Introduction to Criminal Justice Essay

The national official immoral rightness system play of federal courts, corrections, and legal philosophy enforcement agencies. The unite cites Attorneys is the primordial agency taking send off of disciplines involving the U. S. government as a party and in stack uping debt owed to the federal government. The federal tribunal has a Supreme Court, appellate courts, and rill or district courts. federal official law enforcement agencies derive their authority from the U. S. Constitution and federal laws while the state law enforcement obtains authority from the state constitution and legislations.The remainder in source of authority, which determines legal power and case, determines whether a wretched case is a federal or state matter. Federal Criminal Justice strategy The criminal justice system in America today conciliate of courts, corrections and law enforcement operating at the local anesthetic, state and federal take aim (Samaha, 2006). These tiers of decisio n-making operate independently according to the scope of their jurisdictions. The discussion focuses on the federal level relative to the local and state levels.The U. S. Department of Justice comprises the primary criminal investigative and law enforcement agency at the federal level. The spotlight of the United States Attorneys, which falls under the U. S. Department of Justice, comprise the principal litigators assign to judicial districts, within which each Unite States Attorney exercise the character reference as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the United States. The United States Attorneys Office mainly prosecutes cases involving the United States as a party and collect debt owed to the U. S. ederal government as provided by Title 28, Section 547 of the U. S. Code. (United States Attorneys, 2009) The federal judiciary or court system emerged from Article III of U. S. Constitution. This has three tiers of decision-making. At the top is the U. S. Supreme Co urt comprised of the Chief Justice and eight run justices handling cases involving important constitutional or federal questions of law that originated in the state or the federal courts. In the middle is the appellate court, make up of 94 judicial districts pooled into 12 regional circuits.The U. S. Court of Appeals in any circuit handles appealed cases coming from the district courts or federal administrative agencies as well as handles appeals of special cases. At the lower level is the trial court comprised of the district courts, with criminal and civil jurisdiction. The Court of International raft and the U. S. Court of Federal Claims are special trial courts. (Samaha, 2006 Understanding the federal courts, 2009) Federal law enforcement agencies derive their authority from the U. S. Constitution.Article 1, Section 8 provides the power of Congress to enact laws needed in executing governmental powers. The constitutional powers of Congress accords federal law enforcement agencies with the authority to operate. Whenever, Congress enacts a statute, it designates the federal agency responsible for enforcement of this law. The provisions of the enacted laws assigned for enforcement to federal agencies usher the limit and scope of the authority of the federal agencies. (May et al. , 2008)The difference in the role of federal agents and state or local law enforcement officers lies in the jurisdiction and scope of authority. A federal agent has a wider jurisdiction moreover with a narrower scope of authority determined by federal statutes. Federal law emanates from the constitution that empowers the U. S. Congress to enact laws at the federal level. State or local law enforcement officers have narrower jurisdiction limited merely to the boundaries of the state or locality but with wide of the marker scope of authority cover the enforcement of all laws applicable to the state or locality.State/local laws aim from the state legislatures obtaining auth ority from the state constitution. (May et al. , 2008) Investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense is a federal matter when the criminal act or issue are covered by federal law or the U. S. Constitution, the U. S. government is a party, special cases within the authority of the federal law justice system, and other cases within federal question jurisdiction. A crime is under state jurisdiction in cases violating the criminal laws of the state.The state holds broad jurisdiction of various cases but with the exception of those falling under the easy lay statutory jurisdiction of the federal courts. (May et al. , 2008) It makes sense to have dual criminal statutes in the federal and state systems covering the same offense. In case of common jurisdiction over an offense, such as discrimination in employment, the parties can opt to file in case in federal or state courts.There are also ways of distinguishing jurisdiction such as the diversity jurisdiction of the federal courts i n cases involving residents of dickens different states over a controversy amounting to more than $75,000 dollars. (May et al. , 2008) The federal criminal justice system operates independently from state and local criminal justice by having its constitutional and federal statute determined jurisdiction. However, it has links with local and state criminal justice in hearing appeals of cases originating from the state courts on grounds of pertinent issues of law.