Federal System of Government, Essay Example

The American criminal justice system can be described as having two distinct components.  [1] law and [2] procedure.  Both the state and the federal government have statutes that govern criminal law.  Federal government is via the Supreme Court and this is more concerned with procedure than criminal law.  The Constitution of supreme courts are the highest court in the land.  They circumscribe state courts in the 50 US states.

The law originates with the Constitution.  The US federal courts lacked the plenary power in order to make up the law as opposed to the states with the doctrine is based upon common law.  The main importance of the Supreme Court is  the power bestowed upon it to check, as required, the actions of the US president and the Congress.  “It can tell a president that his acts are not allowed by the Constitution, – it can tell Congress that its actions are unconstitutional.” (Scholastic, 1989).

The actual enforcement of criminal law has historically been handled by the individual state.  There has been a lot of overlap, however.  In 1998 this resulted in chief, Justice William H. Rehnquist to criticize the criminal justice system.  Virtual courts were not greater to adjudicate the crimes, no matter how universal sensational crime may be. (Law Encyclopedia, 2010) The federal courts are used for five types of procedures:

1. offenses against governments;
2. criminal activity with multistate aspects;
3. criminal activities best prosecuted under federal jurisdiction;
4. serious or widespread local government corruption;

“The United States Constitution was written with one of the main purposes being the protection of the rights of the American people. The writers of the Constitution were careful to outline specific rights and protections, and the Supreme Court has interpreted these rights and their limitations in numerous cases since crime of a high sensitivity of the issues.”  (A.U, 2009)

Works Cited

U Davenport . (2009). Basic Criminal Law. In D. A.U, Basic Criminal Law. Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education International.

Law Encyclopedia. (2010). Criminal-Law-Should-More-Crimes-Be-Made-Federal-Offenses. Retrieved 5 1, 2010, from Law Encyclopedia: http://law.jrank.org/pages/5867/Criminal-Law-Should-More-Crimes-Be-Made-Federal-Offenses.html

Scholastic. (1989). Role of the Supreme Court. Retrieved 5 1, 2010, from Scholastic: http://www2.scolastic.com/browse/article.jsp?.id=4723