Ethical Issues In The Criminal Justice System

There are three significant issues concerning law enforcement, namely enacting the law, police discretion, and assessment of criminal behavior. Different entities create and enact laws that are specific for the societies those laws represent.

Based on the charged presented to someone a plea bargain, no matter how unusual may sound appealing. For example, if an individual was stop for speeding one night and was later found to be driving under the influence they could be charged with an OUI. Lets say this is not this persons first OUI and due to this being a recurring offence they will be facing jail time and a loss of license. After the individual was arrested their vehicle was searched and a large amount of money was found in a bank sleeve. In this instance the prosecutor offers, no jail time, and suspension of the license for 30 days opposed to year in exchange for the cash found in the vehicle. This would be an example of ad hoc plea-bargaining. It’s unethical perhaps for the prosecutor to suggest the defendant surrender his money to the state to receive a lighter sentence, however if the defendant does not with to do jail time and not having a license for an extender period of time could be devastating to them. Ad hoc plea-bargaining can also be exchanged in the other direction, from the defendant to the

The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.

Calling Your Bluff: How Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Adapt Plea Bargaining Strategies to Increased Formalization

In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with

Plea bargaining has been around since the early 1800’s and is a process where the attorney for the defendant negotiates a plea with the prosecuting attorney. This process which was simple in the beginning has changed dramatically over the years. Prosecutors have made it seem they have evidence for serious crimes and get people to plead guilty to a lesser offense. Many people will accept a plea bargain out of fear of what will happen at trial. Everyday people who otherwise would have been acquitted due to lack of evidence or they are really innocent will plead guilty to a lesser charge. It wasn’t until 1970 with the United States Supreme Court case of Brady v. United States that the constitutionality of plea bargaining was established. Plea bargaining should be regulated so as not to harm the legal system any more than it has. Plea bargaining takes away a person’s right to be tried by a jury of their peers.

“Ethical issues regarding corruption and off-duty behavior have become an increasing challenge in criminal justice” (Writing, 1999-2013). Within the criminal justice system, ethics can be complicated by the moral implications of actions. Differences in cultures and different circumstances can affect the individual moral compass. However, all departments of criminal justice operate by a certain code of ethics and by certain standards. But those standards and ethics often become challenged due to issues relating to police brutality, off duty conduct and corruption that we hear about all of the time through the media.

In order to answer this scenario, I need to look at the underlying ethical system and the moral rules leading to my judgment. As in many scenarios, there are conflicting moral rules that could justify different judgments. While police officers are supposed to enforce laws, they are also primarily expected to protect life and property (Nakate, 2011). Public safety is the primary concern of police officers. Therefore, unless a law involves mandatory reporting, then an officer is expected to exercise some discretion involving those laws. The theory behind requiring permits in order to hold a rally is that some rallies can lead to dangers for the public. Therefore, in this scenario, I would have to determine whether there was a reasonable likelihood that the rally might become violent. It is important to realize that even if the sponsoring group would not advocate violence, any rally about a controversial issue has the ability to become violent. Whether or not the tipster is providing accurate information is not of critical importance, because planning to hold a rally without a permit is not illegal; holding a rally without a permit is not illegal. As a police officer, I could ethically respond to the tip by going to the head of the group and ask if they were planning to hold a rally the next day and remind him of the permit requirement. I could do this without neglecting my

On top of this, plea bargains provide an alternative option if the person in question does not want to wait for their trial for extended periods of

No matter what job you have in the criminal justice system there will always be ethical dilemmas that arise. As a person who’s job is to enforce the law there is always a way to step over the boundaries whether it be unfair treatment to citizens, inmates or agencies. There is always areas of the career to consider and in order to make everyone happy there are steps that need to be taken. From the police officer on the street to the parole board there is always something that could come up which could have consequences for either decision so which is the right one?

Roughly 90% of all criminal cases in the United States are resolved with a plea deal. This statistic is shocking upon first glance. The sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial, yet 90% of cases never make it that far. In fact, some never make it to the Grand Jury at all. Over countless decades of practice, the notion of plea bargaining has become prevalent to the point of normality. However, when taking into account the idea that those 90% of criminals will never stand trial, nor even see a jury, it is astonishing. From the moment the supreme court recognised plea bargaining as a legitimate practice to today, debates have raged over its effectiveness, morality, and constitutionality. Despite the heated controversy,

Most Americans believe that when the government accuses someone of a crime the case goes to trial, where a jury hears arguments from the prosecution and the defense then ponders over the evidence before making a decision on the defendant’s guilt or innocence. This impression is very off. Criminal cases rarely go to trail, because 95% are resolved by plea bargains. Plea bargaining is when a deal is offered by a prosecutor as an incentive for a defendant to plead guilty. This incentive may be a lighter charge or lighter sentence. Some people are in favor of plea bargaining and others are not. I believe that plea bargaining is unconstitutional, undermines the

In an ideal world, there would be no plea-bargaining and everyone would simply receive justice. Plea-bargaining admittedly has many problems, most notably the fact that guilty individuals may end up being set free, because they possess knowledge about criminal activity. Individuals may agree to testify against former criminal associates in exchange for a reduced sentence. Unfortunately, there are very few innocent individuals who have extensive knowledge about the internal operations of criminal activity. One question to ask: is it better to reduce the sentence of a lower-level drug dealer, so as to put a major drug kingpin behind bars? Most prosecutors would answer in the affirmative. Even when individuals involved in organized crime who are admitted murderers plea-bargain, the ability to dismantle a major crime organization is deemed to be more important than the injustice done by allowing a witness guilty of a crime to accept a plea. It is also important to remember that plea-bargaining does not always mean that an individual is set free. Plea-bargaining deals may be arranged for reduced sentences, for example, or greater mercy shown to the defendant.

Ethics, or moral conduct, are of major importance in the Criminal Justice field today. If the police force condoned unethical behavior, there would be very little, if any, justice being served. Official police misconduct is any “objectionable actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties, which can lead to a miscarriage of justice”. (wikipedia.com). However, “police misconduct may include a broader range of misconduct, reflecting the high standards that we expect of police officers. Unlike official misconduct, police misconduct can apply to off-duty behavior as well as conduct on the job”. (clc.qld.gov.au).

Ethics in the criminal justice system is customary when the administration measures are sometime virtuous and imperfect, attractive and unattractive and the ideas of production values are perceptive that this may be right and wrong. Working in the criminal justice system, every decision and results must meet the needs of the citizens and the law enforcement in regards to the balancing concern. The concerns are from prosecuting the guilty and respecting the right of the accused, protecting the victims, and creating a safe community. This paper will give analysis of the critical thinking concerning the relationship between ethics and professional behavior role of the law enforcement