There are various sources that can familiarize you with criminal justice. These sources will often give you a snippet of what criminal law is all about. It is however evident that you will barely get the finer details about all these through these sources. There are various factors that you will need to understand. Such will often include the following.
Criminal law is set in a place where society chooses to prohibit certain actions. These actions will often attract different magnitudes. It is assumed that these laws will step in to mitigate such actions given that they might pose great danger to the citizens. as such, they can be quite destructive for the whole community. The arrested person will be required to pay a fine or face imprisonment. This will from time to time be guided by the situation. However, there needs to be a guilty verdict before this punishment is passed. It is upon the state, federal as well as local legislatures to come up with all these criminal laws. The criminal justice system is essentially the whole apparatus right from the beginning to the end. This system does feature the police, attorneys, judges and probation officers. There are a number of rights that the citizens will enjoy during this particular process. This will often ensure that you are protected from undeserved prosecution. These rights seek to maintain a balance between government interests and your freedom.
There is great sense in being conversant with how criminal cases go about. You will find that criminal justice cases can unfold in different ways. Different aspects dictate how this unfolding goes. This will more than often include how severe the crime is and the evidence gathered. The approach that the prosecution choose to go for will also be taken into consideration. There are various ways that this case will end. There is room for the case to end up without any arrest. It is also possible for people to go for a plea. There is still a chance for this case to face dismissal. This is in most cases after acquiring evidence in an illegal way. You will also come to learn of the compoundable offence. This does take into account the prosecutor dropping a case in order to get something in return.
Criminal charges will often be categorized into felonies as well as misdemeanor. Misdemeanor crimes often attract a penalty of less than a year in prison. Felonies are often taken more seriously. This is to say that more than a year in prison will be expected. In fact, you might not lead a normal life after this.