Running head: COURTROOM WORKGROUP

Courtroom Workgroup
Bobbi Knapp
CJS/201
November 16, 2015
Jerry Shoate

COURTROOM WORKGROUP

2
Courtroom Workgroup

Every day, the same group of courthouse regulars assembles in the same courtroom, sits
or stands in the same places, and performs the same tasks as the day before. The types of
defendants and the nature of the crimes they are accused of committing also remain constant.
Only the names of the victim, witnesses, and defendants are different. This group of courthouse
regulars are known as the courtroom workgroup. The courtroom workgroup, which includes the
judge, the prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney, expert witnesses, the bailiff, the court
reporter, the clerk of the court and the local court administrator, are separate and though
independent of one another, are mutually interdependent concerning the task at hand.
Key Players in the Courtroom Workgroup
Long before there is a need to precede over a trial, a judge issues warrants, subpoenas,
summons, and sets bail amounts. Although the judge has to rule on pretrial motions and hearings
or determine the admissibility of evidence, he/she also facilitates negotiation, instructs the jurors,
set sentences, and accepts pleas. Judges are reactive to the actions of other courtroom workgroup
members and share power with other workgroup members, for example accept bail, plea, and
sentence recommendations from the prosecutor. The courtroom judge has the responsibility of
maintaining the rights of the victim, as well ensuring that the rights of the defendant are
preserved throughout a trial and thereafter.
The prosecutor is the most important member of the courtroom workgroup and holds
most the decision making power singularly. State and county governments employ prosecutors to
represent their local communities in complaints against criminal defendants. On the federal level,
the president appoints prosecutors to represent the United States in complaints against criminal

COURTROOM WORKGROUP

defendants. One the benefits given to the prosecutor is the right to use prosecutorial discretion.
(discretionary powers exercised by the government's prosecution service such as whether to
prosecute charge recommended by police, to stay an ongoing proceeding, plea bargaining, or the
taking over of a private prosecution.)
In most criminal cases, the prosecutor must match wits with the defense attorney who
represents the defendant. Almost all criminal defendants are represented by an attorney, even if
they cannot afford to pay for one. If a court does not offer Legal Representation to a criminal
defendant, the defendant may not be incarcerated upon conviction.
Prosecutors have a broad discretion in determining whether to prosecute a criminal
defendant. A prosecutor does not have to personally believe that the defendant committed the
alleged act. A prosecutor must simply possess enough evidence to support a reasonable belief
that the defendant committed the crime. There are two notable limits on the prosecutor's
discretion to prosecute. First, a prosecutor may not base a prosecution on "an unjustifiable
standard such as race, religion, or other Arbitrary classification. Second, a prosecutor may not
vindictively add charges because a defendant has pursued a constitutionally protected right.
Prosecutors have many duties to perform in the course of a criminal prosecution. At the
arraignment, the prosecutor must make a bail recommendation, prepare the case against the
defendant. The prosecutor may issue directives to law enforcement personnel to find more
evidence. The prosecutor also must notify the defendant of the evidence against him and must
turn over any exculpatory evidence. The prosecutor usually meets with the defendant or the
defendant's attorney in advance of trial to discuss the case and discuss a potential plea
bargaining. More than 90 percent of all criminal prosecutions are disposed of through plea
bargaining . The prosecutor may make a sentencing recommendation, but the court is not

COURTROOM WORKGROUP

obliged to follow the recommendation. In theory, a prosecutor's job is not to convict and send to
prison as many persons as possible. The basic function of a prosecutor is to seek the truth about
criminal actions. In any event, a prosecutor does not decide whether to convict a defendant. That
decision is made by the fact finder: either the judge or the jury. The prosecutor only decides
whether to charge the defendant and then presents the community's case to the fact finder.
The U.S. criminal justice system has been described as resembling a funnel being wide at
the top and narrow at the bottom. There are more suspects and defendants in the justice system,
than there are convicted offenders who have passed through the correctional system. Justice
System The criminal justice system contains a number of steps that begin with the investigation
of a crime, and end in the release of a convicted individual from a correctional facility. As a case
passes through the criminal justice system, a percentage of them are dismissed due to a number
of causes, including a lack of evidence. Some offenders enter therapy and/or drug rehab
counseling to avoid the case being tried in court. The majority of cases in the criminal justice
system are investigated, tried or dismissed on the basis of personal choices made by officials
who use discretion to decide on individual cases. Police officers decide whether to investigate
cases or arrest individuals based on personal choice, while judges and lawyers interpret
information to decide on bail applications and plea bargains. The crime funnel is seen as a
realistic interpretation of crime that is not affected by social situations and interactions.
Punishment is used to help decrease the probability that a specific undesired behavior
will occur with the delivery of a consequence immediately after the undesired response/behavior
is exhibited. Punishment usually has nothing to do with what the an individual did wrong;
punishment only tells an individual that he/she is bad. Our system does not need any more forms
of "punishment"...our system needs "discipline". Discipline teaches individuals how to act,

COURTROOM WORKGROUP

discipline puts him/her in charge of his/her actions, while at the same time providing the
opportunity to correct the mistakes or at least try and make amends for the wrong. Discipline
helps build a person up; punishment just knocks one down.
I believe that focusing on rehabilitating an offender early on is probably the best way to
lighten the judicial case load. While the overall goal is to reduce violence and, therefore, crime
rates overall to reduce the weight resting on our district attorneys and their staff, if we set stricter,
more severe forms of discipline at the juvenile level, then the minors committing these
misdemeanors will not mature into adults committing felonies.

COURTROOM WORKGROUP

References
judge. (2008) West's Encyclopedia of American Law (2nd ed.).
A Prosecutors Guide for Advancing Racial Equity. (2014).
Court. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/court-law
prosecute. (2015).
prosecutor. (2015).
Arrigo, Bruce A. (2014). Prosecutorial Discretion Encyclopedia of criminal justice ethics: Sage
Publications.
Bruce Frederick, Don Steman. (2012). The Anatomy of Discretion: An Analysis of Prosecutorial Decision
Making Summary Report: Vera Institute of Justice.
Chretien, Paige. (2012). Dynamics of the Courtroom Workgroup. Bowling Green State University.
Retrieved from http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1117&context=honorsprojects
Danielle Rudes, Shannon Portillo. New Roles in the Courtroom Workgroup: Developing Federal Problem
Solving Courts.
Schmalleger, Frank. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century.
Stacy Hoskins Haynes, Barry Ruback, Gretchen Ruth Cusick. (2010). Courtroom Workgroups and
Sentencing The Effects of Similarity, Proximity, and Stability. Crime & Delinquency, 56(1), 126161. doi: 10.1177/0011128707313787