Essay On Juvenile Justice

During my last reflection paper, I spoke about how much safer I felt with officer Martinez escorting us, and I was very happy to see the next class (March 23, 2015) that she was with us once again. What I thought was strange about next weeks visit (March 30, 2015) was the increase in security measures; everyone was much more strict than the previous times we have been to the jail. The problem with the bags, with them not being see-through and such, never occurred to me until last class when I was confronted about it. I was surprised that it took this long for anyone to say anything to us since we went over half the semester with the same bag. I understand why we need a clear bag but I never thought that it was a big deal, until I actually thought

Unlike the old-world, today’s society bases itself off of competition and judgment of peers. The ideal purpose of a prosecutor, as defined by Felkenes is “one who commences, conducts and carries a suit to a conclusion in a court of justice… for the purpose of finding the guilt or innocence of the person charged with the crime” (Felkenes, p. 109). However, today’s prosecutors do not execute this definition properly. To try and gain public support, prosecutors attempt to achieve a high conviction rate, even if that means a lower rate of justice. Conviction psychology is a term used to describe this method of conviction. Prosecutors believe that if someone is presented to them in the judicial system as guilty then they are. Due to this belief, prosecutors see “the judicial system as the means through which he [or she] must work in order that the guilty might receive their proper punishment” (Felkenes, p. 110). Many prosecutors believe that in order to be successful in the field, one must achieve the highest possible conviction rate, even if the defendant is innocent. Do to this conviction psychology mindset, prosecutors are quick to judge against his or her peers and therefore attribute to their own personal gain. The District Attorney, who is controlled by government officials and public opinion, seeks to employ someone who will “win” the most. In order to “win” a prosecutor must “get a plea or verdict of guilt—otherwise, his [or her] adversary the defense council has won the case” (Felkenes, p. 122). If the District Attorney’s office has seen that one of their attorneys has completed this task numerous times, the office will continue to employ him or her; and “employment by the district attorney’s office results in a considerable increase in a prosecutor’s standard of living” (Felkenes, p. 121). Due to this