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Discretionary Model Of Criminal Justice System Essay

536 Words3 Pages

The main parts of a criminal justice system can best be described as a discretionary model, because so many steps are taken from the stages of committing a crime to being prosecuted and possibly release from correctional institutions in the future. Each one of these steps have a serious deciding elements in them that play a role in the prosecution of a criminal. As stated in the text book “no two cases are alike, and no two defendants are alike,” (Barkan, 17). Because of the uniqueness of each case and the people involved in it a system must be put in place to insure that at every stage of the criminal justice system there is a set of questions and decisions that are being made effectively and properly. This insures both fairness and structure to what is …show more content…

The first step of the criminal justice system is the execution of a crime. A lot of variation can happen here, because some victims of crime do not report the crime immediately, or they do not realize they are a victim of crime until later. Also, some crimes may not have witnesses, which can lead to a crime not being reported as well. This is a great example to show why the discretionary model is so useful in the criminal justice system, because with so much variation in crime there needs to be a foundation laid down to guide the case in the right path. After the committing of a crime the law starts to get involved. One way or another a case will eventually land in the hands of the police. Police then can decide to investigate, arrest, or dismiss a case. After the police determine their investigation path they then have to decide if the information they have gathered is going to lead to the arrest of the criminal. If an arrest is made more steps follow for the criminal and his or her case. The prosecutor of the case

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