1

Criminal Justice System In North Carolina

Name

Professor

Course

Institution

Date
 2

Criminal Justice System in North Carolina

Introduction

The criminal justice system consists of the courts, law enforcement, and corrections

systems at the national, local, and state levels to represent society in responding to crime. The

police's role is to apprehend offenders, collect evidence, protect the community, and respect the

rights of the accused. The court systems use fair procedures to determine whether a defendant is

guilty as accused or not. Lastly, the correctional system is a local, StateState, and federal

government institution where the wrongdoers are locked up after being charged guilty by the jury

in a court to correct their behaviors. This paper describes the history, objectives, and emerging

issues in the criminal justice system.

Court System North Carolina

The court system's key responsibility is adjudication. Adjudication is identifying whether

the accused or defendant is guilty or not. It aims at bringing wrongdoers to justice. The Judicial

Department is among the three Branches of government under the North Carolina Constitution.

History of The Court System In North Carolina

The General Judicial of Justice is the name of the state-run, statewide judicial system in

North Carolina. North Carolina had a hybrid court system before 1966 that consisted of a

supreme court (the appeal court) and a superior court (the trial court with general jurisdiction),

uniform statewide and supported by the State State. Although the authority of subordinate courts

varied, they were run and supported by cities and counties. Particular cases could be handled by

a municipal court in one county while being handled by another court in another county.
 3

However, the judicial system became biased because the judges could judge based on financial

interest

A committee was established by the North Carolina Bar Association in 1955 to investigate

the legal system. The commission was called the "Bell Commission," after its Chairperson,

Charlotte's lawyer, Spencer Bell. Following a comprehensive investigation, the Bell Commission

proposed a total overhaul of the legal system in 1958 (Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). The current

North Carolina judicial system was established under Article IV of the current constitution in

1962 after North Carolina voters adopted a constitutional amendment. The judicial system was

reorganized in 1966 following legislation approved in 1965 to implement the new Article IV.

The North Carolina court system has the following court divisions;

1. The Appellate Division

The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are parts of the appellate branch. Anytime a

party is unhappy with the outcomes of the trial divisions; they have the right to request that one,

or sometimes both, of these courts examine those outcomes. The State'sState's highest court is

the Supreme Court. Six associate justices and the Chief Justice make up this court, which hears

appeals from the Court of Appeals and other subordinate courts. The Supreme Court does not

have a jury and does not render verdicts on issues of fact; instead, it solely addresses legal issues,

which includes deciding a party's allegation that the trial court or the Court of Appeals erred in

their application of the law or in their interpretation of the law.

The Court of Appeals was established as an intermediate appellate court to help the Supreme

Court with some of its overwhelming burdens. It comprises fifteen judges who consider cases in

panels of three. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court-appointed one of the justices, the Chief
 4

Judge of the Court of Appeals. Like the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals rules on legal

issues. The bound North Carolina has a printed copy of its rulings. Court of Appeals Reports are

available online at the exact location of Supreme Court rulings.

2. The Superior Court Division

The trial court divisions include the District and Superior Court divisions which hold trials to

ascertain the specifics of cases, as opposed to the appellate division, which only addresses legal

issues when a side appeals a case. The superior court has universal trial authority and is part of

the superior court division. At least twice a year, this court "sits" (holds court) in each county

within the State of North Carolina. Several sessions may run each week concurrently in the

busiest counties. Superior court districts are established throughout the State for electoral and

administrative objectives. For electoral reasons, if the superior court district is smaller than a

county, many electoral districts merge into one section for administrative needs.

3. The District Court Division

The North Carolina state is divided into administrative and electoral districts; it has court

districts, just like the superior court division. The district court is in each county's county seat,

much like the superior court. The General Assembly may hold meetings in a few additional cities

and towns if permitted. Most counties only have one courthouse, although few have more than

one. Therefore, one chief district court judge runs every court district’s court administrative

tasks.

a) Magistrates’ Courts
 5

Magistrates preside over hearings in criminal and civil cases as district court employees,

acting under the chief district court judge's direction. No official "magistrate's court" exists since

General Court of Justice judges do not preside over a different trial division. The chief district

court judge often appoints judges to rule over “petty issues” court in the civil setting. In criminal

cases, magistrates can resolve some cases through guilty pleas or trials and handle some

preliminary hearings.

The North Carolina Court Systems benefit from regular technology improvements that make

their daily jobs more manageable. TSD creates and preserves a nationwide court information

computer system using contemporary software development techniques and technology to assist

the various court officials and personnel within the judicial branch. 400 district and superior

courtrooms and over 260 court offices nationwide are maintained and supported by TSD's

desktop and office computer hardware and software (Cole et al., 2021). TSD facilitates and

preserves access to its criminal systems for more than 32,000 law enforcement users and court

users nationwide. TSD maintains and supports the phone systems in the State'sState's

courthouses.

However, the North Carolina court system faces several challenges: Increased cases,

advancing the response measures to deep societal criminal behaviors such as violence against

children and women and corruption, the need to respond to new forms of criminality, as well as

persistently high levels of crime and violence, present challenges for North Carolina's court

systems.
 6

Law Enforcement System In North Carolina

The law enforcement or the policing department is a government agency that seeks to

meet the following objectives; maintaining law and order, combating crime, apprehending the

violator or lawbreakers, keeping the peace, and providing social services by directing the traffic

and restoring lost items as well as offering emergency aid.

