American criminal justice system comprises of the jurisdictional, normative, functional, and institutional components. These components work simultaneously in defining the goals of procedural laws and decisions to be taken by the court of law. Factually, these activities take place at different points. Each of the fifty states in the US has organized courts, prisons, police crime control, and parole boards found in the local jails, police departments, and trial courts (Schmalleger, 2010). Depending on the category each crime falls in as defined by the federal and criminal law, the severity and magnitude of punishment as determined by the courts varies. In the criminal code, the process of convicting suspected offender commences with the report of the investigation from the policing unit presented before the district court (Schmalleger, 2010). For common crimes, the suspect might be granted bail before the trial begins. However, this is dependent on the decision of the jury. When found guilty, the offer may be sentenced to different forms of punishment depending on the magnitude of the crime. Normal crimes are associated with parole and other rehabilitation programs supervised by parole officers. Participation in these programs is voluntary. Generally, activities involved in the trial system include a definition of the crime, identification of laws broken, and definition of appropriate punishment as supported by the law (Schmalleger, 2010).
References
Keller, G and Mary, A. (2002) Evolving Strategy of Policing: Case Studies of Strategic Change. New York: National Institute of Justice.
Mutchnick, R. (2009) Criminal Justice Interactive: Companion Text. New York: Prentice-Hall.
Schmalleger, F. (2010) Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Walker, S. (1992). Origins of the Contemporary Criminal Justice Paradigm: The American Bar Foundation Survey. Justice Quarterly Journal, 9.1, 1953-1969.