The criminal justice system is the system of law enforcement that is directly involved in the arrest, prosecution, defense, conviction, and punishment of those who are suspected or convicted of criminal offenses. (e.g. Oxford Online Dictionary) Some people may ask, “What exactly is a criminal?” A felon is a person who has been convicted of a crime or, in other words, has been found guilty of breaking the law. What do you think about how we should treat our criminals? Fundamentally, the criminal justice system was designed to keep the citizens of this country safe. But do we really know what goes on behind the closed doors of our country's criminal justice system? One of the main goals of this system is to bring justice to all by punishing the guilty and finding ways to help them stop committing crimes, while protecting the innocent. There are many different systems that make up the criminal justice system. Our criminal justice system plays an important role in our lives. It helps shape our government and protects us from harm or danger, and it also works together to bring justice to criminals and victims of crime. The criminal justice system is what helps make our society more organized. One of the earliest crimes in all of history dates back to Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Cain killed his brother out of jealousy and selfishness. Today, people commit crimes for the same reasons. In the United States, in 2012, approximately 10,189,902 crimes were committed in a single year. This is simply the number of crimes that have been reported to the police. In 1989 the crime rate was 14,251,400. The crime rate drops by hundreds every year in the middle of a newspaper...hardly in a criminal trial. An example of an exclusionary rule is that the police had to illegally search the defendants' car and find drugs. The drugs could not be used against the accused in court because the evidence was obtained illegally. The downsides of the rights of the accused are that not everyone is treated completely fairly. For example, every criminal has the right to a lawyer. If the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, the government will provide a lawyer. The downside is that the lawyer you choose may not be a very good lawyer, and your case may not be as good if you were able to pay for a lawyer yourself. Another disadvantage is that with the exclusionary rule, a guilty person could go free because the evidence was not obtained properly, even if with the evidence it proves the person is guilty..