The Courts
Like policing, the court system in the United States also draws from English law, but even more so, because a court system already existed in the United States at the time of the American Revolution. The CJS has two sets of underlying values: due process (protecting individual rights) and crime control (punishment and prevention of crime). Due process is about ensuring that individuals are not abused by the state; many of these protections are listed in the Bill of Rights. For crime control, the courts must balance the rights of the accused with the need to protect society. There is also a third role some think the courts take and that is rehabilitative, or ensuring criminals are getting rehabilitated to become productive members of society again, thereby reducing future victimization.
Early in the U.S. system, victims were responsible for gathering evidence and bring their cases before the courts. Although victims are still responsible for this in the civil court system today, if the person is a victim of a crime then the responsibility for gathering evidence has shifted into the prosecutor’s office. As this development occurred, the role of the victims moved more to that of “evidence” than an active participant in the system. The prosecutor is not the personal lawyer of the victim but rather the representative of society seeking justice for everyone, including, not solely, the victim. Current trends show victims in an increased role within the CJS; victims are no longer just passive actors but stakeholders in the outcomes of cases (Jones, 2014). The rights given to victims fall into one of two categories: those that protect the victims and those that empower the victim. Rights that protect the victim often include knowing when the court cases are occurring and when the offenders are being released. Rights that empower victims focus on ensuring their participation in the criminal justice process, such as sitting through the trial to ensure the accuracy of the case and consulting with the prosecutor.
The CJS is supposed to be a system that applies equally to all. This statue, found outside the Cumberland School of Law, in Birmingham, Alabama, reminds us that Justice should be balanced with Mercy. Image: Justice and Mercy at the Cumberland School of Law. Authored by: BRM.