Courtroom Standards Analysis
Judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, and other courtroom personnel work together in the courtroom workshop to ensure effective court processes (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). The personnel play a significant role in making decisions and creating law and rules regarding civil and criminal cases. They build a working relationship, cooperate and share values during typical trials (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). The following are the diverse roles of the courtroom workgroup:
Judge- the role of the judges is to maintain court order, they also determine if the prosecutor has used relevant facts and credible evidence against the defendant, and finally determines the sentence (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). Judges play other significant roles such as participate in the court proceedings, interprets the law and ensures that justice is met, prevent bias and prejudice on both parties, ensures enough evidence, they set the bail, they sign warrants, and they also have the authority to pronounce a law as unconstitutional (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009).
Prosecutors- these are the representatives in the federal government and they play a significant role in presenting the cases of the accused party, participate in plea bargaining and make charges by presenting charging documents (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). Prosecutors are under the U.S Attorney General and three prosecutors are found in the hierarchy. They include; the State attorney General-the State attorney General has discretionary power and plays a significant role in providing security to people, situations, and resources, he is also involved in criminal court cases (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). Second is the local attorney and his role is charges all criminal cases and gives legal advice to officials. The third is city attorneys and he participates in the prosecutorial functions, presents city interest, and prosecutes misdemeanor and felony cases.
Defense counsel- the role of a defense attorney is to defend the defendants, ensure that the rights are met, evaluates research evidence, and engages in plea negations (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). In other words, he acts as an advocate and protects the defendants' interest.
Jurors- jurors are involved in the criminal process to evaluate whether the charges against crime are guilty, and the kind of a sentence to the defendant (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). They also listen to the facts and evidence and makes the decision with respect to the presented facts.
Clerk- the role of court clerks is to maintain court order, issuing processes, collecting fees and fines (Spohn & Hemmens, 2009). They also maintain court records and handling inquiries.
Court reporter- their role is to record judicial processing's, they review the transcripts and provides the official records. They may also inform the lawyers about legal procedures.
References
Spohn, C., & Hemmens, C. (2009). Courts: A text reader. Los Angeles: SAGE.
