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Summary Of Ethics In Criminal Justice
Ethical issues in the criminal justice system
Ethical principles in criminal justice
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Ethical dilemmas permeate the criminal justice. At every level, in each segment of the system, people are exercising discretion that will impact on the fate of an individual and/or the security of the community. Incongruous laws, regulations, policies and practices create conflicts and distort the basis upon which judgments are made. Very often these conflicts result in an ethical dilemma. Which is the appropriate course of action? What is the moral/ethical rational for the decisions that were made? What purposes or principles are served? Some decisions are morally right while they are ethically wrong. Similarly, other decisions are ethically right and morally wrong. It requires the personnel making the decision think critically on the consequences …show more content…
The law can be referred to as social equalizer. The criminal justice system is a far-reaching and a large segment which ensures laws are followed to the letter. This makes citizens remain loyal to the state. It is the best method of punishing law breakers, and realizing the innocent people. The criminal justice system faces challenges from conviction to prosecution of criminals. The defendant is ineffectively presented. There is overcrowding, over loaded prosecutors, unfeasible caseloads with public defenders and much more. These challenges make enormous cases to be reported without convictions or arrestors. Prosecutors fail to concentrate on serious crimes. Lawmakers, attorneys and intellectuals have identified these challenges which require action, discussion and change (Weinstein, 2004). The challenges have put extreme pressure in the criminal justice system, causing misuse of resources, manpower and time. These situations cause ethical dilemmas, which require critical …show more content…
This is a critical condition which requires a quick action. Prisoners are human beings with the right to good health and survival. The overcrowded prisons are hazardous environments to live in. This is because contiguous disease such as tuberculosis can easily spread amongst the prisoners. This will increase the mortality rate in the prisons. Prisoners should be protected from such occurrences. Additionally, the overcrowded makes it hard for the officers in charge to keep law and order. The main purpose of a prison is to rehabilitate the law breakers and make them acceptable again in the society. It is the role of the officers in charge to monitor the behavior of every prisoner and correct them when they seem to be going astray. It cannot be possible for the officers to man an overcrowded prison. Therefore, the prisoners only spend time in prison and are released after completing their jail time without any corrections. This makes them repeat the same crime as they did not face the correct punishment and rehabilitation (Weinstein,
The news reports crime daily. Crime is something that we cannot run from in today’s society; so we depend highly upon the justice system. Criminal Justice is a major concern. Criminal Justice consists of three areas: our police, courts and corrections department. The Criminal Justice system was put in place by these agencies, and established by the governments to help control the crimes and applies penalties to those that violate the law. Many people feel that the criminal justice system is there to protect and serve while others feel that the criminal justice system fails them daily.
Each position in criminal justice holds power and responsibility, and therefore, it is very important that said people in those positions do not abuse it. Unethical behavior in the criminal justice system takes away trust and respect from authority, and as a consequence, the law is more easily disregarded if the people lack faith in the system. It can, also, contribute to crime and/or cause citizens to not report crimes. Society should have indubitable confidence in the men and women of the criminal justice system. Law enforcement officers violating even the smallest rule could lead to more serious infractions. Syed (1997) states, "Every instance of corruption bends or violates a rule or law and, similar to the granting of impunity, may contribute to an officer's perceptions of the law as applying differently to different people and increase the ease with which violations can be rationalized." Having less than ethical persons in our criminal justice system can lead to a weakened society, the ruining of lives, and even add to crime.
In this essay, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding police corruption and discretion in the criminal justice system. I will also define legality and equity and how they relate to police corruption and discretion. Police corruption and discretion are ethical issues that have been negatively impacting the criminal justice system for years. Police corruption weakens the public 's confidence in law enforcement officers. It also hinders the effectiveness of law enforcement officers whose job is to serve and protect. I will also define police corruption and discretion and the reasons behind police misconduct.
The governance of our present day public and social order co-exist within the present day individual. Attempts to recognize the essentiality of equality in hopes of achieving an imaginable notion of structure and order, has led evidence based practitioners such as Herbert Packer to approach crime and the criminal justice system through due process and crime control. A system where packer believed in which ones rights are not to be infringed defrauded or abused was to be considered to be the ideal for procedural fairness. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson pg 9 cjt To convict an individual because proper consideration was not taken will stir up social unrest rather then it’s initial intent, when he or she who has committed the crime is not punished for their doings can cause for a repetition and even collaboration with other’s for a similar or greater crime.
