examples of discretion in the criminal justice system

Hugo, V., & Buffum, D. L. (1908). It plays a key role in multiple processes, including the investigation, bail, trial and in sentencing. the authority to decide. What is a quad lumen central venous catheter? Officers may often need to interact with mentally ill individuals as patients before they need to interact with them as clients in the sense of becoming involved in the criminal justice system when encountering these situations, is it best to move these individuals into the care of a hospital, or a jail? How does alkaline phosphatase affect P-nitrophenol? Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. The investigation process relies heavily on discretion. An effective and workable criminal justice system relies on police discretion. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? Get your custom essay on, Discretion in the Criminal Justice System , Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper, "You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy". Taking rights seriously. Additional materials, such as the best quotations, synonyms and word definitions to make your writing easier are also offered here. The chapter is particularly noteworthy for its discussion of the goals of the system, including justice, fairness, and crime control/prevention, and the changing nature of these goals. (Fuller, J. R. Pg. To start, let us initially comprehend what discretion truly is. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. The use of discretion allows the police officer the flexibility necessary to perform his job. My thesis aimed to study dynamic agrivoltaic systems, in my case in arboriculture. The credibility and the lack of political biases in the articles are the key factors of . Discretion allows an officer to determine what charges to file against suspects. It is up to each official to balance the rights of individual suspects with the needs of the overall community. And the RCIADIC reports concluded that: Defining discretion in Law Enforcement. "The police are typically the first contact that young victims and delinquents have with the juvenile justice system. Ohlin, Lloyd E., and Frank J. Remington. Policing is similar to other care-based professions because of the level of care involved in this process. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Provide an example of discretion, which can . He pulled over Samuel Dubose on July 19 because of a missing front license plate. Juvenile Delinquency Mainstream and Crosscurrents. If someone is rich, then the natural implication is that wealth could be made while violating the law. By continuing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. The first chapter is a very readable discussion of the actors in the system, including the legislatures. In the United States, although crime control is the major role of policing, both paradigms can be seen. Greater understanding of the role of discretion, its achievements, and shortcomings will permit better regulation of it. People with wealth tend to receive more of the benefits of discretion. Even in heinous cases, there needs to be perhaps not room for discretion and leniency, but at least the possibility that it could be used, if absolutely necessary. In the CJS, it is the authority given to a decision maker to decide between alternatives or no alternatives. 1. In many ways, discretion cannot be restricted due to the excessively diffuse nature of the criminal justice system in America, and even when it can be restricted, it very often should not be. Who has the most discretion in the criminal justice system? have focussed on high rates of Aboriginal involvement in serious crime (2003, p. 65). tact, tactfulness, diplomacy, delicacy, sensitivity, subtlety, consideration, prudence, judiciousness, judgement, discrimination, sense, good sense, common sense. Discretion can be used by police in the area of the criminal investigation process. 89), which highlights the complexity of the system and the process of selection by which ever fewer defendants proceed farther into the system. The principles of police discretion make this possible while also allowing for a higher level of force to get applied when necessary to prevent future injuries. Prottas, J. Each of the decisions made in this area can have a significant impact on the safety of the public. Need a custom essay sample written specially to meet your Another reason that discretion finds itself so intractable within the American criminal justice system is due to the increasing interconnected nature of the American criminal justice system and mental health treatment; in many ways, jails have become the de-facto mental health system for many Americans (Johnson, 1984; Snow & Briar, 1990; Palermo et al., 1992). An example of discretion is not talking about politics at family dinners. Discretion plays an indispensable role in the criminal justice system (CJS). Enforcing the law for adults who are habitual offenders is necessary to uphold order. Indigenous Australians are being unfairly sentenced for their crimes because of the racist and prejudicial views held by some members of the judicial system, research led by the University of . The public service paradigm is predominant in Europe. Their decision-making can also lead to situations where there is a higher risk of harm to a civilian. Poorly groomed suspects can expect less respectful treatment. In the context of policing, discretion means that officers are given some leeway on which they can rely as they make choices that impact the people they are policing. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. (Fuller, J. R. Pg 17. ) Its judicious use increases fairness and can help to promote an equitable legal process by allowing the judge to consider individual circumstances in instances . Our system of criminal justice is a best example of Utilitarianism (Staveren, 2007). It is common to focus on disparity along a particular dimension, such as race. Normally, the casual criminal justice organization depends on the caution of people to equalize the criminal rules and bureaucratic courses of action. Discretion has been instrumental in delivering policing and is integral to policework and police identity. Direct supervision and control are a troublesome assignment for forefront directors who are looked with an expanded outstanding burden. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. This framework crystallizes the importance of rules in the empirical analysis of discretion. New York: Plenum. