Cya Coleman's weekend Journal

The field of law that I choose to research today was criminal law. I choose this field because I hope to one day pursue a career as a criminal defense attorney. I first became interested in criminal law when I had the opportunity to shadow a district attorney in my city, San Diego. This experience was a monumental moment in my life and during this internship is when I knew that this field was meant for me. From sitting in on preliminary hearings to learning the stories of specific mentors, these experiences all are part of what drew me into criminal law.

Another major reason I’m interested in criminal law is because of how closely related it is to the criminal justice system. Specifically, I’m interested in learning and implementing changes in our very flawed justice system and I feel like I could be a part of that change as a criminal defense attorney. I would want to create some major change in our justice system because it was not created nor does it now treat individuals equally. The way our justice system is set up allows for minorities, especially African Americans to be mistreated and overlooked far too often. As a result, so many African American people are wrongfully convicted for crimes, in fact, statistics show that one out of three black men will be convicted at some point in their life. Now imagine having to live life with these realities. It's absolutely ridiculous. This issue like so many in our country is rooted in racism and can be linked back to slavery. When our constitution was first created and rights for individuals were established black people were still not even considered people. Even after “slavery ended” and the 13th amendment was passed African American individuals still were not technically free. It was around this time that America's prison system began to grow stupendously. Black people were being convicted for what seemed like anything. Even today while racism is not always as blatantly obvious our prison system still works in the same ways that it did back then. In fact, the prisons work exactly how they were designed which was to keep black individuals under. I think fixing these issues will require an immense amount of work. I feel like black issues are always going to be prevalent as long as people remain ignorant of our struggles.

Criminal law, as distinguished from civil law, is a system of laws concerned with the punishment of individuals who commit crimes. Thus, where in a civil case two individuals dispute their rights, and a criminal prosecution involves the government deciding whether to punish an individual for either an act or an omission. Criminal law is necessary because it Protects individuals and property. Criminal law protects citizens from criminals who would inflict physical harm on others or take their worldly goods. Because of the importance of property in capitalist America, many criminal laws are intended to punish those who steal. It also provides for the smooth functioning of society. Criminal law enables the government to collect taxes, control pollution, and accomplish other socially beneficial tasks.