In the United States of America overcrowded prisons seems to be normal. People are not typically surprised or shocked when they hear about just how much overcrowding is going on in the prison systems. They may not care because, well they are prisoners, and they deserve to be there, but in actuality prison overcrowding can be a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Overcrowding tends to be a result of several things, but one of the main ones is recidivism. Recidivism is the act of committing a crime again, after being released from jail. There are two ways I believe overcrowding can be solved. Number one: build more prisons. But why should we, as a society, pay more money for more people to be criminals? So the
Police ethics are extremely important because ethics are the typical of “fair and honest conduct” (pg 460). People may have a different definition of what is fair and what is honest, and there are different circumstances where officers may not be able to be honest; such as covert investigations. Society in general determines what our ethical standards and moral principles are. Individual morals vary among all of us as they are what we as an individual consider to be right or wrong. We also have morals that are set by society. These are what we as a society consider to be right or wrong and may go hand in hand with individual morals. Morals change as society and people change, therefore we as a country have to adapt to what the changing morals are.
Overcrowding is one of the predominate reasons that Western prisons are viewed as inhumane. Chapman’s article has factual information showing that some prisons have as many as three times the amount of prisoners as allowed by maximum space standards. Prison cells are packed with four to five prisoners in a limited six-foot-by-six-foot space, which then, leads to unsanitary conditions. Prisons with overcrowding are exposed to outbreaks of infectious diseases such as, tuberculosis and hepatitis.
Every person is equal in front of the law. The justice has to be the same regardless to a person’s economic status or influence. The famous Greek philosopher, “Aristotle”, once stated, “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst”. Crimes have a significant impact on today’s society. The crime rate is increasing in a greater pace among the teenagers.
In this article the author analyzes prison overcrowding, which started in the 1970s and continues to be a problem in recent years. Courts have issued mandates forcing prisons to reduce their population. Some attempts to reduce prison population includes the construction of new facilities, parole reform, early release, diversion programs, and transferring prisoners to other facilities with space availability. According to the author prison overcrowding is not the fault of the prison or the correctional system; but instead it 's problem is rooted in the court system. When courts give out longer sentences, mandatory
Firstly, in order to gain a better understanding of the problems that plague or correctional system we must fully understand the enormous overcrowding problem that exist in the majority of or state and federal prisons. Since 1980 the prison population has quadrupled and only the numb...
The definition of justice and the means by which it must be distributed differ depending on an individual’s background, culture, and own personal morals. As a country of many individualistic citizens, the United States has always tried its best to protect, but not coddle, its people in this area. Therefore, the criminal justice history of the United States is quite extensive and diverse; with each introduction of a new era, more modern technologies and ideals are incorporated into government, all with American citizens’ best interests in mind.
There are several reasons why prisons overcrowd. One reason is because when offenders are released they commit another crime only to become incarcerated again. Inmates may also be sent back to prison for failure to complete community service. Another reason for overcrowding is tougher sentences. Offenders are receiving longer sentences for their crimes. They are facing harsher penalties for certain kinds of crimes, such as drug charges. Many offenders are forced to spend more time in prison after many states had the Truth in Sentencing Act passed, which requires that offenders serve the majority of their time incarcerated. It is becoming rare for offenders to get the option for parole. Overcrowded prisons are also less likely to help the prisoner to reform. Prisoners are having their rights infatuated from them by officials who are not pushing harder for improved prison
Ethics play a huge role in a police officers line of work. Since police are given such a high degree of trust and authority, it can unfortunately be very easy for an officer to fall into some unethical behavior. This can range from just minor acts that are frowned upon, to actual downright illegal activity. Even though there are a countless number of acts and behaviors that can be considered unethical, in the following paper I will focus primarily on those incidents involving police officers who steal for their own personal gain, and discuss my position on the issue.
Overcrowding can lead to lack of medical attention due to lack of staffing and also an increased amount of injuries from lack of guards. Hygiene may also be a problem from lack of supplies and room for showers. If house arrest were used more often the criminal’s home could be used as a cell instead. Jail may be a form of punishment but there are risks of riots and assault from being in there. Overcrowding does not only effect the prisoners, it also effects the staff. Guard to prisoner ration is a very important matter. Too few guards will cause a lack of order, the same goes for medical staff. If there are too few doctors and nurses to treat common injuries and sicknesses diseases and minor injuries could turn far worse than they
Criminal Justice professionals are in positions of power and exercise power and authority over others. Therefore, it is important for them to study ethics because they must be aware of the ethical standards needed in making critical decisions involving discretion, force, and due process. It is also a fact that criminal justice professionals who exercise power and authority over others can be tempted to abuse their powers.