Federal vs. State Policy Comparison (Essay Sample)

Federal vs. State Policy Comparison
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Introduction
State and Federal criminal justice systems have one goal (to tackle crime), but they also have differences. This is highlighted by the fact that State and Federal agencies have different jurisdictional powers that provide checks and balances to ascertain effective performance in the system. The term criminal justice system could be elucidated as a collection of local, state, and federal public bureaus that handle issues related to crime. It is notable that the system has different aspects that facilitate its existence and operation. This owes to the reality that development and implementation of the criminal justice policy are some of the important aspects in the system. Clearly, it is crucial for scholars and practitioners in the legal profession to understand the similarities and differences in the criminal justice system of State and Federal agencies. Therefore, this paper compares and contrasts the development and implementation of criminal justice policy between the Federal and State governments.
The Development of Criminal Justice Policy
Federal and state criminal justice systems perform similar functions, which include punishing offenders, trying cases, and enforcing laws. However, the criminal justice systems in state and federal governments have similarities and differences. For instance, the state and federal criminal justice systems are similar because special bodies are tasked with the duty of enacting criminal laws. As an evidence of this, Dunn (2008, p: 138) argues that State Legislatures are responsible for developing state criminal justice policies while the congress has a duty of developing federal criminal justice policies. Nonetheless, 50 states exist in America. Therefore, there are fifty different agencies tasked with the responsibility of making state criminal justice policies while national criminal justice policies are made by the congress. Consequently, federal criminal laws apply equally in all states while state criminal laws differ from one state to another.
Implementing Criminal Justice Policy
According to Marion and Oliver (2006, n.p), law enforcement agencies, courts, and correctional institutions have a responsibility of implementing criminal justice policies in both State and Federal governments. It is imperative that the similarities and differences of these institutions will be discussed separately.
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement agencies are the primary institutions that implement criminal and justice policies. This owes to the fact that the American government has approximately 17,000 public law enforcement agencies (Siegel and Bartollas, 2014 p: 298). These agencies comprise of both federal and state law enforcement agencies, which have similarities. For instance, both agencies have different subdivisions within them. This owes to the reality that the state police are divided into municipal policies, county police, and local police. In contrast, federal criminal law is implemented by institutions such as the drug enforcement agency, the federal bureau of investigation, homeland security among others. It is critical that federal law enforcement agencies make up 70 of the public law enforcement agencies in America (Siegel and Bartollas, 2014, P: 298) while the rest of the 17,000 comprise of state public law agencies.
The main difference between federal law enforcement agencies and state law enforcement agencies is that federal agencies operate nationally while state agencies operate within states. Therefore, federal employees can traverse across states when working while state police are limited to working within their states. Additionally, Siegel and Bartollas (2014: 299) argue that state agencies that enforce the law must maintain order and keep peace. Nonetheless, federal agencies can extend their duties beyond maintaining order and peacekeeping. For instance, some agencies are dedicated to improving the lives of American citizens by contributing to their wellbeing. Another difference between state and federal law enforcement is that some federal agencies have very few responsibilities. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court Police provide investigative and protective services for American Supreme Courts. In contrast, all states have tremendous duties.
Courts
Courts are also involved in the implementation of federal and state criminal justice policies. As a result, both state and federal courts are divided into different sections. As an evidence of this, Baum (2013, p: 98) argues that state courts are divided into trial courts with general jurisdiction, intermediate appellate courts, and trial courts with limited jurisdiction. Analogously, federal courts are divided into district courts, supreme courts, special courts and the American circuit of courts of appeal. It follows that the existence of courts of appeal in both federal and state governments allows conflicting parties to appeal for higher courts to listen to their case. This is highlighted by the fact that courts of appeal hear appealed cases in the federal government while intermediate courts of appeal listen to appealed cases from state governments.
Like law enforcement agencies, federal courts have national jurisdiction while state courts have state jurisdiction. It is also notable that Article III of the American constitution gives judicial power to the federal court system. It also empowers the congress with an ability to from lower federal courts. In contrast, state laws are responsible for the formation of state courts. Thus, different states form their courts based on the state judicial laws. According to Baum (2013, p: 98), another difference between federal and state courts is about the type of cases handled by federal and state courts. This is enhanced by the fact that federal courts handle matters such as bankruptcy and cases involving the government. In comparison, state courts handle cases such as family cases and traffic cases.
Correctional Institutions
Prisons and correction...