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Law and Order, and the Criminal Justice System
The Law and Order TV episode, “Sophomore Jinx” is about a female college student, found murdered. As the detectives move to the school to investigate the murder case, they turn their focus to the school’s basketball team, because they suspect that some players might be involved with the murder. However, they do not receive the support they expect from the administration, but they experience opposition from the institution. It emerges that some or one of the key players involved in the murder is a major player in the school’s basketball team. The school is preparing for a major contest, and it does not want to lose its valuable players before the game. Moreover, the school is concerned about the tarnished reputation that it will receive from different sectors once the community realizes what happened. This is not only a matter of integrity on the part of the school as it tries to shield a murder suspect, but it is also a case of justice, as the school tries to protect someone who murdered a fellow student.
Criminal justice refers to how various elements within the criminal justice system apply the established laws and guidelines when dealing with cases of crime. This includes the roles and responsibilities of all the people involved including the police, the detectives, the courts, and the correctional facilities. The various authorities involved have to work together to ensure that they realize justice. They must follow the established laws, which recognize the equality of every citizen in the country regardless of their age, gender or race. The people expects the system to protect them, and it does not expect the people involved in investigating the crime to show favoritism, as this is a reflection of a failed justice system. The citizens are major stakeholders in this system because they provide the information needed to deal with crime. They provide the evidence when they act as witnesses in court and when they give the police the information they need to find the evidence concerning a particular case. Failure for the people to provide the necessary information, and to protect the offender, hinders the work of the authorities, and it limits the chances of solving the case.
The sophomore jinx illustrates the case of people not taking crime and justice seriously. It shows the extent that people are willing to go to deny justice to those who are hurt. This spreads the notion to some people that they can do whatever they want, including committing any crime that they want, because they have some level of power or influence within the community. These people continue believing that the community will protect them because they are popular. Such people do not see the importance of the law, and they do not consider the importance of upholding and ensuring justice. As the case progresses, new evidence emerges, and the police discover that one more suspect outside the school could have been involved with the murder
The case highlights one of the elements of the American criminal justice system, which is not present in many countries. This is the element of plea-bargaining. In some cases, the law enforces bargain with a sentence for a reduced criminal charge in exchange for information offered. This might not seem politically correct to some people. However, it is important to consider the role of the suspect with whom the police are offering to bargain with and the level of crime that the suspect has committed, in relation to the degree and importance of information offered. When plea-bargaining with the suspect, the police discover that he only raped the girl when he was dead, and did not contribute to the girl’s murder.
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