The US correctional system is a complicated system with many different ways of handling certain situations. There is no single nationally established criminal justice system, each state is different but they all follow the same set of laws and rules established by the United States Constitution. (Office of Justice Statistics, 2013). The state undergoes a number of different obligations before convicting a suspect. These are "punished" in many different ways once initially arrested. All law enforcement agencies, apart from investigations, do their part. They are responsible for the arrest, arrest, trial period and sentencing period and all decisions in between. Depending on the type of crime committed, the convicted person may have the choice between plea bargaining, where they can decide whether they want to plead guilty to the crime without trial, or plead not guilty and go through probation. . Giving up your right to a trial is a big step in the judicial process and is often frowned upon. Most people choose to plead not guilty if they know they didn't actually commit the crime, so they can have the chance to tell their side of what happened to a jury who can then decide whether or not they will be sent to prison. A suspect usually pleads guilty to the crime he is accused of if he knows he committed the crime and does not want his sentence to be in the hands of the jury based on the evidence and decisions made by the judge or magistrate. (Bureau Justice of Statistics, 2013). Currently, “the community corrections system monitors more than 5 million adults and prisons hold approximately 2.3 million adults, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports” (Corrections Today, 2009). ...... half of the paper ...... http://www.bjs.gov/content/justsys.cfmDeMicchele, M., & Payne, B. (2009, August). Using technology to monitor offenders: A community corrections perspective. Fixes today; KU Library. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=443650d1-bb7e-47ff- add5- 130914066034@sessionmgr4005&hid=4103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#db = &AN =4 3827443McVay, D., Schiraldi, V., & Ziedenberg, J. (2004, January). Finding 1: Treatment can be less expensive than imprisonment. Institute for Justice Policy. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/04-01_rep_mdtreatmentorincarceration_ac-dp.pdfSchmallager, F. (n.d.). Criminal justice today: 11/e Kaplan ebook. Bookstore: Criminal Justice Today; E-books. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from https://online.vitalsource.com/