Criminal Law and Procedure
There are several players in the criminal justice system—the police, the prosecutors, the judges, the parole and probation officers, and the accused, who is also called the defendant. Criminal prosecutions are typically initiated by the police by making an arrest. That arrest may be made as a result of a crime witnessed by a police officer or as a result of an investigation by the police. Once the police have made an arrest, the person arrested will begin to wind his or her way through the criminal justice system.
To describe the journey through the state criminal justice system (and for the most part, the federal system as well), the best place to begin is at the beginning. As with every aspect of the legal system, the beginning is the Constitution. The most frequent encounter with constitutional law is found in the criminal context. Criminal law and procedure, to a great extent, is constitutional law.
