The courtroom work group is known to keep the courtroom in order, and to successfully help bring the procedure to a close. Courtroom work groups are made up of professionals such as a judge, prosecutor, defense attorneys, public defenders, and others such as bailiff and court reporters. These players work together and help to prosecute those who’ve committed crimes for the overall wellbeing of society.
This work group also serves to deter criminals from becoming repeat offenders, or from committing other crimes.The most important function of the courtroom work group is to make sure that the court is responsible for using laws created by the government to help the wellbeing of the citizens within society. In some cases, similar beliefs help the courtroom work group to carry out certain sentencing. Haynes (2010) “In addition, the relationships between individuals involved in sentencing—the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney—may be important because of shared beliefs about what constitutes appropriate sentencing.These individuals, who together form the courtroom workgroup, share a common task environment and work together to achieve the common goal of disposing of cases. ” Trial Judges are appointed to ensure justice in courtroom proceedings.
Judges are also responsible with safeguarding both rights of the accused, and interests of the public. By doing so, this keeps the prosecutor grounded by making sure guilt is established of the accused as required by criminal law.The workgroup interact with each other daily. While the judge oversees the procedure, the prosecutor, defense attorney, and public defenders help to create a visual that is easy for the judge to see what happened. Prosecuting attorneys are the primary representatives of the people, by virtue of belief that the accused violated a criminal law and that the public knows about it. The defense attorney represents the accused by making sure that the defendant’s civil rights aren’t pulled out from beneath them.
The judge is now responsible for maintaining order, ensuring a fair trial, and making sure the defendant and the accused rights are not violated. The Prosecuting Attorney is seen in many levels such as District, State, County, Commonwealth, or solicitor. The prosecutor is responsible for representing the city against the defendants. Prosecutors are also the voice of the people and stand to prosecute all who violate laws created by society.Due to the numerous responsibilities a prosecutor must hold, a team is hired to help supplement the workload.
This staff is primarily made up of assistant district attorneys. The prosecutor also plays a major role during police investigations as well. “Because prosecutors are sensitive to the kinds of information needed for conviction, they may help guide police investigations and will exhort detectives to identify credible witnesses, uncover additional evidence, and the like” (Schmalleger, 2011).A prosecutor has the responsibility to either dismiss the case, recommend suspect to seek counseling, or accept a plea bargain. This is also known as the prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutors dismiss cases due to the lack of evidence against the accused.
If the process of taking cases were less stringent, then cases would rarely get put forth built on evidence. Thus, creating a situation for the prosecutor to have to prove a case without evidence. The jurors, and court would then be making decisions based off of assumptions and not proof.Prosecutors know guilty people would plague the streets if there were no sufficient evidence; as well as many innocent people would be wrongfully accused. Unfortunately, a prosecutor will never choose a case that isn’t winnable.
The criminal justice funnel puts a cap on the amount of offenders who may enter court, and also criminals incarcerated at any given time. Throughout the early criminal justice process, many cases surface. These cases deter due to dismissal, or if the accused are referred to counseling or treatment.The courtroom work group work diligently together to make sure that an individual’s rights, life, liberty, and privacy are supported throughout the criminal process. The workgroup and their intentions, are a work of art. Funneling out cases for society while upholding integrity, patience, all while trying to maintain safety for society is not one to look lightly upon.
As society evolves, so do civil rights, and criminal law. The assembly line made up of the courtroom work group, work diligently to keep the process of the courthouse as smooth as possible.
