3. Given what you know about the operations of the criminal courts, is it accurate to call the criminal justice process an "open system"? Why?
Yes, it is accurate to call the criminal justice process an open system. Criminal defendants have access to counsel, either private counsel or court-appointed counsel if a defendant is indigent, for every crucial part in the criminal justice process. In addition, the public has access to the criminal justice process; courtrooms are open, so that the public can witness justice as it is being dispensed. Furthermore, because juries are derived from the ranks of the average citizenry, the actual fact finders in the criminal justice system come from the public. In these ways, the criminal justice system is an open system. However, it is also true that the criminal justice process is a closed process. Defendant's communications with their attorneys are privileged, so that the public may never know what a defendant has actually done. Moreover, a defendant who enters into a plea agreement may not be admitting full culpability for the offense he actually committed, put is only required to admit guilt for what the crime with which he is actually charged. In that way, the criminal justice process is closed. Therefore, one would have to conclude that while it is accurate to call the criminal justice process an open system, one would have to always remember that it is not an entirely open system.
First, the process is an open one for criminal defendants. In many criminal justice systems, defendants have little meaningful access to counsel, which means that they may make inculpatory statements that impact the disposition of their case long before they even have a true understanding of what charges they face. The American criminal justice system does not work that way. Not only do criminal defendants have a right to an attorney from the moment of arrest, but they are informed of that right when arrested. Therefore, defendants...
While arrests are not always publicized, they are a part of the public record. Courtrooms are open, which means that anyone can watch any courtroom stage of an adult criminal proceeding, from the preliminary hearing to post-conviction sentencing procedures. In fact, the criminal justice process if very open to the American public, since its juries are drawn from members of the public. In fact, the constitutional right to a jury trial, as well as the rights to an attorney and to confront the witnesses against oneself help ensure that the American criminal justice process is an open one.
However, it is important to always remember that there are aspects of the criminal justice process that the public will never see. For example, a defendant's communications with his attorney are privileged, so an attorney can do his best to represent the defendant. Furthermore, plea negotiations are also considered privileged. This means, for example, that if a defendant is charged with armed robbery, but pleads guilty to robbery, the official record of that defendant's guilt will not include information that he was armed at the time the offense was committed. In this way, the criminal justice system is very closed, because it these types of negotiations can obscure the true rates of certain crimes.
All things considered, the American criminal justice system is an open system, which works to preserve the rights of criminal defendants while protecting society. However, it is also a tremendously overburdened system. The very things that expedite the criminal justice process, like plea agreements, are the things that occur outside of the courtroom. Those things cannot ever be discovered by the general public, which means that some vital parts of the American criminal justice system are closed.
