Law Opinion Paper

Law Opinion Paper
Leesa A. McNeil

Law Opinion Paper The United States Constitution is in effect to protect civilian’s rights. The United States created laws to give a sense of order for the way in which society lives. Laws have become more defined to give a sense of order and decency; the more ancient laws faded and evolved favoring the rights of each person. Despite the fact our government has laws that appear to be obsolete; they go back to a time when morality ruled the day. As time goes by more and more laws are being repealed to favor the rights of civilians. In order for laws to be enacted it must go through a process; the first step consists of establishing the law, which is created by the legislative branch of government and enacted; once the law is enacted they are enforced by the executive branch, which controls law enforcement agencies. Finally the judicial branch acts and applies the laws to ensure they are compatible with the United States Constitution and other legal documentation prior to any court decisions (Courts in Our Criminal Justice System, 2003). Before a law is passed they must go through each governmental branch, a law can not be passed unless it is approved by all three branches; this is recognized today as checks and balances. Laws are rules which are to be enforced if not abided by, a law is composed of politics, economics and society, and serve as peacekeepers between individuals. Like in the past laws are composed based on the needs within our society and keep some type of system within our nation. Many years ago we did not have court systems that followed specific protocols. For instance Initially in England a King would serve as a judge an impose punishment on an offender, then judges were established to hear cases on behalf of the King and looked out for his interests. Trials were not as general and easy as they are today; there were several types of trials in which an offender had to go through based on the judge’s choice. A trial by ordeal, trial by battle, and trial by compurgation (Courts in Our Criminal Justice System, 2003). In the above mentioned trial offenders were not sentenced by judges or juries, they would act out certain sacrifices such as walking through fire, or plunging their hands into hot water, throwing themselves in to rivers with their hand ad feet tied. They also engaged in fights with their accusers or a person chosen by their accuser, finally they were allowed to testify under oath but required to present twelve neighbors whom would vouch for the accuser truthfulness. At the present time we now have twelve juries to determine an offender’s guilt or innocence; they had twelve neighbors to do so. I feel as if laws should be passed based on the needs of our nation/society. We encounter different scenarios on a day to day basis that threaten the safety of a community or just as well as issues that threaten our nation. We need to have laws that can help our court system punish those offenders whom commit such acts of crime in order to deter crime and establish a sense of safety within our communities. If the government continues to pass laws that do not address our issues today, we can soon be living in a nation with no order. Laws are crucial and essential within the court system to maintain order within our society as well as to impose punishment on those who commit acts of crime. Without laws we would not be able to enforce any type of sentence on offenders whom commit acts of crime. I also believe that if laws are passed to enforce crimes, they should not have room for any bargaining when it comes to criminal cases. If an offender commits an act of crime he/she should be held fully accountable for their actions, therefore the prosecutor and the defense attorney should not have to work out a pleas bargain in order to convict. If he is guilty, then there is no way around it he is guilty. Our government agencies closely review any law prior to enacting such, therefore defense attorneys should not have the right to modify or downgrade any sentence based on such.
Reference
Meyer, J. F., & Grant, D. R. (2003). The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System.
Pearson Education, Inc..