleed into one another after all, so you can't consider them disconnected. Discrete entities that make up a greater whole. ...Which is what I thought was the basis for having the lot of 'em referred to as the criminal justice system. :smallconfused:

[Ytaker]

Howdy everyone!

I'm writing a college paper for a criminal justice class that requires the opinion of the general public. So I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer the following question.

Do you as a citizen make distinctions between the police, courts, and corrections(jails,) or do lump everything together under the general rubric of the criminal justice system?

In other words, do you consider the Police, courts, and jails to be separate entities, or do consider them to be one giant entity?

This paper is due by the January 13th

Thanks in advance! :smallcool:

The police, courts, and jail systems all have very different goals and ideals, so I'd say they were separate entities.

For instance, if someone violently mugged me, the police would likely have a lot of sympathy for me and want to catch and prosecute the criminal.

The courts would have wildly variant views internally, from symapthy for the criminal to sympathy for me. If the courts didn't get the result I wanted and the mugger was let off because his wife was pregnant, I wouldn't be angry at the police.

The jails would have wildly variant views on how to treat the criminals, varying from sympathy for their plight and a desire to turn them to a lack of sympathy and a lack of concern for their moral alignment. I would not blame the courts or the police if something good or bad happened here.

[leakingpen]

I see the police and Jail as one entity, and the courts and Prison as another.

[AsteriskAmp]

I think of them as separate entities but part of one system and process.
The actions of one affect the credibility of the system itself and the process but not of the other entities individually.

For example, if the court fails to uphold its function, the system loses credibility, but the police will not be affected specifically, but the overall system will be affected.