 Unlike the "magistrate system" used in many other countries, United States courts do not ordinarily preside over criminal investigations. In state and federal cases throughout the United States, criminal investigations are generally orchestrated by prosecutors, police and other members of law enforcement.
While the role of judges in the investigation of criminal offenses is limited, the courts do monitor certain investigative tactics to ensure that overzealous prosecutors and police do not violate important constitutional rights. To ensure that investigators do not conduct unreasonable searches and seizures, they must request that judges issue warrants to search for and seize evidence of crimes, to order the recording of telephone conversations, to to arrest a person accused of a crime.
Before a judge will issue such warrants, state and federal investigators must provide the court with affidavits and other supporting documentation presenting legally sufficient grounds for the action requested. Thus, a judge asked to issue a search warrant must find probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that evidence of that offense may be found at a specific place to be searched. Similarly, a judge will not issue a warrant to arrest a person unless there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a crime.
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