Criminal Court Reflection
Arguably, the criminal court is the most important aspect of the criminal justice
system. After all, [t]he criminal court is the setting in which many of the most
important decisions in the criminal justice system are made. Eyewitness
identification, bail, trial, plea negotiations, and sentencing all involve court decisions
(Siegel Worrall, 2016, p. 156). Naturally, I decided to experience the criminal court
in all its glory, as the court is such a focal point for the decisions in the criminal justice
system. I went to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida to observe [criminal
trials, juryselection, arraignments, and pleanegotiations...], specifically to the
Criminal Courthouse Annex across from the Edgecomb Courthouse. This court was a
court of general jurisdiction, which means that it was a state court that had
jurisdiction over cases that involved felonies or serious civil issues that dealt with a
dollar amount exceeding that set by... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The judge or clerk would look up someone s name from a computerized database
instead of using just the docket alone. There were cameras, countless Dell desktops,
microphones, recording devices that were used to record and videotape testimonies,
statements, and hearings in general. Basically, what Siegel and Worrall s book
presented as the use of technology in court management was the same as what I
observed that day. By using this technology, judicial staff could retrieve and organize
data quickly and in an efficiently. Like the book notes, I observed the ease in which
technology made case monitoring, indexing, and scheduling more efficient, case
history maintenance and reporting occur quicker, and document preparation took
less time. The use of technology also made searching for the counsel on a case or a
particular juror s name a much simpler