What You Need to Know About The History of Criminal Justice

What is Criminal Justice?

Criminal Justice is the structural methodology and ideology that exists in conjunction with the regulation and oversight of the legal process with regard to criminal law. The wide range of criminal law includes the protocol required by law enforcement and the judicial system. Furthermore, the precepts of criminal justice ensure that the rights of individuals both accused of crimes, as well as those convicted of crimes, are protected and preserved.

The criminal justice system is required to respect, protect, and uphold the legal rights of American citizens in the event of an arrest, which includes the adherence to civil rights and civil liberties expressed within the Constitution of the United States. If you need legal advice and assistance, contact criminal lawyers.

Criminal Justice Legislation

While a vast expanse of legislation applicable to the criminal justice system within the United States exists, the primary legislation corollary to the undertaken of the criminal justice system is considered to exist within the Constitution of the United States. Within the Constitution, several Amendments were passed with regard to the protection of the rights entitled to all American citizens.

The 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

With regard to the protocol required within the criminal justice system, the 4th Amendment prohibits unlawful entry by law enforcement agents onto or into residence considered to be private property, which belongs to a private citizen of the United States. In order to conduct a search within the perimeter of a private residence, criminal justice agents are required to produce authorized documentation to do so. This can come in the form of the following:

A Warrant, which can vary in nature from criminal warrants, arrest warrants, and bench warrants is an authorized order allowing law enforcement agents or judicial personnel to both search the private property belonging to a private citizen or apprehend that individual. A warrant illustrates the expressed permission to conduct such activity as a result of fulfilling the legal requirements necessary. This permission is considered to validate the claims latent within the warrant.

The 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

The 5th Amendment of the Constitution requires a suspect be informed of a right to remain silent upon an arrest. The ideology behind this Amendment prevents a suspect from incriminating themselves. This is due to the fact that criminal justice legality allows for any sentiment expressed at the time of an arrest is considered to be admissible in a subsequent trial.

The ‘Miranda Rights’ outline the protocol required by the criminal justice system in the event of an arrest. These rights echo the 5th Amendment, which states that an individual retains the right to remain silent in order to avoid incriminating themselves. This is also known as ‘pleading the Fifth’.

The 6th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

The 6th Amendment addresses legal procedures undertaken with regard to the trial, criminal investigation, and judicial review undertaken by the criminal justice system with regard to criminal convictions.

Subsequent to an arrest, the notion of ‘Habeas Corpus’ entitles all individuals the right to a fair and unbiased trial before a court of law. In addition, each individual is granted the right to legal representation. These rights are entitled to every citizen of the United States and are expressed within criminal justice legal procedure.

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