Brandon Archer
Criminal Law and the Justice System
2/22/2015
Colorado Technical University

The Legislative Branch is made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. Together, these two form the United States congress. The Legislative Branch was established in Article 1 of the Constitution. Congress has substantial legislative powers as well as the power to declare war and has the power to also reject or confirm most Presidential appointments. The House contains 435 members from the fifty states who are elected and 6 members who are chosen, not elected. The 6 members that are chosen are from the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as well as four other territories of the U.S. The speaker of the House is elected by the Representatives of the states. There are a total of 100 Senators containing 2 members from each state. Each Senator can serve a term of six years. The President of the senate is the Vice President and in case of a situation where votes are tied, the Vice President will be the deciding vote. In order for a bill to pass, the House and Senate both must rule a majority vote before the bill is passed to the President to sign off on the bill for the bill to become part of legislation. The Executive Branch is powered by the President and the Vice President is also considered part of this branch just in case the situation arises and must step in to take the role of President of the U.S. The President also serves as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military forces. The President appoints the heads of federal agencies and enforces laws written by congress as well. The administration and enforcement of federal laws is the responsibility of the federal agencies and the Cabinet as well. The Judicial Branch is established by Article III I the constitution and each member is appointed by the President, but the Senate must approve these members. Article III grants Congress the right to shape the federal judiciary as they see fit. The number of Supreme Court Justices is also left up for Congress to decide. As of now, there are 9 members including 1 Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices. Congress has also established inferior courts as well as 13 Courts of Appeals where any cases that are appealed will be reviewed. The Judges and Justices are not like most government positions, they do not serve a set number of years and can only be removed through impeachment. There are three branches of government set in place and each branch is given certain powers to focus on to keep the United States government running smoothly as possible and is not overloaded with power. This separation of powers is what helps hold the government intact and no branch has absolute power. The power is balanced through all three branches. The term separation of power was taken from ancient Greece. Federalism is the principle that defines the relations between the federal government and the regional, state and local levels of government. The word federalism basically means a covenant or formal form of agreement. Law enforcement is the area of the justice system that enforces and administers laws set in place by the federal government. Whether it is a state, local or federal law enforcement agency, the basis is the same, to prevent crime and to bring any criminal to justice. Law enforcement is the main line of defense when it comes to stopping crime. These men and women put their lives on the line each day to protect and serve the citizens of the area they serve and their main objective is to keep the citizens of the U.S. safe and free from harm