What Is a Criminal Justice Lawyer?
Lawyers are social advocates and advisers. As advocates, they represent a party in a criminal or civil trial, and as advisers, they provide counsel to clients. In the case of a criminal complaint (lawsuit), there are two types of lawyers, one is a prosecutor, who represents the government and the other is the defense lawyer, who represents the accused or the defendant. Lawyers must pass a bar examination administered by their state of practice and on higher levels of government, such as Circuit and Supreme courts, they apply for admission and must be approved by that court's administration to practice law there.
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Representing the State or Government
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The lawyer who represents the government (federal, state or local) also represents the interests of the public at large. The prosecutor or district attorney is mostly responsible for making certain that those who are found guilty of a crime, or a crime against the state, are punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Representing the Accused or the Defendant
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The lawyer who represents the accused can be either a privately contracted lawyer or a public defender. Typically, public defenders are appointed by the court for defendants who cannot afford lawyers and who are accused of crimes of a capital nature, namely murder, and other high-level crimes that could, if the defendant is convicted, cost her life..
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Types of Criminal Cases
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Cases involving of violence, drugs, sexual impropriety, fraud, extortion, forgery, perjury, burglary, conspiracy, stalking and related appeals are categorized as criminal. These general categories have a lengthy list of related crimes or "sub" crimes that can be tied into them.
Ticking Clocks
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All criminal cases, except for murder, are governed by jurisdictional power and a statute of limitations, meaning that the court in which the accused appears must be legally authorized to try the case and that the case must be tried within set limitations of the "ticking time clock" -- the point at which the crime is discovered and in which the legal process begins. Since murder cases have no statute of limitations, they may be tried at any time after the evidence is gathered that points to a possible or alleged killer and after that accused killer has been apprehended and arrested.
Criminal Justice and the Philosophical Theory of Innocence and Guilt
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Criminal cases---at least those that involve a violent crime---are usually tried on the philosophical basis of innocent until proven guilty," and that the guilt should be beyond a reasonable doubt. Because of variances in the way cases are handled, where they are tried and the different moods and ideologies of juries, not all criminal cases that are prosecuted and result in a conviction have been shown to be 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.' In a system that bows to the will of the people, the question always remains as to whether or not there can ever be such a thing as true justice all the time. The work of criminal justice lawyers is to try to make the system as just as possible no matter which side of the road they are on.
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