Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1

Criminal Justice

Students Name

Bethel University

Course Name

Professor Name

Date
CRIMINAL JUSTICE 2

Abstract

               For this research, I will be discussing some of the issues affiliated with the public

defender’s office, the bail system, parole boards, and the probation system. The above four

departments are geared towards the administration of justice. Over the last decades, these

departments have been faced with numerous issues that have been like a set back to the justice

system. Each of the above departments has various roles to perform, but they have not been

functioning as expected. Therefore, this research aims to look at the possible approaches that can

improve and enhance the expansion of equality. Equality means that both the respondent and the

complainant have their rights protected, and justice is served as it should to the liable party. In a

nutshell, to improve these systems, the government needs to purpose to invest in them in terms of

financial support and increase the numbers of officers. With the above I believe that there will be

improvement and equality will be exercised all round.

Keywords: equality, justice, offender, respondent, officers, and assessment.

Public defender office

               The main purpose of the public defender's office is to safeguard individuals' interests

and rights in all cases. The cases might be criminal and related matters; therefore, it is the public

defender's role to secure their clients from arrest and threats through the stages in a criminal

proceeding. Additionally, the office is responsible for appeal and parole board matters (Lopez et

al. 2017). Therefore, it is within the public defender office's official mandate to have defended

the public with applicable law and court rules. However, currently, the situation at these offices

is wanting, and there are delays in receiving justice for the public. For instance, the offices have

reported numerous instances in which they have been burdened with many caseloads,

uncooperative clients, and most worst of all, the issue to do with the inadequate support from the

criminal justice systems. These factors have led to inequality cases, and hence it is factual to

state that justice is on the verge of collapsing in these offices.

               However, to ensure that these offices have been improved and equality is guaranteed

for all. It is essential to incorporate better policies and good practices in the line of duty. For

instance, to improve the system and expand equity, there is a need to have a federal defense

office in the district. The aim will be to ensure that there is the availability of these offices in

various regions to necessitate quick service delivery (Lopez et al. 2017). On the other hand, I

believe that there should be delegation management responsibility whereby in case of

overburdening by cases one can channel some of them to the others for ease of service.

Delegation means that another individual can handle the case at hand with an expected outcome

at the end of the day. Therefore the move ensures that the client has received justice in time.

Receiving justice in time means that equality has been enhanced as all cases are handled with the

same magnitude.
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               Additionally, to improve public defender’s office service delivery and expand equity,

we need better support from the criminal justice system. Having a robust criminal justice system

that is supportive in all aspects means that the client is bound to have better service, and in the

end, justice will be served more easily (Lopez et al. 2017). Secondly, the office needs to look for

ways that ensure that the client is cooperative to ensure that the case proceedings are done, and

no one is oppressed at any point.

The bail system

In most of the jurisdictions in the world, many operate on a cash bail system. These systems

are in charge of determining what amount of money an individual is supposed to pay to enhance

detention processing. The cash gives acts as collateral, which ensures that the defendant appears

in court on trial dates. However, it is to be noted that bail is not a fine or punishment but acts as

collateral that is returned to the defendant when the trial is over, but some deductions are made to

cater to processing fees. However, over the last couple of years, the bail systems have been faced

with many problems (Yang, 2017). Some of these problems tend to come in as a result of

perpetuates inequalities. These inequalities in the justice systems tend to be heavily experienced

by communities of color and people living in poverty. However, the lack of ability to raise the

bail results in losing their jobs, housing, and children custody. Therefore, in the long run, the

poor and people of color tend to lose a lot while those with financial muscle tend to run their

affairs as usual.

           To improve and ensure that equality is expanded, the relevant authorities should lift the

bail. Bail should be lifted based on the reasoning that at times some of the offenses are petty such

that even after the trial, the respondent might be fined or warned; therefore, I believe that the bail
CRIMINAL JUSTICE 5

system should way matter and lift the bail on some of the cases. Secondly, releasing some of the

respondents in pretrial is a move that would greatly improve the system and help save many lives

(Bartels et al., 2018). Finally, in some cases, I believe that bail should not be given at all for the

purpose of the complainant's safety. For instance, in the case of murder and assault. In a nutshell,

the bail system needs to scrutinize the case first before issuing bail, and if bail is necessary, I

believe a fair amount should be subjected to the respondent in light of the weight of the case.

