All of which are important to ensuring justice is served. Courtroom Work Group The courtroom work group is the group of professionals who participate in the daily business of the courts. The group has the most knowledge in criminal trial and the law. The group includes experts such as judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, court reporters and any other professional earning income from the court (Schmeltzer, 2011). The different individuals of the courtroom workup interact on a day to day basis as the court functions and holds trials. In the courtroom, the judge keeps order and maintains the away.
On a day to day basis the judge holds the authority in the court. The prosecutor presents the case of the state. The defense counsel is the attorney of the defendant. Defense counsels try and test the strength of the case of the prosecution (Schmeltzer, 2011). The defense counsel as well as the judge and prosecution all participate in plea bargaining. Plea Bargaining and the Courtroom Work Group Plea bargaining is a regular activity for the courtroom work group. I would recommend to the courtroom work groups paying closer attention to the plea bargaining when offering a guilty criminal bargain.
Although the criminal is not officially proven guilty at the time of the bargain, if there is substantial evidence that proves the case a bargain should not be done. The Prosecutor The prosecutor or prosecuting attorney represents the government or the interest of the community in a criminal trial (Schmeltzer, 2011). The prosecutor is sometimes called “district attorney, state’s attorney, county attorney, commonwealth attorney, or solicitor” (Schmeltzer, 2011). The prosecutor has many roles in the community in which he or she serves. Usually the duties of the prosecutor are too great for one person to fill.
In order to serve the community efficiently, the prosecutor usually manages a team of professionals so all of their responsibilities and roles can be fulfilled. Some of the roles of the prosecutor include presenting cases for the state, serving as legal advisors to the local police, help guide police investigations, and so on. Prosecutors exercise a right known as prosecutorial discretion. “In preparation for trial, the prosecutor decides what charges are to be brought against the defendant, examines the strength of the incriminating evidence, and decides which witnesses to call” (Schmeltzer, 2011).
In essence, the prosecutorial discretion is the prosecutor’s ability to determine if there is sufficient proof that a law was broken. Then the prosecutor will decide whether or not to PUrsUe the case. “Before a case comes to trial, the prosecutor may decide to accept a plea bargain, divert the suspect to a public or private social service agency, ask the suspect to seek counseling, or dismiss the case entirely for lack of evidence or for a variety of other reasons” (Schmeltzer, 2011).
If the discretion of the prosecutor’s criteria for taking a case was more or less stringent the amount of asses and the workload of the entire courtroom work group would vary greatly. If the criteria were too lenient the case load of the prosecutor, judges and the rest of the work group would be immense and it would be very costly to keep up with the demand. There are very few judges compared to the number of cases tried in court so the workload of the judges would be affected the most. Avery lenient criteria may also charge many defendants who are not guilty at all which would completely defeat the purpose the system intends to fulfill.
If the criteria for the prosecutor would be too strict, the opposite would occur. Criminals may get away with crimes. Ultimately, the prosecutors are expected to use their discretion within reason and also use the utmost professionalism. Criminal Justice Funnel and Backlog Cases The criminal justice funnel is the fact that the number of actual crimes reported is not congruent with the number of people actually convicted or held responsible for those crimes. Typically, there are a lot more crimes being charged than actually convicted. This issue can be associated greatly with the number of backlog cases.
Backlog cases put an added pressure on the court system and the courtroom work group. This can lead to more plea bargains and more cases being dismissed than necessary. The workload surpasses the time a judge has in a day. This leads to backlog or assembly line justice. Assembly line justice basically means the judge only has two minutes or a very little set time to review a case and determine to set date for trial or offer a plea bargain or even dismiss the case. (Matchstick, 2009) If a judge is pushing through cases things can be missed and people can be getting away with crimes.
It is also a possibility they are not given enough time to defend themselves and are guilty without rue reason. This can impede on the effectiveness of the system as a whole. In my opinion, the best way to reduce backlog is by creating more funds in the court system and marketing to students in regards to the rewarding career of a judge. This can be done by granting scholarships to law students and clerkship in the courts. Even a student can be a helping hand in the busy court system. Another option could be hiring qualified professionals to assist the judge in case screening.
The problem is that the work group is too short staffed to pay close attention to all the cases filed. Conclusion In conclusion, the courtroom workup is an interesting group of professionals that really have their work cut out for them. They are the forefront of the court and justice system of the United States of America and have great power and also great responsibility. The prosecutors have much control in how the system runs and the judges have much authority on outcomes. All in all, even with its flaws the court systems and the professionals involved in the courtroom work groups provide justice to the people.
