Court Room Work Group

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Ancillary Courtroom Members

Considered part of the judge’s court staff, the clerk maintains administrative order in the court room by assisting with calendar issues, preparing the jury pool, subpoenaing witness and cataloguing and marking evidence.

With every show there is an audience. Usually seated in the back of the court you commonly find spectators, family members and press/media.

The Criminal Justice Funnel; the Courtroom

On the surface, there are obvious problems with the court systems. Budget constraints, changing laws, prison overcrowding and realignment measures all affect the courtroom and back up the system. It appears the exit door from prison opens quicker than the entrance door. That being said, the recommendations I would make from a street cops perspective would be to change the following. Narcotics arrestees with the exception of traffickers and dealers but simple possession cases should not go to prison and should be sent to a secured rehab type facility. There should be process by which we enforce immigration laws against criminals who are here illegally. I would invent a carpool lane or express lane for criminals identified as repeat offenders or top 10%. I would get rid of death row in California and appropriate that money back into the courtrooms to pay for more staff and resources necessary to process more cases. I would even consider either getting rid of Probation or CDCR and or merging them together and have one agency to monitor convicts on early release and probation. I would also look into contracting out some of the aspects of the justice system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I find it interesting the relationships and respective duties of the courtroom work group. The prosecutor seeks justice and presumed to be righteous and has might on its side. Yet all too often a quantitative approach is taken to ensure justice rather than a qualitative approach. Meaning that DA’s seeking a high clearance rates and looking to pad their stats will reduce crimes and sentences during plea negotiations. In this scenario everyone benefits except the community, who will unfortunately be victimized again by the same criminal.

I find it interesting how defense attorneys fight at all costs to do and say whatever it takes to get the defendant off, only to release this same criminal back into society, a society in which he is part of and could very well be victimized himself. I do agree that defense attorneys should protect the rights of the accused in the sense that the punishment should be just and reasonable. Too often though policemen are questioned in depth if not called outright liars by defense attorneys, never mind the criminal’s rap sheet and documented history of criminal activity. Just absurd. There is lack of a moral center.