History of law enforcement in North Carolina

The "Slave Patrol" is credited with establishing contemporary police in the Carolinas in

the early 1700s. The State Patrol could pursue, catch, and return runaway slaves to their

enslavers to end the slave rebellions by establishing a fearful system. The police use extreme

force to enforce and maintain the desired slave behavior (Cole et al., 2018). This persisted even

after the civil war till the 13th Amendment's ratification. The militia-style units replaced the

Slave patrols after the civil war during the Reconstruction period.

They governed the slaves using strict rules and Black Codes and barred them from

practicing rights such as voting rights, salaries, and access to other liberties. In 1868, the 14th

Amendment abolished the Black Codes from the US Constitution, giving African Americans

equal protection under the law. However, these laws approved racial discrimination, such as Jim

Crow laws and municipal, federal, and State legislation. In the 1900s, the Local governments in

the Midwest and East began creating police units that were allowed to use extreme force against

African Americans to enforce the approved Jim Crow legislation. These laws were obeyed till

the late 1960s.

The preconception of police mindset and outdated court precedents significantly affects

the criminal justice system. The Black community (African Americans) still faces racial
 7

segregation; however, the penalties for discriminative policing are extreme. North Carolina

contributes to the US's inmate population making it the global nation with the most significant

prison population and greatest per-capita imprisonment rate. 655 individuals per 100,000 were

jailed as of May 2020. The operating costs of parole, probation, and prisons are $81 billion

annually for US taxpayers.

Correctional Systems In North Carolina

The correctional systems are StateState, federal, and governmental institutions where the

lawbreaker a locked up for some time after being convicted or determined guilty of committing a

particular crime by a judge. The correctional system aims to help the wrongdoers correct their

behaviors within their lockup period. Prisons are where the wrongdoers are kept while serving

longer sentences, while jails are held up to serve shorter sentences or when the defendant is

waiting for trial.

History of the correctional system

North Carolina had legislation governing indeterminate sentences prior to 1981. These

statutes gave judges a great deal of latitude in determining punishments, and the Parole

Commission had the authority to release a convict at nearly any time during their sentence

(Arriaga, 2017). Two investigations performed by the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA)

in the early 1970s criticized sentencing methods in North Carolina for being egregiously

inconsistent in handling identical cases. They demanded a thorough investigation of the criminal

justice system. The Fair Sentencing Act blended new and established ideas. It found default jail

terms for offenses, although judges might deviate from them in several circumstances. These

sentencing laws had been created without considering whether there were enough resources or
 8

whether future resource requirements could be predicted. In response, the General Assembly

created the Special Committee on Prisons in December 1985.

The Special Committee on Prisons received a ten-year plan from the Department of

Correction in March 1986. This proposal advocated spending $203 million on community

alternatives and building and operating extra jail beds. The Governor's Advisory Board on

Prisons and Punishment were founded in February 1989. Twenty people from various criminal

justice system facets comprised the group. The Board was tasked with compiling statistical and

factual data on the issues the criminal justice system was facing. They were then expected to

offer suggestions on how North Carolina should rehabilitate the criminal justice system and stop

the early release of convicts.

The North Carolina criminal justice system was in disarray by the late 1980s.

Overcrowding and the possibility of federal control existed in prisons. The General Assembly

has reintroduced discretionary parole. The Parole Commission was releasing an unprecedented

number of prisoners. Only a minor portion of the sentences the defendants were given in court

were being served by them. Judges responded by imposing even lengthier terms, while offenders

who anticipated early release chose not to participate in probation and instead to complete an

active sentence. These responses increased the already severe issue of jail overpopulation. This

situation worsened over ten years, prompting the General Assembly to establish the North

Carolina Sentence and Policy Advisory Commission to recommend sentence guidelines. The

Sentencing Commission became a permanent entity in 1996 to observe the juvenile and criminal

justice systems and inform the General Assembly. This structured sentencing is still applied

today.
 9

The prisons in North Carolina are classified as follows, respectively, based on the

perceived public safety risks presented by the inmate. They include close, medium, minimum I,

minimum II, and minimum III. The inmate held at a 'close" level is rendered dangerous to the

public while the inmate held at “minimum III” is rendered less troublesome to the public.

The correctional systems in North Carolina face the following Challenge: incarceration in

prisons. The inmates are charged telephone call bills, medical bills, and hygiene bills, and they

also charge the families of the incarcerated 17% of the money sent to inmates. The prisons in

North Carolina are also highly populated which leads to overcrowding in cells and could lead to

the spread of diseases and infections. The correctional systems, however, are applying

technological advancements to enhance proper records systems.

Challenges Facing the Criminal Justice System

The following challenges affect the Criminal Justice System in North Carolina;

Increased cases - Increased cases lead to increased arrests, resulting in prison

overcrowding. Other challenges include; insufficient human and financial resources, persistent

violence and criminal activities, incarceration cases in prisons, and racial segregation. Some of

the challenges mentioned above are persistent from the classic era but have been mitigated.

Conclusion

Based on the research above, the criminal justice system is effective when its three

components: law enforcement or police, the courts, and correctional systems work up close since

they are all related and work towards achieving justice for everyone. The justice system in North

Carolina has undergone tremendous development from the various departments described above.
 10

All the sectors need to incorporate technological advancements to help them better and ease their

service delivery. The organization of their work is record keeping and tracking the daily

happenings, case files, and clients’ files. All governmental and non –governmental agencies have

a role in ensuring that justice is achieved and the criminal justice system is running smoothly and

effectively.
 11

References

Arriaga, F. (2017). Relationships between the public and crimmigration entities in North

Carolina: A 287 (g) program focus. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 3(3), 417-431.

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018). The American system of criminal justice.

Cengage Learning.

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2021). Criminal justice in America. Cengage Learning.

Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2018). America's courts and the criminal justice system.

Cengage Learning.