Defining Criminal Justice - Assignment Example

Introduction Criminal justice refers to the structure of institutions and procedures aimed at promoting social control and moderating crime by enforcing penalties and rehabilitation efforts to those who violate laws. In American, criminal justice is administered through the criminal justice system that comprises three constituents, that is the legislative, which makes laws, adjudication, which represents the court system and corrections, which consists of jails, prisons, parole and probation systems.

All these groups of persons work together to uphold the rule of law. However, the criminal justice process moves from policing, courts and eventually corrections. Law enforcement or police is the initial contact point between an offender and the criminal justice, making arrests and conducting investigations to gather evidence on crimes committed. Evidence gathered is presented to the courts for adjudication and prosecution of offenders before sentenced offenders are taken to correctional facilities. . When delving into the various media used to illustrate various aspects of criminal justice, we shall focus firstly on those that represent the police, secondly, we shall look into those that illustrate the courts or adjudication system and lastly correctional facilities.

Media on Policing Some of the acclaimed movies and television shows that highlight the policing aspect of criminal justice include Law and Order and The Untouchables (1). Law and Order is a television series aired on NBC showing the policing aspect of criminal justice. The series, which is based on real life events, focuses on crime investigations and suspect apprehension by the police. It also highlights the processes involved in investigations, for instance, forensic analysis of evidence, procedures of receiving warrants from the courts and police involvement in prosecution of suspects through testimonies and presenting evidence (2).

For example, an episode in the first season of Law and Order entitled Subterraean Homeboy Blues depicts real life happenings where the police were instrumental in bringing Bernhard Hugo Goetz to justice after he shot four men who attempted to mug him on a New York subway train. The police gathered evidence which led to Goetz’s conviction for illegally possessing a firearm. The Untouchables, on the other hand, centers on the corrupt aspect of law enforcement, the movie, released in 1987, is centered on the life of a gang leader and focuses on portraying the ills of law enforcement such as corruption and colluding with criminals (2).

In this film, a large proportion of the police system is portrayed negatively as corrupt officers, who help gang leaders to take advantage