In criminal cases, the executive branch of government chooses cases to bring before the court based on probable cause that a violation occurred involving a law or ordnance that the legislative branch of government has written.

It is the responsibility of the court within the judicial branch of government to determine if the complaint brought before the court is a legitimate one.  If the "state," presents a case that shows proof beyond a reasonable doubt involving a legitimately written law, then the defendant is found "guilty".

If a defendant is found guilty, it is the responsibility of the court to offer a deterrence to the defendant, so that individual will be encouraged to alter his behavior to comply with the law.   In minor traffic cases, often simply the issuance of a fine is common for first time offenses.   In more serious cases such as domestic violence, the court may take a closer examination of the factors in the case.  If sentencing is too insignificant, an offender may consider their offense as the status quo, and their pattern in life would continue as it did leading up to the offense.

The goal of the court is to provide a proper balance in sentencing, which provides an adequate impact to promote defendant to alter his behavior toward the public good and restore community justice.