The American criminal justice system comprises 3 core components; law enforcement, corrections and courts. Law enforcement comprises officers who investigate crimes, arrest offenders, gather and protect evidence and much more. Courts are institutions headed by judges who oversee matters of the law and ensure that it is followed. Corrections are facilities that house offenders after being found guilty and convicted or sentenced for their offences ( Bohm & Haley, 2017) . The three components of the criminal justice system are interconnected in the functions they serve. The law enforcement officers will arrest offenders, investigate their crimes, gather, preserve and present evidence of the crimes to the courts. The courts will then allow presentations by attorneys representing offenders and heir victims. They then announce the offender as guilty or innocent according to the arguments and evidence presented. The offenders found guilty are then placed in corrections as determined by their crime. They will serve their sentence while reforming before being released back into society where applicable.
These components may conflict due to varied reasons. Law enforcement officers may conflict with courts due to perceived leniency in sentencing or allowing plea bargains for criminals. Law enforcement officers may find offence in instances where cases are dismissed even when they presented their evidence to prosecutors. Conflict may also arise between prosecutors and law enforcement officer when well-experienced lawyers acquire freedom for their clients who may be guilty. Primarily, conflict will arise due to the misconceptions that exist among the three components, how each operates as an individual entity and when the operate as one system.
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The criminal justice process involves investigation where the police as law enforcement gather evidence to identify possible suspects and support an arrest ( Southerland, 2002) . It is followed by an arrest where the police take an individual into custody using evidence from their investigation and hold the person until they go to court. Prosecution will follow and the courts and attorneys come into play. Prosecutors weigh numerous factors including evidence gathered by the police before laying any charge on the suspect. It is followed by indictment where the suspect is accused to have committed a crime by the prosecutor. A grand jury has the sole role of indicting a suspect after one prosecutor has presented evidence and in the absence of the suspect ( Southerland, 2002) . The individual is then arraigned in court by a judge and he or she enters a plea of either guilty or not guilty. This is followed by pretrial detention which is a temporary period of custody before trial. During this step, the individual may also pay bail to ensure that he or she will show up for the trial. Plea bargaining then follows and this occurs between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. Here, the defendant may agree to plead guilty for a reduced sentence or the reduction of their charge. Trial then occurs before a judge or a jury with the defense attorney and prosecutor participating ( Southerland, 2002) . The judge then sentences the individual when found guilty. The attorneys may then decide to file appeals in accordance with the judge’s decision during sentencing. These appeals are often made in appellate courts. A punishment is the administered through the local, state or federal correctional authorities and this is where the individual is placed in a correctional facility.
The interactions between these components determines the fair exercise of justice. If investigation is not carried out well by law enforcement, there is high likelihood that the individual will be wrongfully convicted by the courts. It is crucial that all components are professional and fair when addressing their parts in the criminal justice process to ensure that justice is served in a fair and just manner and as dictated by the law.
References
Bohm, R. M., & Haley, K. N. (2017). Introduction to criminal justice . McGraw-Hill Education.
Southerland, M. D. (2002). Criminal justice curricula in the United States: A decade of change. Justice Quarterly , 19 (4), 589-601.