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Don't use plagiarized sources. Although police officers certainly engage in unethical behaviors, practitioners who work in the court also have the potential to act in an inappropriate or unscrupulous manner. To begin this piece, Rosett quotes: If every policeman, every prosecutor, every court, and every post-sentence agency performed his or its responsibility in strict accordance with rules of law, precisely and narrowly laid down, the criminal law would be ordered but intolerable. Walker, Samuel. Police officers in the United states have the right and the opportunity to act at their discretion to stop, arrest, and use force to bring about an arrest. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on 5. 8. Its major drawback is that such decisions are essentially unreviewable and have a significant potential for being arbitrary and capricious. For example the police come across two young girls in a park smoking marijuana. It is useful as a tool to be proactive in jurisdictional issues, creating initiatives, or working with the average person on the street. For crimes such as rape, murder, sexual assault, arson and the like, I do not believe that discretion is appropriate. In theory, the criminal justice official considers the totality of circumstances before determining whether or not legal action . There are examples of discretion throughout the criminal justice system. For-Profit Private Prisons and the Criminal JusticeIndust General Opportunity Victimization Theories, Interpersonal Violence, Historical Patterns of, Intimate Partner Violence, Criminological Perspectives on, Intimate Partner Violence, Police Responses to, Local Institutions and Neighborhood Crime, Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Crime, The, Mediation and Dispute Resolution Programs, Performance Measurement and Accountability Systems, Persons with a Mental Illness, Police Encounters with. Pg. With the shift of jails into mental health providers, one of the (multitudinous) collateral consequences is the nature of policing in response to mentally ill individuals. 18.37 Diverting young people from the formal legal system may create better opportunities to identify any family, behavioural and health problems contributing to the offending behaviour. 1-4) On numerous occasions, criminal equity experts are looked with utilizing carefulness to translate the laws will in general have a dubious overall portrayal. Another reason that the American criminal justice system finds itself so pervaded with discretion is due to the contingent nature of the issues that those within the system often find themselves in. (1992). 6. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The various decisions that different participants in the legal system are allowed to make shows what . They can decide to pursue less serious charges. If the plaintiff or the defendant thinks that the trial court judge has abused the discretion, the party can appeal the case. Ch 1. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. It is extremely important for a police officer to make the decision of introducing a juvenile to the justice system. Prosecutors are the most powerful officials in the American criminal justice system. In order to effectively process cases through the criminal justice system, discretion is an important tool for police, prosecutors, judges, and correctional officials. The daily operations of a Police Department would not be as efficient if this approach was not taken regularly. Why is discretion found in the criminal courts? Although somewhat unconventional in its historical approach, the article does a good job of describing the evolution of the concept of the criminal justice system and the role of discretion within that system. Discretion, according to Rawls (1971), should not be used as a means of ensuring efficiency but rather as a way of applying a utilitarianism counterbalance to unjust laws within the justice system. Detailed analyses of discretion in each component of the system and chapter notes are supplied. 1992. Officers can also make contact with individuals that they believe could be hiding something or have broken serious laws that require an intervention to keep others safe. Here, let us look to Bowers (1983). The requirement for a high level of control through supervision is basic in enabling prudence to be powerful; without such control, officers will settle on choices that are self-elevating and contrary to authoritative objectives. Officials must act with proper prudence and a high degree of confidence and self-esteem to ensure that criminal conduct receives the deterrent consequences needed to keep everyone safe. This book is a legal-theory classic on discretion. It affords district attorneys a tremendous deal of power. Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach. Retrieved from http://studymoose.com/discretion-in-the-criminal-justice-system-essay. 1 an insufficiency, shortage, or absence of something required or desired. Should we punish all thefts the same? That means there could be times when an offender might not receive a ticket or detainment because of the circumstances involved in their situation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have demanded greater regularity and procedural formality in the juvenile justice system, which is characterized by broad discretionary powers. Urban Affairs Quarterly, 13(3), 285-312. Dont waste Your Time Searching For a Sample, The Role of Discretion in The Criminal Justice System, An Argument in Favor of Healthy Discretion in Criminal Justice, Honesty and Justice in the Criminal Justice System, Punishment vs. As significant part of the criminal justice system in Canada, being a police officers "involves the use of a significant amount of discretion" (McKillop & Pfeifer, 2004) . Sandy has the discretion of either giving Bob a warning or giving Bob a ticket; the decision is up to Sandy. Police require the ability to use discretion because of the inevitable deficiency of police assets to enforce all laws all the time. Whether for good or bad; laws shape citizens views of beliefs, actions and character. This principle allows an officer to pick and choose their enforcement opportunities. Please subscribe or login. Even if executed within the rules, however, discretion can lead directly to disparity, where like cases are treated differently. 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