However, for cases where a lot is at stake, for instance, loss of a job, the risk to the family, it is

essential that they should consider alternative solutions that will ensure that the respondent

attends courts and does not in any way tamper with the evidence at hand.

Parole boards

          The parole board is a panels that collectively decided on the fate of the offender whether to

be released from prison on parole after serving the minimum sentence (Quinn,

2019). However, in some instances, it has been reported that the parole board tend to lack

adequate resources to table their issues and address them in real-time. In other instances, the

board faces problems with the offender's age, gender, and so many other factors. Some of these

factors tend to slow down better services from the board as well as the equality of all of their

Clients. 

         Therefore in light of the above, it is imperative for the relevant bodies to pump relevant

resources to the board efficiently. Resources tend to improve the board's overall performance as,

in many cases, some of the decisions are based on facts; hence they have to be researched

(Quinn, 2019). Research need finances and human resource. Secondly, to improve the board and

expand equality, there is a need to bring more parole meetings and increase parole board
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members' numbers. These members will ensure that most of the cases are handled early enough

and have these individuals rights protected.

The probation system

           The probation service helps the court to pass a ruling with an informed decision on

sentencing. Additionally, the probation system tends to protect the victim on bail and at the same

time issue penal release on assessment (Frase, 2019). On the other hand, the probation system is

mostly responsible for community service placement. Following the basic function of the

probation systems, it is easy to note that there are some problems with the whole issue. For

instance, the probation system is mainly in charge of the investigation. Intake procedures,

assessment, and client supervision. However, it is interesting to note that after the offender has

been placed under court supervision, there comes a lot of paperwork and constant assessment.

Therefore in some instances, there is no equal treatment of the offenders.

Therefore I believe that the human resource acting in the probation systems needs to be

increased to meet the demand at hand. For instance, dealing with a case in the long term will

disadvantage others on the waiting line (Frase, 2019). Therefore, to improve and ensure equity, it

is imperative to have the systems well invested in for quick delivery of justice, assessment, and

tackling these cases fast. On the other hand, when it comes to probation sentences and the in-

charge officers, there can be a rise in favoritism and harsh treatment of offenders. Therefore, in

ensuring equity before any approach and final decision is arrived at, it is imperative for the case

to be looked at by other officials to verify the verdict's fairness passed to the offender. With the

above approaches, I believe that the probation systems' services are bound to improve and

simultaneously expand equality.

Conclusion

           In summary, it is evident to state that these justice systems are being affected by almost

similar problems. One of the common problems between them is finances and human resources.

Therefore I believe that if the government can come on board and ensure that each department

has been well financed, service delivery will improve steadily. On the other hand, the number of

workers in those departments needs to be increased so as to ensure that services are delivered

within the stipulated time. Less workers mean that there will be a lot of paperwork on one

individual, as it is the case in the public defender’s office and the bail system. In the parole board

and probation system, to improve and expand equality, it is imperative to increase officers'

number to have services delivered efficiently and fast, hence ensuring that no one has been

disadvantaged or delayed in the process. All the above systems are out to ensure that justice is

delivered; therefore, investing in them will bring forth the desired expansion of equality.
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References

Bartels, L., Gelb, K., Spiranovic, C., Sarre, R. T., & Dodd, S. (2018). Bail, risk and law reform:

A review of bail legislation across Australia.

Frase, R. S. (2019). Suspended Sentences and Freestanding Probation Orders in US Guideline

Systems: A Survey and Assessment. Law & Contemp. Probs., 82, 51.

Lopez, M., Madsen, P., Eigo, M. T., & Kay, F. (2017). Public (Vol. 7).

Quinn, M. C. (2019). Constitutionally Incapable: Parole Boards as Sentencing Courts. SMU L.

Rev., 72, 565.

Yang, C. S. (2017). Toward an Optimal Bail System. NYUL Rev., 92, 1399.