Criminal Justice

The Components of the U.S. Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system in the United States has three main components: the police, the courts, and the correctional system. These operate simultaneously both as a series of interrelated parts and, separately, as autonomous and independent units. Thus, the administration of justice is highly interactive, with power divided among the police, the courts, the correctional system, and parole, probation, and juvenile justice agencies.

Justice is administered at all three levels of government—federal, state, and local. The term that defines this relationship is federalism—the sharing of power between the federal and state governments. The federal government has its own law enforcement agencies (e.g., the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and its own court system, which prosecutes violations of federal law, which is uniform throughout the country, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the court is located. The federal correctional system houses inmates convicted of federal crimes, and the federal probation system supervises those found guilty in federal court. The federal system also prosecutes juveniles who have been accused of federal crimes.

The administration of justice at the state and local level operates similarly to the federal system. Each state and locality has its own laws, which effect the administration of justice within its borders. For example, in the state of Alaska, the use of marijuana in the home is protected by the privacy clause of the Alaskan Constitution; other state constitutions, however, do not interpret privacy in the same manner. State and local governments also have criminal justice systems. State police patrol interstate highways and state turnpikes, while sheriff's departments, and county and local police provide law enforcement in cities, boroughs, towns, and villages. Serious crimes are generally prosecuted in state courts, while local courts handle minor crimes and traffic offenses. Each state and most localities also have their own correctional facilities. There are state prisons, and local jails and detention facilities. Probation and parole services are also provided at the local and state level. Finally, with regard to juvenile matters, there are courts on the local and state level where offenders are adjudicated delinquent. Offenders adjudicated delinquent are sent to state facilities for the purposes of correction and rehabilitation.

Process

The criminal justice process is triggered by the commission of a crime, which is any violation of criminal law. In the United States 14 million serious crimes are reported to law enforcement officials yearly. Generally, crimes are investigated by the police. Once the police establish probable cause (proof that a crime has been committed and that a particular individual committed it), there is an arrest—the taking of the suspect [Page 415]into physical custody. There are over 3 million felony arrests each year.

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