Criminal justice process for a felony criminal charge filed in a state Research Paper

Criminal justice process for a felony criminal charge filed in a state court - Research Paper Example The Consensus model assumes that when individuals gather to form a society, they naturally come to a basic agreement with regard to shared norms and values. Those individuals whose actions deviate from the established norms and values are considered to pose a threat to the well-being of society, and hence, the society passes laws to control and prevent deviant behavior, thereby setting clear-cut boundaries and agreement on what activities to outlaw and punish as crime. According to the Conflict model, there exists different segments within the society separated by social class, wages, age, race, and there is constant struggle with each other for control of society. The resulting effect is that, the victorious groups exercise their power by codifying their value systems into criminal laws, this being determined by the group that happens to be holding power over the others. There are various types of crimes within the society, and their classification depends on the magnitude of the se riousness, ranging from jaywalking to first-degree murder. Criminal behavior can be put into six categories, namely; violent crime (murder, sexual assault), property crime (burglary, larceny, theft, shoplifting and vandalism), public order crime (prostitution, pornography, alcohol, driving under substance influence), white collar crime (business scams, workplace ethics, fraud), organized crime (terrorism), and high tech crime based on computer technology (cyber crime, hacking). Felony describes several serious crimes such as murder, rape, or burglary punishable by a more stringent sentence than that given for a misdemeanor. The crime is punishable in federal law by death or imprisonment for more than one year (Gaines, Miller, 2008). Criminal justice system This contemporary system is the society’s instrument of social control (the ability of society and its institutions to control, manage, restrain, or direct human behavior). The system seeks to prevent or deter outlawed beha vior by apprehending, adjudicating, and sanctioning the lawbreakers. The criminal justice system has three components; law enforcement agencies, which investigate crimes and apprehend the suspects; the court system, which charges, indicts, tries, and sentences the offenders; and the correctional system, which incapacitates convicted offenders and attempts to aid in their treatment and rehabilitation. The criminal justice agencies are political entities whose structure and functions are lodged within the three arms of any government, that is, the legislative (defines the law and establishes criminal penalties), judicial (interprets existing law and determines constitutionality), and executive (oversees justice agencies operations through budgeting, provision of required directives) (Siegel, 2009). The overall goals of the criminal justice system are to protect the society, maintain order and stability, control crime, investigate crimes and arrest offenders, provide for judicial deter mination of guilt or innocence, set an appropriate sentence for the guilty, and protect the constitutional rights of defendants throughout the criminal justice process (Purpura, 1997). Felony This is a type of sufficiently serious crime that is subjectively punishable by death or a term