One of the most vaguely understood events in the United States is the modern criminal trial. Most people have a faint knowledge of the goings-on of criminal proceedings, mainly due to what is seen on television, but the person who knows the real course of a trail is rare. Before a trial can proceed, certain events must take place.

The first is the arraignment of the defendant, which can happen anytime between arrest and a logical, non-specific time before the trial itself. Arraignment consists of the court reading to the defendant the substance of the charge and calls on the subject to enter a plea within a given time. Not only is the arraignment process a process in a criminal trial that most people do not know much about, but it is also a process that society segregates the offender.