Understanding How the American Justice System Works

Achieving Justice in America

The main aim of every court system is to ensure that victims of a particular crime receive justice where the guilty are punished accordingly while and the innocent are set free. All these procedures are embodied in the constitution, which should be observed by the judges and any other authorized person making determinations. For the guilty to be punished and the innocent to be set free, the criminal justice system has three major institutions, which are involved in processing the case. The three major institutions are inception, trial, and punishment (Cole et al., 2015). As per the assessments, sometimes the innocent are punished, and even the guilty are set free. Before a case reaches its determination, law enforcement officials investigate a crime and collect any evidence to be used against the presumed perpetrators. The case will proceed, and the court system will weigh the evidence presented to know if the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In an instance where the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt, the court systems will apply other means at their disposal. The court system can apply probation and incarceration to correct behavior and punish the offender.

In all the stages of the court processes, constitutional protections are observed to make sure that the rights of the convicted and the accused are respected. The protections will enable the criminal justice systems to balance their decisions by investigating and prosecuting the criminals considering the rights of the accused (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016). In the process of arresting, gathering evidence, and prosecuting various individuals, some rights derived from the Constitution protect the accused. The accused are protected from overreaching and abuses from law enforcement officers. Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable seizures and searches and Miranda advisement are the major rights as the Constitution protects the accused.

During the investigative stage of a case, restrictions are imposed against unreasonable seizures and searches. The restriction will prevent the law enforcement officers from searching the home of a suspect or the suspect without a warrant. However, there are other exceptions in various circumstances where the evidence needs to be protected from being destroyed. Such instances include when as suspected criminal who is a drug dealer escapes and runs into a restroom and when a police officer is pursuing a suspect who is armed. Miranda rights are the well-known refrain of police officers (Cole et al., 2015). These rights are familiar, but the police officers are required to continue reminding the arrestees of the rights before the questioning process begins. Some of the rights include remaining silent as anything one utters can be used against him/her in the court of law.